Effectively Wild Episode 1796: Major League Biasball

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Rachel Balkovec becoming the first female manager in affiliated ball, Genevieve Beacom making her pro debut in Australia, and other women breaking baseball boundaries, then (13:20) conclude their “Measuring the Unmeasurable” series about studying difficult-to-quantify aspects of the sport by bringing on Rob Arthur of Baseball Prospectus and Rockies catcher AJ Lewis to discuss Rob’s research into racial bias in scouting and player promotions, the lack of Black catchers in MLB, AJ’s catching career and experience with inner-city baseball programs, ways to promote African-American participation in baseball, the demands of playing catcher compared to playing other positions, and more. Then (48:27) they talk to Shakeia Taylor about a recent study about the demographics of MLB managers, the unique nature of Dusty Baker, her reporting about the “Selig Rule,” ways to improve front-office diversity (and the different types of diversity), the impact of sabermetrics on hiring decisions, what MLB could learn from other leagues, the catcher-to-manager pipeline, and her SABR interview series. Audio intro : Tommy Tutone, “ Rachel ” Audio interstitial : Son Volt, “ Catching On ” Audio outro : A Tribe Called Quest, “ Mind Power ” Link to Times story about Balkovec Link to Beacom debut video Link to Beacom video interview Link to article about Beacom Link to Sara Goodrum news Link to Jaime Vieira story Link to story about Becky Hammon Link to Rob on bias in player promotions Link to Rob on Black catchers Link to Claire Smith on Black catchers Link to Jared Diamond on Black catchers Link to story about AJ Link to story about Rockies signing AJ Link to story about Moller Link to AJ’s Instagram Link to AJ’s Twitter Link to Ben and Rob on scouting bias Link to Bryant’s list of Black catchers Link to Bryant on Maxwell Link to story on Black player percentage Link to Rob on manager demographics Link to Shakeia’s website Link to Shakeia’s feature Link to Selig Rule change story Link to Global Sport Institute study results Link to “Rediscovering America’s Pastime” Link to study on Black player drain Link to story on youth baseball cost Link to Ballpark Figures series 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