Show notes
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about players being in the sexiest shape of their lives, Rockies owner Dick Monfort’s comments about the Padres’ spending, and how Diamond Sports Group’s bankruptcy might affect the future of baseball broadcasting, then (28:09) discuss more ways in which baseball stands out from other sports. After that (35:35), they answer listener emails about misspelled Cy Young awards, why timeouts are called timeouts, “offensive environment” vs. “scoring environment” and “run environment,” scoring more runs for hitting a foul pole, rodeo-style “shark cages” in the outfield, how teams can quickly change their vibes, whether anyone will ever throw a 110-mph pitch, players excelling on certain surfaces, a team with unlimited 1.0 WAR players, how bigger bases could affect bang-bang plays, and an every-way Shohei Ohtani. They finish (1:40:29) with Stat Blasts about the newly retired Darren O’Day, the unusual reliever-to-starter conversion of Jeffrey Springs, and a Mike Hampton–Shawn Green matchup from the 2003 movie The Core, plus (2:08:56) a Past Blast from 1962.Audio intro: Tom Verlaine, “Down on the Farm”Audio outro: Bettie Serveert, “Sundazed to the Core”Link to Helfand tweetLink to Hayes tweetLink to Pratt tweetLink to Warne tweetLink to Ben on BSOHLLink to Hamels comeback blogLink to Monfort’s 2020 predictionLink to latest Monfort commentsLink to Bloomberg on RSNsLink to BP on RSNsLink to Travis Sawchik on RSNsLink to Ben Clemens on RSNsLink to baseball exceptionalism wikiLink to sac fly definitionLink to awards photosLink to Hoch tweetLink to timeouts story sourceLink to EW Episode 1381Link to rodeo shark cage videoLink to EW Episode 265Link to 110-mph pitcher videoLink to fastest recorded pitchesLink to Ben on past FB speedsLink to yearly average pitch speedsLink to Baumann on artificial turfLink to Pinstripe Alley on bigger basesLink to Russell on defensive moversLink to THT on defensive moversLink to listener emails databaseLink to O’Day retirement tweetLink to O’Day Stathead queryLink to Dave Brown at B-Ref bullpenLink to reliever-starter convertsLink to Ben on WrightLink to the “Rule of 17”Link to FG on the Springs extensionLink to Rays Pride Night storyLink to Ryan Nelson on TwitterLink to The Core wikiLink to story on the real coreLink to The Core baseball sceneLink to Green vs. Hampton H2HLink to 2004 Green vs. Hampton storyLink to lopsided batter-pitcher matchupsLink to ’99–’02 top position playersLink to Randall Munroe on the shuttleLink to Higgins vs. Lawson H2HLink to Kenny Jackelen on TwitterLink to 1962 story sourceLink to B-Ref East-West Game accountLink to David Lewis’s TwitterLink to David Lewis’s SubstackLink to Kent on SurvivorLink to L.A. Times on KentLink to Kent’s salaries 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.comvar SERVER_DATA = Object.assign(SERVER_DATA || {});Source