The Infinite Inning

Latest Episodes:

Infinite Inning 110 Make America Biscuits Again Jun 25, 2019

Show notes

Cliff Corcoran (The Athletic) talks CC Sabathia in history, Mets mad decision-making, and short benches. Plus, tales of Gorman Thomas being archaically pelted and pre-Machado suspensions.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Gladiatorial Combat in Detroit*That Darn Calloway*The Infinite Punishments of Manny Machado*Cliff Corcoran: The Montgomery Biscuits baseball cap*Sabathia, Greinke, Kershaw, Verlander: Yesterday and Today*Dave Stieb and Other Devalued Aces*The Magic 235*Peak vs. Career: Dale Murphy vs. Harold Baines*The Rays Are Not Going to Montreal*The Expos Got a Raw Deal*The Mets Are Proudly Octogenarian*Geriatric Coaches in History*The Dave Eiland Story*Edwin Encarnacion In, Clint Frazier Out*There Are No Short Benches, There Are Only Short Minds*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 109 Is Vlad Guerrero Jr a Cheese and Other Questions Jun 18, 2019

Show notes

Rachael McDaniel (FanGraphs, The Hardball Times) returns to discuss her new editorial mission and lays out a philosophy of baseball writing. Plus a tale of Billy Martin’s self-sabotage and Steve bids goodbye to a friend.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Intentional Damage*A Personal Note of Mourning*Rachael McDaniel: Youthful Editor of The Hardball Times*Racist Knitters*Leaving Baseball Prospectus*What Is The Hardball Times?*“All They Really Want is What They Know”*Vladimir Guerrero Jr is like Cheddar Cheese*Writing That Has an Antagonistic Relationship With its Audience*Special Pleading on Behalf of Smokers and the Overweight*Editor’s Envy*This Temporal World of Baseball/“This Could Have Been a Tweet”*The Tommy Thevenow Analogy*Rachael’s Favorite Baseball Writer*What If You’re a Middle-Aged White Guy? (The Middle Feels Like the Beginning Feels Like the End*The Inevitable Blue Jays Question*Goodbyes.

Infinite Inning 108 Feels Like Fan Culture Jun 12, 2019

Show notes

David Roth (Deadspin) returns to discuss Mets failings, how Jorge Bell became George, and why teams feel the need to add “the one guy who can get the job done.” Plus an argument/tribute to David Ortiz and a pitcher unjustly fined and unjustly accused.
WARNING: There are a few random cusswords in this episode. It’s a RothShow.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A Paean to David Ortiz*Bill Voiselle’s Weight: It’s Not What You Say*David Roth: The Falls at Paterson*An Accidental Ad*The Americanization of Jorge Bell*Sympathy for Clint Frazier*A Very Brief Conversation about Gene Nelson and Mike Griffin (But Not Ken Clay)*Remembering Ivan Calderon*Remembering Chili Davis*Dominic Smith is Doing His Best*Robinson Cano Got Old*Need the Mets Move on From Mickey Callaway*Cespedes’s Last Ride*Good for the Wolves*Don’t Acquire Old Second Basemen*Evaluating Amed Rosario*Mental Processing Speed in Sports*Richie Incognito, Odubel Herrera, and Players Who Need to Go Away But Just Won’t*Goodbyes.

Infinite Inning 107: Washed Clean By the MVP Machine Jun 04, 2019

Show notes

TABLE OF CONTENTS
If John Wehner Had Broadcast in 1880*Mike Ivie’s Dilemma*Ben Lindbergh: Self-Machined Through Dedicated Practice*A Deeper Understanding of the Game*Can You See Spin Rate with the Naked Eye?*What is THE Essential New Baseball Technology?*Hitting Lags Behind*Paul Waner Dissents*Fly Balls vs. Line Drives*Choking Up*Francisco Lindor, Bill Buckner, and Productive Contact*When Trevor Bauer is Your Pioneer*Excluding the Underprivileged Through Baseball Through Technology*When Not All Teams Care Equally About Progress*Rejecting High Steinbrennerism*Once More Through the Self-Machine*Goodbyes.
THE INFINITE INNING ARCHIVE: All episodes available, popcorn extra.
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SUPPORT THE INFINITE INNING: Visit our Patreon page.
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?

The Infinite Inning 106: He Didn’t Fall Off a Horse May 28, 2019

Show notes

WARNING: Baseball’s magic word is said at about 3:30. Notify your congressman.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
“My Kingdom for Jones”*Requiem for Bugs*Jesse Spector: All the Times We Broke Bones Not Falling Off of Horses (Yoenis Cespedes)*The Mighty Vipers Song*Jacob de Grom Isn’t Real (“Who is Yoenis Cespedes?”)*So What if it WAS a Horse? *The Smell of Flushing Bay and Elizabeth, NJ*The Texas Rangers Are Rarely Good but are Often Interesting*Joey Gallo Appreciation Day*The Days of Wine and 40 Home Runs Being Special*Nolan Ryan ’87 and the Win* “Steve Baloney’s ‘WABBA’” and Gio Urshela*Player Performance Variation is the Norm/Dave Kingman [Was/Was Not] Good*Alonso/McNeil*Balls in Play Wanted*Phil Rizzuto is Going Out to Florida Tonight*Do You Value Knowledge You Don’t Have to Earn?*When Did Rizzuto Go Bad?*The Annotated Pine Tar Game*
THE INFINITE INNING ARCHIVE: All episodes available.
INFINITE INNING FACEBOOK GROUP: Socialize with like-minded people!
SUPPORT THE INFINITE INNING: Visit our Patreon page.
The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. How do you find the joy in life when you can’t get anybody out?

Inifinte Inning 105: This Idea of Protecting Women May 21, 2019

Show notes

TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Weak Spot on the Ballclub*Ian Desmond and Other Tales of the Replacement Level*Diana Moskovitz: Caster Semenya: Struggling to Sum Up a Complex Matter*Testosterone and Michael Phelps’ Arms*Fear of Men (in Women’s Events)*“Penis Panic”*The Complexity of the Human Body*The East German Example*A Strange Apathy Towards Forced Medicating*“You Are Not a Woman”*Should There Be a Women’s Sports Category?*“Tradition!”*Covering Four Hurricanes in One Season*Goodbyes.
THE INFINITE INNING ARCHIVE: All episodes available, popcorn extra.
THE INFINITE INNING FACEBOOK GROUP: Socialize with like-minded people!
SUPPORT THE INFINITE INNING: Visit our Patreon page.
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 104:Craig Calcaterra is Mexico-Bound May 13, 2019

Show notes

TABLE OF CONTENTS
All-Stars in the Naked City*Chicago, 1886: Cap Anson and the Haymarket Eight*Craig Calcaterra: The Social Cubs*Famous For Nothing*“Move to Mexico”*Bat Flip and Unwritten Rules*Dated Ringtones*The Complacent Team of the Year Award (The Cleveland Indians)*Expansion and the Non-Shortage of Pitchers*Nick Markakis 3000, Jack Morris, Bert Blyleven*Hall of Fame Debates, Prospects, and the End of a Long-Running Series*Arguments Make Friends*Goodbyes.
THE INFINITE INNING ARCHIVE: All episodes available, popcorn extra.
THE INFINITE INNING FACEBOOK GROUP: Socialize with like-minded people!
SUPPORT THE INFINITE INNING: Visit our Patreon page.
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 103: They Saved Bill James’ Head! May 06, 2019

Show notes

TABLE OF CONTENTS
The God of Dan Brouthers*We All Get Old, Miguel Cabrera*Sean Forman: Baseball-Reference Changed My Life*What if Roberto Clemente’s Hit Total Needed to Be Revised? (The “Mr. 3000” Scenario)*bWAR and fWAR and Some Other WARs*Old Fielders and Old Fielding Stats*Gratuitous Derek Jeter Time*Protein Folding as Career Prep*Stalking Baseball-Reference*Giant Bill James Head*Win Shares vs. WAR*Adding More Detail to Baseball-Reference*FBref (Soccer)!*Stats That Tell Stories*The Pele Page is Coming*Women’s Sports and Statistical Availability*Integrating FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus Stats*The Lack of Statcast Availability*BB-Ref Goin’ Mobile*Injury Codes!*Goodbyes.
THE INFINITE INNING ARCHIVE: All episodes available, popcorn extra.
THE INFINITE INNING FACEBOOK GROUP: Socialize with like-minded people!
SUPPORT THE INFINITE INNING: Visit our Patreon page.
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 102: A Blue Jays Journey of Personal Discovery Apr 29, 2019

Show notes

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Bill Dahlen Brings You Flowers*The Infinite Inning Revenge Plot*Scott Sanderson II: A Rejoinder*Andrew Stoeten: It’s Been a Long Time Since 1993*Loyal to the Players, Not to the Team*Calling Up Vladimir Guerrero, Jr.*First- and Second-Guessing Josh Donaldson Decisions*Kevin Pillar Returns*Projecting Guerrero*The Curse of Cito Gaston*The Randal Grichuk Extension*In Praise of Smoak*Up From Drunken Blogging*Growing Up in Public II*Beatwriter Acceptance and Denial (Called Out in the Toronto Sun)*Podcast Behind the Paywall*How Bad is Teoscar Hernandez’s Defense Really?*Goodbyes.
THE INFINITE INNING ARCHIVE: All episodes available, popcorn extra.
THE INFINITE INNING FACEBOOK GROUP: Socialize with like-minded people!
SUPPORT THE INFINITE INNING: Visit our Patreon page.
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 101: Growing Up in Public Apr 22, 2019

Show notes

WARNING: One cussword. Just one. It’s gonna be okay.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
On Butterflies and Baseball Injuries*Scott Sanderson’s Hot Dog*Bill Baer: Curating Hardball Talk*The Hate-Readers*Shy On the Internet*We’re So Sorry, Ryan Howard*The Real Meaning of “Stick to Sports”*The Formerly Anti-Analytic Phillies*Hall of Fame Baseball Writer Contretemps*Beginner’s Mind in Baseball Writing*You Don’t Have to Explain WAR Anymore*Trying is the New Market Inefficiency*Are the 2019 Phillies for Real?*The 1980 Phillies vs. the 2019 Phillies*The Opener and Arbitration (Jeff Innis, Too)*Juan Soto Dreaming*Goodbyes.
THE INFINITE INNING ARCHIVE: All episodes available, popcorn extra.
THE INFINITE INNING FACEBOOK GROUP: Socialize with like-minded people!
SUPPORT THE INFINITE INNING: Visit our Patreon page.
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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