The Infinite Inning

Latest Episodes:

The Infinite Inning #050: Shoeless Joe Didn't Floss Apr 13, 2018

Show notes

Jacob Pomrenke, editor of Scandal on the South Side: The 1919 Chicago White Sox and SABR’s Director of Editorial Content joins Steve to explore the relevance of the Black Sox to our time, appreciate and criticize both the book Eight Men Out and its filmed counterpart, and attempt to fix the roles of both Joe Jackson and Buck Weaver in throwing the World Series. In addition, this week Steve offers tales of an unappreciated player from the 1940s and of the world of the Black Sox as seen from a small room with just one exit located in the Washington DC of 1923.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Roy Cullenbine and What Might Seem Like an Inappropriate Comparison to Vincent Van Gogh*“My God, How the Money Rolls In!”*Jacob Pomrenke: Are the Black Sox still relevant?*When all sports were corrupt*Shoeless Joe: Victim or Villain?*The Triples-to-Left Theory of Guilt*Entombed in the Hall of Fame*Illiterate doesn’t mean unintelligent*The most heroic act is failure*The duality of Charles Comiskey*The “Hey, Barney!” Affair*When gamblers were in the stands*Judge Landis’s mandate*Buck Weaver is a man for today*The Lefty Williams Blackmail Myth*John Sayles’ “Eight Men Out”*How the government changed the way baseball players look*SABR in the era of Bowling Alone*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 #049: The Zen Of Pitching To Mike Trout Apr 06, 2018

Show notes

David Roth returns to talk about competitive balance, over-monitoring mound visits, and the pernicious nature of social media (not back on it, still on it). Meanwhile, Steve tries to turn a nonsensical Jerry Coleman call into something dark and disturbing and rants about outfielders from 1934 to the present day who were damaged, sometimes severely, by unpadded outfield walls.
The Haunting of Bruce Benedict*Hazards in the Outfield, with Billy McKinney, Dustin Fowler, Earle Combs, and Pete Reiser*David Roth: Bartolo Colon rides again*Waiting for R.A. Dickey*The cosmopolitanism of Opening-Day rosters*The Way We Never Were: When baseball was a million white guys named “Pete”*The Taylorizing of baseball*The Applebee’s of Baseball*The consequences of underpaying minor leaguers*Biometrics?*Facebook and other things that should have been obvious*How to follow two sports at once*The downtime in sports*Mound visits*The Jon Rothstein/”This is March” piece*Once more unto The Ratio*The pernicious effect of Twitter*Who we pretend to be*The Zen “Okay” Method of Pitching to Mike Trout*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?

The Infinite Inning #048: Deal With Reality Mar 30, 2018

Show notes

Russell Carleton (Baseball Prospectus, author of The Shift: The Next Evolution in Baseball Thinking) joins Steven to discuss things we don’t have words for, and surprising findings on third-base coaches, the effect of managers, and, of course, the shift.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Day the Sun Shone on Ty Tyson*Reframing the problem of Alex Johnson*Russell Carlton: Man with a Doctorate*You can’t control for Salvador Perez’s knee*Baseball and Arkham Asylum*Fire all the third base coaches*A book about people (with numbers)*The Zach Britton Game that Zach Britton wasn’t in (We Need a Word for That)*Opportunities for communication (a letter from a general manager)*The Bruce Bochy Effect?*“The shift is kind of freakin’ the pitchers out”*“The model of the starting pitcher is a little bit broken”/”Most teams have a 22-man roster”*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?

The Infinite Inning #047: Baseball Was His One Consuming Passion Mar 23, 2018

Show notes

Steve is joined by Marty Appel, author of Casey Stengel: Baseball’s Greatest Character and other books, plus a cautionary tale about time and Bob “Fats” Fothergill and another about all the times Fat Freddie Fitzsimmons failed to duck.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Fats Fothergill, Ronald Acuña and the tyranny of time*Fat Freddie Fitzsimmons, Human Target*Marty Appel: “Give me a good team”*Stengel vs. Joe Torre*Stengel vs. Phil Rizzuto*Stengel vs. Joe DiMaggio*Stengel vs. Mickey Mantle*Mrs. Stengel’s memoir*Stengel vs. The Color Line*Elston Howard’s post-career disappointment*A hypothetical: Stengel vs. George Steinbrenner*Stengel vs. Billy Martin*
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 #046: Flattened Fried Testicles And The Pace Of Play Mar 16, 2018

Show notes

Jesse Spector returns for a wide-ranging episode in which the question of length of game versus pace of play is explored and the MLB FoodFest is dissected with an eye towards finding the missing Rocky Mountain Oysters, and many a personal encounter of strange press box behavior is told. Plus, Steve opens with a tale of the least-supportive teammates ever and a shortstop whose moment passed at an age before most players have gotten started.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Phenomenal Smith: With Friends Like These*Buckshot Brown and the Curse of Potential*Jesse Spector: The risks of unfollowing*How following PA-18 was like watching a ballgame*How Grant Brisbee infects you with imposter syndrome*The baseball beatwriter’s life*An interlude in Tampa*Defunct museums and Halls of Fame or, “How the Baseball Hall of Fame moves from Cooperstown to Times Square”*A moment’s debate of Ty Cobb*Rob Manfred’s plan to end extra-inning games*The Adam Lind example*Debating MLB FoodFest: Rocky Mountain Oysters AWOL*A 10 percent crab menu*Whither SF Giants garlic fries and chocolate sundaes?*Knocking the Chicago Dog and other Chicago dishes*Praising the Marlins (food, that is), Padres fish tacos in absentia, no Boog’s*Flaming Hot Cheetos?*Dodger Dogs vs. Fenway Frank*Cheap franks in the old Yankee Stadium press box*Bronx Bootleg Street Pretzels*Parenting Test: The Diamondbacks Churro Dog*A tale of marital discord and Ben & Jerry’s*Goodbyes.

Infinite Inning #045: An Absence Of Coverage Is Death For Everything Mar 10, 2018

Show notes

Howard Megdal (Wilpon’s Folly, The Cardinals Way, Summit Hoops, 50 States of Blue) joins Steve for a discussion of New York Mets finances, the way women’s sports is and isn’t covered, and his new political journal focused on providing political news that is now neglected by the major media organs.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Hawkins, Herman, and defeat from the jaws of victory*June 7-8, 1950: Red Sox 49, Browns 8*Howard Megdal: A fundamental curiosity and the art of freelancing*Rejection*The Mets are not a small-market team*A union not advancing is by definition retreating*It’s about what Sandy Alderson can get*Why the Mets won’t trade Yoenis Cespedes*“Show me what’s inaccurate and I’ll be happy to correct it”*The chicken-and-egg coverage of women’s sports*Let’s bring back the AAGPBL*What is 50 States of Blue?*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?

The Infinite Inning #044: You’d Do It For Whitey Herzog Mar 02, 2018

Show notes

Cliff Corcoran parachutes in to save Steve from a scheduling mishap, taking on service-time issues, the New York Yankees’ amazing depth, and sundry other issues. Plus: Steve on taking a train trip into eternity and a super-fan who had to be put in his place by the player he loved.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Brickyard who Wasn’t a Brickyard, Forever Voyaging*The Ballad of Cookie and Jack*Spring training caps and other confusing haberdashery*Talking to your kids about the Parkland tragedy*Arm all the ballplayers!*Service-time manipulation* The Gleyber Torres outlook*Service-time, big round numbers, and anal HOF voting*Ritual Pete Rose Derogation*Brandon Drury’s home/road splits*Humidorgate?*Drury vs. Tyler Wade*The three-man bench and redesigning the roster*Lucas Duda vs. Eric Hosmer*Joe Mauer’s HOF case*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?

The Infinite Inning #043: Glad To Be Unhappy? Feb 23, 2018

Show notes

Baseball Prospectus writer Rachael McDaniel joins Steve to talk about surviving the offseason when baseball is your defense against time spent alone with yourself, plus Steve’s encounter with Chuck Knoblauch and twin tales of a great songwriter and a not-so-great pitcher from 1936.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chuck Knoblauch and the Chicken Française theory*Van Lingle Mungo and Larry Hart*Rachael McDaniel: Baseball Prospectus writer at 20*Baseball as a lens on experience and vice-versa*The Box*Finding baseball again after losing touch*The price of being candid* “Time is limited”/”Hurry up, please, it’s time”*The bird’s nest at the University of British Columbia*We can’t all be STEM kids*Knitting away anxiety*Does a poor postseason negate the enjoyment of the regular season?*Coping when your baseball coping device has been taken away*The aging Blue Jays and the departure of Josh Donaldson*Troy Tulowitzki/Don Mattingly*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?

The Infinite Inning #042: What The Wins And Losses Should Look Like Feb 17, 2018

Show notes

Rob Neyer, the Sage of Portland, joins Steve to preview his new book on the state of baseball, review some classic old ones, and dig into the art of writing for an audience of baseball fans and his controversial stance on the owners versus the players.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
McGraw, Chase, Porter*July 4, 1950 at the Polo Grounds*Rob Neyer: The Father of Us All*Alternative realities: Rob Neyer, pro roofer*The sabermetricians won*Has the low-hanging fruit been picked?*Writing vs. auditioning for a front-office job*Wishing for transparency in prospect reportage*Accountability: Fernando Tatis and Jay Bruce*Previewing Power Ball*Monographs on tuna and shattered authorial dreams*The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers*Infield shifts of the 1950s*The Sabermetricians vs. the Politicians*The Owners vs. the Players*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?

The Infinite Inning #041: The Turtle Who Was Hated By God Feb 12, 2018

Show notes

Ben Lindbergh (The Ringer, Effectively Wild podcast) makes an emergency relief appearance when a guest bails, and he and Steve dissect a bleak winter landscape.
WARNING: One cussword early on. We contritely apologize.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Turtle Who Was Hated By God*The Johnny Bassler interruption*Metacom and Wahoo*Ben Lindbergh: A podcast in baseball’s worst winter*What if Mike Trout is a woman?*Why buy tickets for the Reds (or anybody)?*Does Jarrod Dyson prove collusion?*Did Bud Selig break baseball and Homestead Camp II*The Tim Raines non-spring training moment*All your predictions are wrong, or will be*Spring really hangs you up the most (unless all the signings finally happen)*Jack Morris and collusion*The last Marlins fan*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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