The Infinite Inning

Latest Episodes:

Infinite Inning 238: To Deny The Umpire's Truth is a Sin Sep 12, 2022

Show notes

Rob Neyer returns to discuss his contributions to Dale Scott’s memoir THE UMPIRE IS OUT and sundry other matters. Plus tales: A reserve catcher meets a grizzly end and a ballplayer is punished for going to his family’s aid.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Short, Sad Ballad of Frank Grube*“Lifestyles”*100-Walk Trios*Rocky Gonna Fly Now (Into the Stands)*Rob Neyer: A worthy subject*Keeping the Voice*Working with Dale Scott*Jack Morris/No Scores Settled*When Umps Learned to Confer*Why Was It Done This Way?*When the Umpires Resigned*The Late Arrival of Instant Replay*The Automated Strike Zone*Closeted*Growing Up in a Homophobic Culture*An Umpire Comes Out*Progress on Tolerance and Retrograde Movement*What Does the Commissioner of the West Coast League Do?*The Yankees’ Disastrous Stretch-Run*Goodbyes.
Read BASEBALL'S BRIEF LIVES: PLAYER STORIES INSPIRED BY THE INFINITE INNING, now available from Amazon!
The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman, rotating cohosts Jesse Spector, Cliff Corcoran, and David Roth, and occasional guests discuss the game’s present, past, and future with forays outside the foul lines to the culture at large. Expect stats, anecdotes, digressions, explorations of writing and fandom, and more Casey Stengel quotations than you thought possible. Along the way, they’ll try to solve the puzzle that is the Infinite Inning: How do you find the joy in life when you can’t get anybody out?

Infinite Inning 237: Lightning Bolts From Clear Blue Skies Sep 04, 2022

Show notes

Eric Stephen (True Blue L.A.) returns to discuss the amazing, weird season of dominance being had by the Dodgers. Plus Tales: An outfielder stands in center field when God presses the “Smite” button and the origin of one of the more unusual player names is explained.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Trigger Warning: Beware the Teddy Bears*Lightning Bolts Out of Clear Blue Skies*Ray Caldwell, Ray Fisher, Russ Ford: Distinguishing the Scuffers*The Tragic End of Andy Strong*Approximation of an Instagram Couple on the Edge of a Volcano*Walt Bond and Danny Thompson*The Charms of Garms*The Debs of Garms*Eric Stephen: How are They Doing This? Volume*No Offdays in the Postseason*Parsing Craig Kimbrel’s Season*The Difficulty and Emotional Aspects of the Postseason*Meet the New Kenley, Same as the Old Kenley*Freddie Freeman’s Blues*Will Cody Bellinger Receive a Contract?*Joey Gallo’s Blues*Max Muncy’s Blues*Gallo vs. Outman*Pedro Guerrero Memories*Dodger Stadium Mixed-Up Confusion*Waiting for a 50-Double Dodger/The Johnny Frederick Type*Are the Dodgers Aging?*How Little We Know, Gavin Lux*Jacob deGrom: Hall of Famer?*Goodbyes.
TRIGGER WARNING: A child is in jeopardy in the first segment of this episode.
Outdoor ambience by javetakami, footsteps (stones) and boiling water by Inspector J of Freesound. Gasp and fall by SkyRaeVoicing, woman screaming by Supercolio.
The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman, rotating cohosts Jesse Spector, Cliff Corcoran, and David Roth, and occasional guests discuss the game’s present, past, and future with forays outside the foul lines to the culture at large. Expect stats, anecdotes, digressions, explorations of writing and fandom, and more Casey Stengel quotations than you thought possible. Along the way, they’ll try to solve the puzzle that is the Infinite Inning: How do you find the joy in life when you can’t get anybody out?

Infinite Inning 236: Sailing the Sea of Baseball's Brief Lives Aug 22, 2022

Show notes

Cliff Corcoran takes over the interview to interrogate Steve on BASEBALL’S BRIEF LIVES: PLAYER STORIES INSPIRED BY THE INFINITE INNING. Plus tales: Teams that played .700 ball and then faltered (that is, just the 2022 Yankees) and false hope from a prospect, starring Dodgers phenom-for-a-moment Cal Abrams—a tale that twisted in the telling as questions of performance were tangled with accusations of Antisemitism.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Yankees Defenestrate*The Slow Rise and Quick Fall of Cal Abrams, Dodgers Phenom*Cliff Corcoran: Success Has Many Fathers*Dead Player Origins*In Baseball There’s a Story Everywhere You Look for It*The Rumors of Obi-Wan’s Death*The Bill James Influence*Gil McDougald and Horace Clarke*Tell McGraw—What?*Statcast and Derek Jeter’s Private Anatomy*Infallible*Empathy for Those Without Plaque*The Rick Ferrell Comment*Posthumous Recognition*Reconciling Pre-Integration Baseball*Goodbyes.
Glass breaking effect by Inspector J of Freesound.
The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman, rotating cohosts Jesse Spector, Cliff Corcoran, and David Roth, and occasional guests discuss the game’s present, past, and future with forays outside the foul lines to the culture at large. Expect stats, anecdotes, digressions, explorations of writing and fandom, and more Casey Stengel quotations than you thought possible. Along the way, they’ll try to solve the puzzle that is the Infinite Inning: How do you find the joy in life when you can’t get anybody out?

Infinite Inning 235 No Beatwriters in the Wedding Party Aug 14, 2022

Show notes

Chris Cotillo (Mass Live) discusses the Red Sox’ incomprehensible season, the beatwriter as a young man, and how to work the pregame clubhouse. Plus Tales: Lessons from a Game-Ending Caught Stealing, Starring the Babe, and a Negro Leagues great goes to Mexico and wins a triple crown.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Masters of the Game-Ending Caught Stealing, Starring Babe Ruth and the 2022 Yankees*The Small Sample Classic, with Matt Carpenter and Wild Bill Wright*Chris Cotillo: Trade-Deadline Covid*First to Last and Last to First in Boston*Back to the Mookie Betts Trade*The Jarren Duran Blues*Where Have You Gone, J.D. Martinez?*Pitching Plans, or Lack Thereof, with Garrett Whitlock*Cotillo Origins*“You Can’t Just Be a Newbreaker”*Beyond the Endorphin Hit*Churn Burnout*Hotshot Kid at the Meetings*Checking Your Fandom*World Series Wedding*How Do You Work the Pregame Clubhouse?*Chaim Bloom and the Small-Market Approach*Goodbyes.
The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman, rotating cohosts Jesse Spector, Cliff Corcoran, and David Roth, and occasional guests discuss the game’s present, past, and future with forays outside the foul lines to the culture at large. Expect stats, anecdotes, digressions, explorations of writing and fandom, and more Casey Stengel quotations than you thought possible. Along the way, they’ll try to solve the puzzle that is the Infinite Inning: How do you find the joy in life when you can’t get anybody out?

Infinite Inning 234: Innovators and Hypocrites Aug 07, 2022

Show notes

Mark Armour and Daniel Levitt discuss their new book INTENTIONAL BALK: BASEBALL’s LONG AND SORDID HISTORY OF INNOVATION AND CHEATING. Plus tales: The Dodgers’ Uncle Robbie is a hypocrite about weight and one of the greatest Yankees managers does the right thing after an uncharacteristic blow-up.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Uncle Robbie Fat-Shames a Pitcher and We Learn a New Vocabulary Word*The Start of Joe Page and the End of Joe McCarthy*Mark Armour and Daniel Levitt: Is Cheating a Matter of Perspective?*Who Are the Sociopaths in Your Neighborhood?*Individual Cheating vs. Conspiratorial Cheating*William Shakespeare’s Barry Bonds*Restorative versus Enhancing Drugs*Community Standards and Speeding on the Highway*Don’t Touch My Armpits/Billy Martin vs. Gaylord Perry*PEDs and Baseball Gerontology*Shohei Ohtani Jr. vs. Shohei Ohtani III*Roster Shenanigans and the Trading Deadline*The Inevitable Pine Tar Game*Why Did It Take So Long for Baseball to Ban Electric Sign-Stealing?*Book Collaboration*The Coming Shift Ban*Goodbyes.
Horse Whinny, Close, A.wav" by InspectorJ of Freesound.org.
The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman, rotating cohosts Jesse Spector, Cliff Corcoran, and David Roth, and occasional guests discuss the game’s present, past, and future with forays outside the foul lines to the culture at large. Expect stats, anecdotes, digressions, explorations of writing and fandom, and more Casey Stengel quotations than you thought possible. Along the way, they’ll try to solve the puzzle that is the Infinite Inning: How do you find the joy in life when you can’t get anybody out?

Infinite Inning 233 Smells Like Hot Yogurt Jul 30, 2022

Show notes

Chats are back! David Roth returns to ask existential questions about Juan Soto, the billionaire class, and if the average person can develop Steve Blass’s disease. Plus tales: A reserve catcher has a fateful meeting with a man who brought dignity to a bodily function and several current players conjure a classic tale from the beginning of the 20th century due to their lack of vaccination.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Reds Catcher and a Man Named Sneeze*Cardinals with White Feathers*1902, WHIT*David Roth: A Random Invocation of William Saroyan*Steve Sax, Steve Blass, and Someone Else Named Steve*Being Normal is Hard*Gore Vidal on Em-Dashes*Category Error at Fenway Park*It’s “The Time of Your Life”*Radical Despairing Empathy*Interrogating Nick Castellanos and Kindness to Joey Gallo (and Mackey Sasser)*Dick Young and Dave Egan*Ted Williams and Spider-Man*Sympathy for Horace Clarke*Andrew McCutchen and “Furries”*The Mets on the Brink*Who Mourns for the Nationals?*Are Americas Billionaires Depressed?*Full Circle to the Red Sox/You Can’t Win a World Series as a Cynic*The Temperature on the Field (And Everywhere Else)*Goodbyes.
WARNING: On Roth week, we swear. Hide the sheep and console the shepherd.
The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman, rotating cohosts Jesse Spector, Cliff Corcoran, and David Roth, and occasional guests discuss the game’s present, past, and future with forays outside the foul lines to the culture at large. Expect stats, anecdotes, digressions, explorations of writing and fandom, and more Casey Stengel quotations than you thought possible. Along the way, they’ll try to solve the puzzle that is the Infinite Inning: How do you find the joy in life when you can’t get anybody out?

Infinite Inning 232: My Boyhood Pal Marilyn Monroe Jul 21, 2022

Show notes

Infinite Inning 232: My Boyhood Pal, Marilyn Monroe
One more (really) solo episode as we gear up for the Baseball’s Brief Lives, the Infinite Inning book: The son of a Hall of Famer makes a very famous friend and gets grief for it, a great but mostly forgotten player tries to kill another future Hall of Famer with kindness, and more about Cap Anson and his underage bride.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Joe D Goes to the Movies*Joe D Gets Married, Hangs with the Boys*Joe D’s Son and New Girlfriend Bond*An Overwrought Invocation of Shakespeare*Cap Anson, the Future Virginia Anson, and Elon Musk’s Dad*All-Star Emeritus Spots*Tommy Holmes, Captive of Fate*Holmes vs. Henry Aaron*They Were Right About the Titanic*A Lopsided Trade Thwarted and a Walk-Off Homer Against Warren Spahn*Gil Hodges and the Hall of Fame*Alternative-Universe Gil Hodges and the Hall of Fame*Goodbyes.
The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman, rotating cohosts Jesse Spector, Cliff Corcoran, and David Roth, and occasional guests discuss the game’s present, past, and future with forays outside the foul lines to the culture at large. Expect stats, anecdotes, digressions, explorations of writing and fandom, and more Casey Stengel quotations than you thought possible. Along the way, they’ll try to solve the puzzle that is the Infinite Inning: How do you find the joy in life when you can’t get anybody out?

Infinite Inning 231: The Courtship of Adrian & Virginia Jul 08, 2022

Show notes

A final solo episode before a return to guests features discussions of a manager realizing he was in over his head after just one game and a Hall of Famer meets his wife—in a way that would land him in jail today.
TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains discussions of abortion, murder, consent, and child abuse, among other things.
THE INFINITE INNING BOOK: Baseball’s Brief Lives: Player Stories Inspired by the Infinite Inning Podcast, is coming in August!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Overwhelmed/The Rangers’ Four Managers of 1977/Lucchesi in Pain/Stanky’s Retreat/Your Happy Place/Johnny Mize’s Coded Wheaties Ad*Cap Anson’s Courtship*The Social Purity Movement*What Anson Was and Was Not Responsible For*King Listeria IV*The Age of Consent as of the 1880s*The Works of Alice Duer Miller*The Ephemeral Nature of Values*A Marriage on Long Island*A Death in Boston*Cap Anson Rides Again*Goodbyes.
The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman, rotating cohosts Jesse Spector, Cliff Corcoran, and David Roth, and occasional guests discuss the game’s present, past, and future with forays outside the foul lines to the culture at large. Expect stats, anecdotes, digressions, explorations of writing and fandom, and more Casey Stengel quotations than you thought possible. Along the way, they’ll try to solve the puzzle that is the Infinite Inning: How do you find the joy in life when you can’t get anybody out?

Infinite Inning 230: The One with Lute Jun 25, 2022

Show notes

One more solo episode inspired, as always, by current events in which the right player is suspended for what he didn’t do but what everyone understood he intended and a player attempts to start a fan uprising.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Brawl that No One Saw*Luke/Lute/Daniel Boone’s Strange Ejection*Goodbyes.
The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman, rotating cohosts Jesse Spector, Cliff Corcoran, and David Roth, and occasional guests discuss the game’s present, past, and future with forays outside the foul lines to the culture at large. Expect stats, anecdotes, digressions, explorations of writing and fandom, and more Casey Stengel quotations than you thought possible. Along the way, they’ll try to solve the puzzle that is the Infinite Inning: How do you find the joy in life when you can’t get anybody out?

Infinite Inning 229: The Benign Uncle Jun 15, 2022

Show notes

Another solo episode as your host continues to recover from whatever is wrong with him THIS week! (Even his doctors mock him). This week: Tales of two catchers, one of whom was the best uncle baseball ever had, the other a longtime manager who had a moment of unusual frankness after making a trade.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Uncle Robbie Phones May Phone it In but He Knows His Meats*Steve O’Neill versus the Yankees*Umpires versus Fans*Steve O’Neill versus Uncle Robbie*Steve O’Neill versus Mad Monk Meyer*Goodbyes.
The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman, rotating cohosts Jesse Spector, Cliff Corcoran, and David Roth, and occasional guests discuss the game’s present, past, and future with forays outside the foul lines to the culture at large. Expect stats, anecdotes, digressions, explorations of writing and fandom, and more Casey Stengel quotations than you thought possible. Along the way, they’ll try to solve the puzzle that is the Infinite Inning: How do you find the joy in life when you can’t get anybody out?

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