About this episode
Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about players playing for their lives, Bryce Harper rumors, Harper’s fame vs. Mike Trout ’s, feeling less intense anticipation than they used to, the Red Sox signing the previously permabanned Jenrry Mejia , and uncertainty surrounding the latest labor strife. Then (30:06) Ben talks to Chris Enns , author of The Death Row All Stars , about baseball in the Old West and the strange saga of the 1911 Wyoming State Penitentiary team, an all-convict squad that played to stave off execution and caused a statewide scandal. Lastly (1:00:21), Jeff rejoins for a conversation with Wes Abarca (co-founder, commissioner, and Crestline Highlanders captain) and Joe Billheimer (Highlanders “behind”) of the Southern California Vintage Base Ball League to discuss the popularity of vintage baseball, the strategic intricacies of playing under 1886 rules, the challenge of playing with period equipment, the importance of staying in character, whether they prefer old or new baseball, and more. Audio intro : Spoon, " Something to Look Forward To " Audio interstitial 1 : Skip James, " Hard Time Killing Floor Blues " Audio interstitial 2 : Paul McCartney, " Vintage Clothes " Audio outro : Dr. Dog, " Survive " Link to Rosenthal article Link to Ben’s old article about the MLB revenue split Link to Chris Enss site Link to Conan’s vintage baseball video Link to Vintage Base Ball Association site Link to SoCal Vintage Base Ball League site Link to Crestline Highlanders site Link to SoCal league video Link to Highlanders game photo album Link to SCVBB Rules Link to preorder The MVP Machine iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!) Sponsor Us on Patreon Facebook Group Effectively Wild Wiki Twitter Account Get Our Merch! Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com var SERVER_DATA = Object.assign(SERVER_DATA || {}); Source