Effectively Wild Episode 1975: Backdoor Curve

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley begin with a little loose talk about Kiké Hernández ’s revelation that he sharted during the 2020 NLDS, and pin down the precise instant of the accident with audio evidence. Then (23:59) they banter about whether it’s oxymoronic for MLB to have multiple “co-exclusive” official betting partners, MLB hiring local media execs to prepare for an RSN collapse (30:27), how the Blue Jays could make use of ex-Astros GM James Click (33:37), MLB lobbying state governments for exceptions to minimum-wage laws (39:51), a wave of injuries in spring training (44:30), and an umpire-less inning (48:06). After that (51:06), they answer listener emails about whether a Triple-A team in midseason form could defeat a pre-spring-training average MLB team or team of MLB all-stars, forgetting player handedness, the fluky debut of Livan Soto , whether Barry Bonds could still hit home runs, triple-digit uniform numbers, changing one’s mind about boycotting MLB, “hitter” vs. “position player,” the effects of starting separate unions for pitchers and hitters, and what a “partial shift” means in 2023, plus a Past Blast from 1975 (1:43:31) and a follow-up on the Past Blast from 1974 (1:46:37), featuring Gregg Trueman , son of sabermetric pioneer Richard E. (Dick) Trueman. Audio intro : Billy Bragg, “ Accident Waiting to Happen ” Audio outro : Monsters of Folk, “ Ahead of the Curve ” Link to Red Sox Twitter video Link to the instant of the shart Link to 2020 NLDS G1 at B-Ref Link to Meg on Bradley Link to new “co-exclusive” press release Link to 2021 “co-exclusive” press release Link to MLB’s local media hirings Link to Drellich on MLB and RSNs Link to article on Click’s hiring Link to article on Click and Crane Link to Ben on front-office secrecy Link to Seeking Rents on MLB lobbying Link to Drellich on MLB lobbying Link to EW on possible book bans Link to Lux injury video Link to thread on umpire-less baseball Link to Handley’s framing Link to MLB on the umpire-less inning Link to ESPN on the umpire-less inning Link to EW on unnecessary 9th innings Link to EW listener emails database Link to Soto/Bouchard leaderboard Link to Voros’s Law Link to Soto’s record on Stathead Link to article about Bonds’s cycling Link to Bonds on Strava Link to 75-year-old Appling’s HR Link to Adler on uniform numbers Link to Neshek on SABRCast Link to 2020 Keyser column Link to revised MLBPA logo Link to MLB on “strategic” shifts Link to 1975 Past Blast source Link to high school expanded DH Link to “Ohtani rule” Link to David Lewis’s Twitter Link to David Lewis’s Substack Link to 1974 Past Blast Link to Trueman’s 1974 article Link to Trueman’s 1959 article Link to Pete Palmer wiki Link to Earnshaw Cook wiki Link to The Numbers Game Link to 1964 SI article Link to SABR’s Mills data Link to Palmer on Player Win Averages Link to Dick Trueman archive Sponsor Us on Patreon Facebook Group Twitter Account EW Subreddit Effectively Wild Wiki iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!) Get Our Merch! Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com var SERVER_DATA = Object.assign(SERVER_DATA || {}); Source