The Infinite Inning

Latest Episodes:

Infinte Inning 140: That's Just What the Devil Wants Apr 05, 2020

Show notes

Brendan Kuty (NJ.Com, the Star-Ledger) discusses his coronavirus-motivated drive home from spring training and tries to explain Aaron Judge’s injuries. Plus, a classic baseball story told accurately (for once) and the Giants make a narrow escape from some justifiably-enraged Phillies fans.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Classic Bird Story*The Giants Attacked in Their Barouches*Brendan Kuty: Home/Unselfish*Painting Rainbows*Pay-What-You-Can Restaurant*Coronavirus Deniers on I-95 (State of Idiots)* The Carrier From Florida in Section 49*Sensing a Story*Aaron Judge’s Diagnosis-Free Winter*The Severino Example*Bee-Gees?*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 139: Where Have You Gone, Jo Adell? Mar 29, 2020

Show notes

Jeff Paternostro (Baseball Prospectus lead prospect writer) returns to look forward to the day baseball returns by looking at the best power prospects in the minors, the Orioles’ no. 1 draft pick from last June, and more. Plus, tales of serious baseball played at unserious times in 1914 and 1941, Germany Schaefer stealing first base, and the obscure record held by a forgotten third baseman.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
They Were All Just Ordinary Days in Baseball*Tony Boeckel’s Unbreakable Record*Jeff Paternostro: Reluctant Social Distancing (With Dogs) and Picky Eaters*Sleeper Prospects for 2020*Cavan Biggio: Player Out of Time*Who is the Best Power Prospect in the Game?*How Projectable Is an Already-Mature Body Anyway?*Adley Rutchsman, Matt Wieters, Robo-Umps and Bad Pitch-Framers*First-Base-to-Catcher-Conversions*A Bobby Bonilla Digression*The Minor League Shutdown*The Value on In-Person Scouting in an Age of Video*A Momentary Haruki Murakami Digression*Where to Go Once We’re Free/Heliot Ramos/Mike Yastrzemski*One Last Prospect: Dylan Carlson*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 138 Bear Down, Bear Down, Bear Down Mar 20, 2020

Show notes

Emily Nemens discusses the conflicts in and the process of writing her new baseball novel, The Cactus League. Plus Hall of Fame pitcher Waite Hoyt spins a harrowing tale during a rain delay and Joe DiMaggio tries to withstand a “hot condition,” as well all sometimes must.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Surviving Waite Hoyt’s Rain Delay of the Soul*Joe DiMaggio’s Trying Year*Emily Nemens: Players in Spring Training: Dominoes Waiting to Fall*Coordinating a Fictional 40-Man Roster*Jason Goodyear vs. Derek Jeter: It’s Lonely at the Top*How Much Access to Athletes Owe the Public?*Wives and Girlfriends*The Dennis Eckersley Example*Revision!*How to Sell a Baseball Novel*That Spring Training Complete Game*Balancing a Large Cast*Can Short Stories Make a Comeback?*The Unexpected Hawthorne Plug*The Unexpected “The Americanization of Emily” Plug*The Creativity vs. Appropriation Controversy*The Los Angeles Lions, “A Team for a Team’s Sake,” and the Seattle Mariners*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 137 Cutting Off Balls (In a Nice Way) Mar 14, 2020

Show notes

Mark Simon, co-author of The Fielding Bible V, discusses the latest in defensive evaluation, climbing the ladder at “Baseball Tonight,” and tries to explain Gio Urshela, Paul DeJong, and other mysteries of defense. Plus two New York teams brawl but that’s not the most dangerous thing happening, and why baseball ducked an otherwise deadly disease.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Quarantine the World Series*Why Did Baseball Escape the 1918 Influenza Pandemic?*Mark Simon: Halcyon days at “Baseball Tonight”*Life Begins with Jayson Stark*The Fielding Bible V: What’s New in Evaluating Fielders?*The Joe DiMaggio Easy-Catch Hypothetical*Andrew McCutchen and Positioning*Stats Versus the Eye Test I: Gio Urshela*Stats Versus the Eye Test II: Paul DeJong*Runs on Offense and Runs on Defense (That Matt Kemp Season)*The Schmidt-Bowa Question*A Shawon Dunston Celebration*Keith Hernandez vs. Albert Pujols*Can We Compare Defensive Players Across Time?*Cody Bellinger’s Versatility*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 136 War Criminal in the Booth Mar 04, 2020

Show notes

Infinite Inning 136: War Criminal in the Booth
Cliff Corcoran returns to discuss the burning issues of the day, including the everybody-gets-a-playoff-spot trial balloon. Plus, a player asks for help after a hurricane and how the 1922 World Series relates to a non-existent musical about the Founding Fathers called “Morris!”
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Tony Fernandez and the Hurricane: What’s Good, Anyway?*Bullet Joe Bush and the Immortal Part of Oneself*Cliff Corcoran: Poofy Baseball Caps of the 1890s*The Baseball Exhibit at the Nixon Library (Ted Bleeping Williams)*The Mookie Betts-Kevin Pillar Blues*Generational Talents Are Unevenly Distributed*The Revised Playoff Plan*“That September Marlins-Pirates Game”*The Three-Batter Rule Could Make Games Longer?*“The Only Balk I’ve Ever Liked”*Are the Yankees Left-Handed Enough?*Goodbyes.
WARNING: There is a shocking amount of swearing for a Cliff episode. Put earmuffs on the cat!
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 135 It's All Duck Sauce and Suffering Feb 24, 2020

Show notes

David Roth returns to talk the non-sale of the New York Mets, the irrational trade of Mookie Betts, and asks why the president has an old-time Yankees second baseman on his mind. Plus, a tender encounter with a warm Yankee Stadium security guard and why childhood inadequacy can leave one feeling like Juan Samuel.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Face Down in Joe Girardi’s Bouncy Castle*David Roth: The 1961 Yankees vs POTUS (Bobby Richardson Batting Leadoff)*Rudy Has a Ring/Mookie Betts Was Traded*Which of These Marge Schott Crimes Was Worse?*The Mets Non-Sale (Barbarians at the Citi Field Gates)*Rick Porcello: Local Guy/Missing Carlos Beltran*If the Mets Had Mickey Mantle’s Injuries to Manage*“Flexibility”*Cespedes’ Destiny*Whither Yasiel Puig?*“The Cruncher and Racism Show”*Goodbyes.
WARNING: As in all Rothian episodes, there is the occasional bit o’ cussing. Please hide impressionable gerbils.
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 134 Rent-to-Own Baseball Teams Feb 09, 2020

Show notes

Jesse Spector returns for interlocking discussions of the return of Dusty Baker and revisions to the dinosaur room at the museum. Plus, tales of White Sox and Mets sales gone awry and Rickey Henderson and Mookie Betts trades compared.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Wilpons, the Comiskeys, and the Desire to Give Birth to Yourself*Rickey Henderson Gets Traded*Jesse Spector: Tacosaurus*Dusty Baker Rides Again*Billy Martin Should Not Be in the Hall of Fame*The Limits of Cheating*Garry Maddox vs. Juan Lagares*Jesse’s NIMBYs and a Personal Crisis*Youth Homes, Minor League Teams, The Offer of Hope, Exploited Dreams, Dreams No Longer Desired, Fewer Beds and Bases Available*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 133 Always the Most Reasonable Person Feb 01, 2020

Show notes

Allen Barra (Mickey and Willie; The Last Coach; Yogi Berra: Eternal Yankee; Inventing Wyatt Earp) discusses his friendship with MLBPA head and new Hall of Famer Marvin Miller. Plus, the consequences of immorality in baseball and a couple of highly flawed Giants relationships.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Hal Chase, Roberto Clemente, and “The Good Place”*Managers Hired, Fired, and Hitting Each Other*Allen Barra: Marvin Miller’s Belated Enshrinement*What Was Marvin Miller Like?*Verbal Jujitsu*A Union Man His Whole Life*A Brief Visit to Birmingham*Marvin Miller vs. Bowie Kuhn*Czars Can’t Be Fired*Abraham Lincoln Doesn’t Enter Into It*Disenchanted/Bitter/Betrayed by Reggie*Bobby Thomson Had the Dodgers’ Signs*Ranking the Top Six Wyatt Earp Movies*Consulting for “Tombstone”*”Glory” and the Denigration of African American Soldiers*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 132 The Call of the Trashcan Jan 25, 2020

Show notes

Marc Normandin returns to talk Astros and Red Sox sign-stealing fallout, plus tales of a player so serene he could sleep in the middle of a ballgame and a Dodgers fan objects to women in the ballpark.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
When Edd Roush Needs a Nap, Edd Roush Takes a Nap*Ladies’ Day (“Dames! Dames! Dames!”)*Marc Normandin: A Brief, Inadvertent “Rise of Skywalker” Chat*Astros and Red Sox Cheating Reactions*The Astros’ Taubmanism and the Price of Hubris*Jeff Luhnow and Management-Consultant Culture*Are the Astros Players Permanently Tainted?*Down with the Hall of Fame Gallery, Up With the Museum*Did the Last Two Postseasons Really Happen?*What is Wrong with the Colorado Rockies?*Are the Red Sox Building Up or Tearing Down?*Let’s Dispense with the Ideas of Managers as Difference-Makers*A.J. Hinch: No Good Men in Sodom*Trevor Bauer is Blocked*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 131 The Ball is Painfully Obviously Juiced Jan 18, 2020

Show notes

Rob Arthur of Baseball Prospectus discusses the juiced ball, Astros sign-stealing, and the past and future of the human race. Plus John McGraw fights while Boston burns and a pitcher is mocked for his weight.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Walter, not Jumbo*The Brief Story of “Jumbo Jim”*A Fire in Boston*Rob Arthur: Fruit Flies No Matter What*Malthus Was Right? (“Who’s Mathis?” Andy Asked)*WAR (What’s It Good For?)*The Hall of Fame and the Soft Factors*The Ball is Painfully, Obviously Juiced*Juiced Balls vs. Juiced Players*Manfred’s Reasons and Excuses*How Did We Miss the Astros’ Sign-Stealing?*Will the Real Alex Bregman Please Stand Up?*Mike Trout’s Genes vs. Yours*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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