Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast
2,172 episodes - English - Latest episode: 3 days ago - ★★★★★ - 2.5K ratingsDaily baseball statistical analysis and commentary
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Episodes
Effectively Wild Episode 1671: Season Preview Series: Mets and Marlins
March 24, 2021 09:34 - 1 hour - 102 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the latest spring exploits of Shohei Ohtani, the Royals extending Salvador Perez, rooting against injuries in spring training, and a mysterious former major leaguer known only as “Lewis,” then preview the 2021 Mets (37:09) with Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News and the 2021 Marlins (1:14:26) […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1670: Season Preview Series: Astros and Rangers
March 19, 2021 23:07 - 1 hour - 82.3 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley preview the 2021 Astros with Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle and the 2021 Rangers (54:07) with Levi Weaver of The Athletic. Audio intro: The Felice Brothers, "T for Texas" Audio interstitial: Chip Taylor & Carrie Rodriguez, "Dirty Little Texas Story" Audio outro: 2nd Grade, "Bye-Bye Texas" Link to Michael Baumann on the […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1669: Season Preview Series: Braves and Mariners
March 19, 2021 07:34 - 5 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley attempt to make sense of unsightly spring training uniforms, then preview the 2021 Braves (08:42) with Grant McAuley of From The Diamond and the 2021 Mariners (45:27) with Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. Audio intro: Ken Stringfellow, "Uniforms" Audio interstitial: Anti-Flag, "20 Years of Hell" Audio outro: Jethro Tull, "Uniform" Link to […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1668: Season Preview Series: Twins and Tigers
March 17, 2021 02:29 - 1 hour - 93.1 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about weirdness and whimsy in spring training, the Giants and Cleveland playing an unnecessary bottom of the ninth (without umpires), the 22-pitch plate appearance between Jordan Hicks and Luis Guillorme, Jacob deGrom’s ever-escalating velocity, and two recent research pieces, then preview the 2021 Twins (23:33) with Aaron Gleeman of […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1667: Season Preview Series: White Sox and Diamondbacks
March 13, 2021 01:05 - 1 hour - 80.7 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley pass the halfway point of their 30-team season preview series by previewing the 2021 White Sox with James Fegan of The Athletic and the 2021 Diamondbacks (46:45) with Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic, plus a brief postscript on the career and retirement of Nick Markakis. Audio intro: Parquet Courts, "Black […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1666: The Number of the Banana
March 12, 2021 11:30 - 1 hour - 76.7 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the new baseball format embraced by the Savannah Bananas, the experimental rules MLB is imposing at various levels of the minor leagues in 2021, and whether they would want to live in a ballpark (like a man who claims to have lived for three years in Veterans Stadium), […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1665: Season Preview Series: Blue Jays and Giants
March 10, 2021 09:39 - 1 hour - 91.7 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about MLB.TV repetition, Yadier Molina throwing out Jose Siri, teams opting to end innings early, the effect of Jarred Kelenic’s injury on the Mariners service-time controversy, the Astros signing Jake Odorizzi, and teams being more brazen about lowering their competitive balance tax assessments, then preview the 2021 Blue Jays […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1664: Season Preview Series: Red Sox and Reds
March 06, 2021 15:19 - 1 hour - 108 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Shohei Ohtani’s first home run and pitching appearance of spring training, follow up on their previous discussion about the abominable baseball scene in Tom & Jerry, and recap the results of a Baseball America study about the number of big leaguers (and good big leaguers) in the average […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1663: If Baseball Were Different, it Would Be Blaseball
March 05, 2021 10:22 - 1 hour - 82.1 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Justin Dunn’s offseason overhaul and the value of spring training clichés, the Brewers signing Jackie Bradley Jr., why Jake Odorizzi is still a free agent, where he’ll end up, and why he’ll decide the EW free agent contracts competition, and an abominable baseball scene from the new movie […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1662: Season Preview Series: Angels and Royals
March 03, 2021 10:09 - 1 hour - 95.6 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about spring training games starting, Jeff Mathis batting cleanup in a spring training game (and once improbably batting fifth in a regular-season game), the latest reports about suspended Angels pitching coach Mickey Callaway, the postponement of the start of the Triple-A season, the outlook for attendance in Texas, and […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1661: Season Preview Series: Nationals and Cubs
February 27, 2021 06:24 - 1 hour - 95.2 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Jarred Kelenic’s beef with the Mariners about alleged service-time manipulation, then preview the 2021 Nationals (25:37) with Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post and the 2021 Cubs (59:43) with Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic. Audio intro: Ty Segall, "Manipulator" Audio interstitial 1: Gary Louris, "D.C. Blues" Audio interstitial 2: Jason Isbell, […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1660: Season Preview Series: Athletics and Phillies
February 24, 2021 10:22 - 5 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley preview the 2021 Athletics with Alex Coffey of The Athletic and the 2021 Phillies (30:13) with Matt Gelb of The Athletic. Audio intro: The Divine Comedy, "Come Home Billy Bird" Audio interstitial: George Harrison, "Stuck Inside a Cloud" Audio outro: The Apples in Stereo, "Play Tough" Link to Alex on Beane Link to […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1659: Rotten Mather
February 24, 2021 08:27 - 1 hour - 72.3 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Fernando Tatis Jr. coining a term for his contract, a Bill James tweet about analytics, and Shin-Soo Choo leaving MLB to make his belated KBO debut, share Stat Blasts about all-over-30 lineups and players who’ve dominated one position in their franchise’s history, and then (32:39) bring on FanGraphs […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1658: Season Preview Series: Cardinals and Cleveland
February 20, 2021 10:31 - 1 hour - 93.7 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about discordant college baseball uniform fonts, a piece by Blake Snell in The Players’ Tribune, and whether there’s a competitive advantage in making the bullpen less visible to the pitcher on the mound, then preview the 2021 Cardinals (15:13) with Will Leitch of MLB.com (and elsewhere) and the 2021 […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1657: The Stars Were Bright, Fernando
February 19, 2021 06:30 - 1 hour - 89.7 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Baltimore Orioles trending on Twitter because of their 0.0 percent FanGraphs playoff odds, what that figure really signifies, and how teams tend to respond to pessimistic projections, then break down why the record-breaking 14-year extension signed by superstar shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. is a windfall for him, […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1656: Season Preview Series: Rays and Brewers
February 15, 2021 09:32 - 1 hour - 88.2 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the beginning of the ninth annual Effectively Wild team-by-team season preview series, discuss a trio of players (Justin Turner, James Paxton, and Jake Arrieta) who re-signed with their most recent or former teams, and preview the 2021 Rays (16:01) with Adam Berry of MLB.com and the 2021 Brewers […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1655: Seven Minutes in the Heavens
February 13, 2021 08:36 - 1 hour - 63.3 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the de-naming and possible renaming of the minor leagues, the Andrew Benintendi trade and the state of the Royals, and what they would add to SABR’s list of the 50 most noteworthy moments in the evolution of baseball analytics over the past 50 years, then (30:00) bring back […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1654: Home Plate Rump
February 11, 2021 08:10 - 1 hour - 82.5 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about having baseball on the brain and the NL Central’s measly World Series odds, then answer listener emails about umpire underwear and repeated pants-splitting, an eccentric baseball billionaire who wants his son to break Cy Young’s career wins record, whether they would pitch a big-league game in exchange for […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1653: If (the) Baseball Were Different
February 10, 2021 07:52 - 1 hour - 83.3 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the incredible longevity of Dodgers Spanish-language voice Jaime Jarrín (who’s outlasted his own son in the broadcast booth), break down the new, universal-DH-less health and safety protocols for the 2021 season and MLB’s adjustments to the baseball’s construction, the Elvis Andrus–Khris Davis trade and the unprecedented positional profile […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1652: The Best of Tweets, the Worst of Tweets
February 06, 2021 07:19 - 1 hour - 80.8 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the latest developments for their minor league free agent draft teams, then discuss the Dodgers signing reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Trevor Bauer to an unexpected and unusually structured record contract, touching on the good and bad of Bauer, the incredible Dodgers-Padres arms race, and much more. […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1651: Split Decision
February 04, 2021 07:12 - 1 hour - 67.9 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley recap the Rockies’ press conference about the Nolan Arenado trade and GM Jeff Bridich claiming the belt as the game’s most-maligned GM, then discuss Angels pitching coach Mickey Callaway’s suspension and Andrelton Simmons’ comments about his mental state in 2020, analyze the Twins re-signing Nelson Cruz and signing Alex Colomé, […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1650: The Only Nolan
February 02, 2021 08:48 - 1 hour - 59.4 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley break down the Nolan Arenado trade from the Rockies’ and Cardinals’ perspectives, reflect on the Rockies’ rudderless state, touch on a few more minor transactions (Alex Cobb to the Angels, Didi Gregorius to the Phillies, and Eddie Rosario to Cleveland), remember the career of the now-retired Dustin Pedroia, and touch […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1649: The Energizer Battery
January 30, 2021 08:08 - 1 hour - 81.8 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the quirks and cancellation of a long-lost (and recently rediscovered) baseball successor to arcade hit NBA Jam called Power-Up Baseball, then discuss the Cubs signing Joc Pederson and the Cardinals bringing back Adam Wainwright and (probably) Yadier Molina, share a Stat Blast about where Wainwright and Molina rank […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1648: Squeeze Play
January 29, 2021 11:48 - 1 hour - 96.2 MBBen Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and FanGraphs author Ben Clemens break down the Marcus Semien, Andrelton Simmons, and Tommy La Stella signings, the Steven Matz trade, and Masahiro Tanaka’s decision to return to NPB’s Rakuten Eagles (with digressions about Japan’s tradition of awarding the uniform number 18 to aces and the greatness of Hiroki Kuroda) before […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1647: The Hot Stove, The Hall, and the Hammer
January 27, 2021 11:07 - 1 hour - 93.7 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Willians Astudillo’s award-winning heroics in the Venezuelan Winter League, then discuss the Phillies re-signing J.T. Realmuto, the Blue Jays signing Marcus Semien, the Nationals signing Brad Hand, the Padres signing Jurickson Profar, the Yankees trading for Jameson Taillon and assembling a skilled but injury-prone rotation, the Red Sox […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1646: Farewell to 44
January 23, 2021 08:33 - 5 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley reflect on the on-field feats, statistical records, and larger legacy of baseball icon Henry Louis “Hank” Aaron, who died on Friday at age 86. Then (25:47) they talk to Joe Lowry of Prospects Live about the ongoing boom in baseball cards, touching on why 2020 fueled a surge in sports-card […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1645: Go Canada
January 21, 2021 08:31 - 1 hour - 75.6 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Alex Rodriguez’s ubiquity on non-baseball broadcasts and then discuss George Springer signing a franchise-record contract with the Blue Jays, Michael Brantley re-signing with the Astros, and José Quintana signing with the Angels, touching on how the Jays compare to their AL East rivals and what the team may […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1644: Block and Report
January 20, 2021 09:18 - 1 hour - 88.8 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley discuss ESPN’s report about Mets GM Jared Porter’s harassment of a female reporter when Porter worked for the Cubs in 2016, Porter’s subsequent firing by the Mets, Mets president Sandy Alderson’s comments about Porter’s hiring, the limitations of assessing character, the obstacles media members who aren’t cis men encounter in […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1643: In Theo We Trust?
January 16, 2021 12:19 - 1 hour - 64.7 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Blue Jays missing out on DJ LeMahieu and which remaining free agents might be bound for Toronto, follow up on their previous discussion about bagged milk and tax implications for free agency, marvel at LeMahieu’s unique invulnerability to the shift and his unlikely career trajectory, and examine […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1642: Supply and Pent-Up Demand
January 14, 2021 07:15 - 5 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Blue Jays missing out on several free-agent or trade targets, then answer listener emails about whether fans feel pride in their division/league, the history (and future) of fundamental changes to baseball technique, how many championships one would win if transported back to 2000 and appointed as GM […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1641: The Confounding Free-Agent Market
January 13, 2021 09:20 - 1 hour - 71.3 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about why the free-agent market has been both slow-moving and fairly lucrative for the players who’ve signed, the White Sox inking closer Liam Hendriks, whether the White Sox are the American League’s front runners, the latest report that the season will start on time, napping, MLB’s plans for fans […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1640: Ethically Speaking
January 09, 2021 10:26 - 1 hour - 92.8 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley break down the six-player blockbuster trade headlined by Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco, touching on Cleveland’s decision to cut costs by dealing two fan favorites and the face of the franchise, how much better Lindor makes the Mets, and more, then banter about NPB ace Tomoyuki Sugano re-signing with the […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1639: Cobra Sigh
January 06, 2021 13:09 - 1 hour - 74.8 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the re-naming of Miller Park and the good and bad of ballpark naming rights, the improbable beginning of Phil Niekro’s career and what it says about the downsizing of the minor leagues, an intriguing projection of the outcome of the Padres-Dodgers NL West race, Boog Sciambi calling Cubs […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1638: How Kim Ng Broke into Baseball
January 04, 2021 11:24 - 1 hour - 79.1 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the official retirement of Phil Hughes, the joy of anticipating top prospects and watching them debut, the sobering reality of players their age starting to retire, a report that the 2021 season is likely to start on time, and a control group for their minor league free agent […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1637: The 2021 Minor League Free Agent Draft
January 01, 2021 08:39 - 1 hour - 73.4 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the experience of podcasting about baseball in 2020, what purpose they think the Hall of Fame serves, and whether they would consider giving up their Hall of Fame ballots, then ring in the new year by extending an old tradition and conducting the eighth annual Effectively Wild Minor […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1636: A First-Ballot Hall of Fame Voter
December 29, 2020 14:11 - 1 hour - 67.4 MBBen Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and FanGraphs Hall of Fame expert Jay Jaffe (the author of The Cooperstown Casebook) discuss Jay’s experience as a first-time Hall of Fame voter, the case of Curt Schilling, weighing on-field contributions and off-field transgressions, the players on Jay’s ballot, the candidacies of Billy Wagner, Gary Sheffield, Omar Vizquel, and others, […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1635: The Padres’ Wild Day
December 29, 2020 09:30 - 1 hour - 77.2 MBBen Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and FanGraphs lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen convene to discuss the latest epic Padres transaction spree (in which San Diego traded for Blake Snell and Yu Darvish and signed Ha-seong Kim 김하성), touching on A.J. Preller’s penchant for frenetic activity, the Padres’ rebuilt rotation and crowded infield, the prospect packages going […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1634: Found in Translation
December 24, 2020 10:37 - 1 hour - 65.8 MBBen Lindbergh talks to Jacky Bing-Sheng Lee, translator of the traditional Chinese edition of Ben’s book The MVP Machine, Hyunsung Kim, translator of the Korean edition of The MVP Machine, and Brendan O’Connor, assistant professor and linguistic anthropologist at the School of Transborder Studies at Arizona State University, about the challenges of translating a baseball […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1633: What the Insiders Say
December 24, 2020 09:09 - 1 hour - 65.9 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about why MLB reportedly isn’t interested in short-term expansion and an observation about Tyler Glasnow, Martin Shkreli, and Cillian Murphy, then review the accuracy of last year’s annual ESPN MLB insiders survey, predict and assess the responses to the just-released, latest edition of the survey, answer a listener email […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1632: The New Scouting Scale
December 23, 2020 10:15 - 1 hour - 86.8 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about ballpark renaming, follow up on their discussion about managers getting fired for their actions in a single game, discuss how the history of baseball’s sabermetric movement predicts the trajectory and ramifications of analytics use in football and other sports, and reflect on the significance of the Phillies hiring […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1631: Ducks on the Walden Pond
December 19, 2020 09:45 - 1 hour - 70.9 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley follow up briefly on their recent Scott Boras banter, then answer listener emails about what a manager has to do to get fired because of a single game, possible scenarios in which Mookie Betts enters the Hall of Fame representing the Red Sox instead of the Dodgers, whether nature excursions […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1630: What’s Next for the Negro Leagues?
December 17, 2020 09:19 - 1 hour - 68.4 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley discuss the news that MLB is belatedly designating the 1920-1948 Negro Leagues as major leagues (with a word from 1948 Negro Leaguer Ron Teasley), touching on the various reactions to MLB’s announcement, the positives and negatives of MLB’s approach to this process, the upcoming, complex integration of Negro Leagues stats […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1629: One Hundred Years of Gratitude
December 15, 2020 11:15 - 1 hour - 96 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about secret baseball-playing robots and non-secret baseball-rooting robots, how coverage of NFL scoring changes compares to coverage of MLB scoring changes, and Meg’s research about changes in access to minor league games, follow up on the Mets signing James McCann, the Phillies hiring Dave Dombrowski, and the significance of […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1628: What MLB’s Remaking of the Minors Means
December 11, 2020 08:24 - 1 hour - 75.9 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about and the Phillies’ surprise hiring of Dave Dombrowski as their president of baseball operations, then (15:04) bring on Baseball America executive editor J.J. Cooper to talk about the ongoing overhaul of the minor leagues, the history of the relationship between the majors and minors, why MLB sought to […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1627: For Your Aggressive Listening Pleasure
December 10, 2020 00:50 - 1 hour - 61.5 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about “listening aggressively,” “progressing past just talking,” and other winter rumor terminology, contemplate what the “virtual Winter Meetings” look like, then break down several rumored or completed trades or signings, including Lance Lynn and Adam Eaton to the White Sox, Raisel Iglesias to the Angels, Carlos Santana and Mike […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1626: The All-Time-Great-Grandfather
December 08, 2020 07:57 - 1 hour - 72.9 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about MLB’s long-shot attempt to recoup COVID-related losses from its insurance providers, Tomoyuki Sugano getting posted, and why the Phillies’ rebuild has stalled, then (36:45) talk to Sean Gibson, the great-grandson of Hall of Famer and Negro Leagues great Josh Gibson and the executive director of the Josh Gibson […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1625: Baseball After Dark
December 05, 2020 14:09 - 1 hour - 64.6 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley offer an update about Sam Miller’s status on the podcast, banter about the Rangers hiring former pitcher Chris Young as their new GM and play-by-play man Len Kasper’s move from Cubs TV broadcasts to White Sox radio broadcasts, and answer listener emails about how tanking teams could be more entertaining, […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1624: How to Build a Baseball Dynasty
December 04, 2020 07:49 - 1 hour - 67.6 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about what went down at MLB’s non-tender deadline, touching on whether the news for arbitration-eligible players was as dire as forecasted, the more notable non-tenders, and the short- and long-term futures of free agency, then (29:36) talk to Jason Coskrey of The Japan Times about how the NPB’s Fukuoka […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1623: Robot Slumps
December 03, 2020 00:56 - 1 hour - 65.1 MBBen Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about how many negative WAR an average fan would be worth over a full MLB season, discuss an MLB fan survey, what they would want to ask fans, and how much MLB can actually improve baseball’s popularity, break down a baseball music video for “The Adults Are Talking” by […]
Effectively Wild Episode 1622: Non-Tender is the Night
November 25, 2020 23:34 - 56 minutes - 52.1 MBBen Lindbergh and Meg Rowley talk to FanGraphs’ Craig Edwards and Eric Longenhagen about MLB’s approaching non-tender deadline, why a number of prominent players may not be offered contracts, the effect a non-tender deluge might have on the free agent market, how slowly this free agent market might move, whether owners’ claims of financial hardship […]