About this episode
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Astros re-signing Justin Verlander and MLB’s plan to house minor leaguers, then (19:53) bring on listener and top-tier Patreon supporter John Choe to discuss the single game he played in indy ball, the Moonlight Graham Society he co-founded to recognize minor league cups of coffee, how his love of baseball stats helped guide him to his current career, how he and his kids have spread the gospel of sabermetrics, his daughter’s on-field experience with Baseball For All, and more. After that (42:29), Ben, Meg, and John answer listener emails about why popular pitcher stats don’t mirror popular hitting stats, how different baseball would be if players were removed from games after making outs and if players and teams could copyright tactics, whether umps should intervene in an unforced walk-off, and whether players could opt not to wear caps. Lastly (1:24:17), Ben talks to another listener/Patreon supporter, Michael Mountain, about the most efficient itinerary for a trip to every affiliated ballpark in 2022. Audio intro : Kelley Stoltz, " You’re Out of This World " Audio outro : Smash Mouth, " Shoes ‘N’ Hats " Link to Brendan Gawlowski on Verlander Link to Baseball America on MiLB housing Link to MiLB.com on MiLB housing Link to the Moonlight Graham Society website Link to John’s page at the MGS site Link to John’s article about the MGS Link to NPR story on Evan Katz Link to Sam Miller on playing in a pro game Link to list of minor league one-game players Link to lists of major league one-game players Link to Baseball For All website Link to paper on protecting sports secrets Link to Ben on keeping secrets in MLB Link to Bryan Grosnick on openers Link to Sam on the history of bullpenning Link to story on copyrighting game mechanics Link to Michael’s previous pod appearance Link to Reddit thread on 2022 road trip Link to Michael’s ballpark grand tour Link to traveling salesperson problem Link to NoContextEWPod account Link to Acuña’s quote Link to Stove League teaser video Link to stream Stove League via Kocowa Link to stream Stove League via Viki 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