The Infinite Inning

Latest Episodes:

Infinite Inning 248 The Infinite Honey-Boy Jan 16, 2023

Show notes

In which the player called “Honey-Boy” is traded by the Cubs to great derision and a rebuild movement is compared to the art of long-term self-deception.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
All the Lies That Are My Life: A Story by Harlan Ellison and/or Self-Deception by a Dead-End Manager*You Don’t Belong Here*The Challenge-Trade*An Odd Swap of Catchers*My Outfield for Your Outfield*All the Lies That Are Your Rebuild*A’s Center Fielders in 2022*Esteury vs. Estuary*Zen and the Art of Dode, or Vice-Versa*The Etymology of Dode*Honey-Boy*Burning Ballparks and Fatal Catches*Live Ashes*Haunted Hospital Beds*Cleveland Fire Rescue!*Cy versus Dode*Cubs in Center*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 247: The Shinners Factor Jan 01, 2023

Show notes

A tale for New Year’s Eve: A Giants prospect wins a job but fails to cope with harsh fate. Plus the usual asides and digressions, including Satchel Paige’s Six Rules for Staying Young, with commentary.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Satchel Paige’s Six Rules for Staying Young, with Commentary*The Shinners Factor*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 246: Casey and the Lost Umpire Dec 25, 2022

Show notes

A solo because-it’s-Christmas episode in which Casey Stengel stages a protest but it’s the umpire who pays the ultimate price.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Intro: A Branch Rickey Christmas*The Reserve Clause, Player Choice, Happiness, and “Richard Corey”*Is Steve Cohen a Rational Actor?*Casey Stengel sulks in Pittsburgh*The Yellow Telegram*Saranac Lake*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 245: The Day The Umpires Heard "Ahooga!" Dec 18, 2022

Show notes

A solo episode dashes from umpires stranded on foggy seas to a Savage pitcher who received multiple Purple Hearts—and somehow conquered his control while doing so—and reflects on what his story warns us about our own times.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Day the Umps Heard “Ahooga!”*Burt Uniform Tops and Burnt YouTubers*Old Starting Rotations and Starting Pitcher Tandems, Starring Justin Verlander et al*Angels Priorities*The Ancient 2005 Yankees*“I’ll Bonk Alone”*Cosplaying Fascism*Bob Savage, High School Pitcher (?), Major Leaguer, War Hero*Fred McGriff Misread*The Only Two Reasons to Have an Elder Rotation*Attenuated 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 244: It Won't Be The Turkey Who Gets You Nov 24, 2022

Show notes

Cliff Corcoran returns to discuss the new Hall of Fame ballot, negative associations with certain players and even uniforms, the disparate interpretations possible when reading a key “Peanuts” strip, and more. Plus tales: A pitcher with a problem pitches a no-hitter and then things get weird—and potentially fatal.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A Spirited Thanksgiving*Intergalactic Union Day*It Wasn’t the Alcohol that Killed Him*Cliff Corcoran*Hollywood Stars Hats and the Holocaust*Here’s the World War I Flying Ace*Escapism of Different Kinds*The Gertrude Question Two Ways*The New Hall of Fame Ballot*Carlos Beltran*The Triumph of WAR*The Bernie Williams Discontents*The Carole King Digression*Brian Cashman and Jacoby Ellsbury*Nick Senzel Was Not One of Them*Skipped “The Sound of Music”*“Gone with the Wind”/“The Best Years of Our Lives”*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

Infinite Inning 243: World Series Oops Nov 17, 2022

Show notes

A solo episode features a controversial managerial decision that might have lost the 1935 World Series for the Cubs and a look at a moment in baseball and the rest of the nation on August 14 of that year that hints at where we are now.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A World Series Inflection Point, 1935*Best Lefties in Cubs History?*Jolly Cholly Visits a Chinese Restaurant*Mr. Rogers on the Interstate*Unresolved Traffic Bottlenecks*Woodrow Wilson at Versailles*Blue Tribe vs. Green Tribe*August 14, 1935 in Baseball* A Litany of Phelpses*Blondy Ryan vs. Michael Harris et al*Ducky Schofield ‘60*Lynching ‘35*The Social Security Act*Insecurity*Sam Leslie Leaves the Game and Possibly Everything Else*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 242: Hell-Bent to the Balls Nov 01, 2022

Show notes

David Roth returns to discuss the postseason thus far, remember bad Braves teams and worse shortstops, wonder at the complacency of the AL Central, and be psychically assaulted by “Citizens for Sanity.” Plus tales: The Reds’ revival in, and the Yankees aftermath, of the 1976 World Series, and the story of Liz Funk, an outfielder who came up with the wrong team at the wrong time.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Anti-Complacency and the 1976 World Series*The Ballad of Liz Funk, Man in the Wrong Place*David Roth: Random Ron Gant Reference*Which Leads Inevitably to Alfredo Griffin*The Guardians Were Cheap*The Byron Buxton Conundrum*Every AL Central Team is Annoying In It’s Own Way*Rooting for Dusty/Joe Maddon, Numbers, and Nerds*The Wrong Pizza Hut*Once Again: George Steinbrenner’s Shrimp Scambi*Aaron Judge and Jacob deGrom’s Pizza Hut(s)*“Stop the Insanity”*Cheesy Cheddar Biscuits*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 241: Where Did All the Cool Whip Go Oct 20, 2022

Show notes

Author Patrick Montgomery discusses his book, THE BASEBALL MIRACLE OF THE SPLENDID 6 AND TOWNY TOWNSEND, the story of a Virginia youth coach who produced more than his share of future major leaguers. Plus tales: The quest for the postseason “Cementhead” via Charles Schulz and one of the most impatient hitters of all time—and a dirty player to boot.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Peanuts Baseball and “Cementhead”*A “Thanks for the Memory” Digression*Thanks for the Impatience: The Whitey Alpermann Story*Patrick Montgomery: What was the “miracle” of the Splendid Six?*Don’t Call Him “Marvin”*The Career-Ending Incident*The No-Cut Policy*Amateur Baseball in the Tidewater Region*Towny: The Missing Years*How Was All This Travel-Ball Paid For?*Coaches Double-Dipping*Cuddyer, B.J. Upton, et al*Who Ate All the Cool Whip?*Towny’s Method*Tidewater*Swing and Miss With the Splendid Six*The Stubbornness of Mark Reynolds*Changing Attitudes Towards Batter Strikeouts*In the Coast Guard*The Movie!*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 240: Holiday at the Polo Grounds Oct 09, 2022

Show notes

Lincoln Mitchell (San Francisco Year Zero) returns to talk the future of both San Francisco and the San Francisco Giants as well as the war against Ukraine. Plus tales: The clouded conception of a Negro Leaguer and the distorted memory of a crucial Giants-Reds game that turns out not to have been all that crucial, but is still certain to meet your expectorations.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Herb Souell’s Mom*The Day the Giants Didn’t Win the Pennant*Lincoln Mitchell: To Rent or Buy in San Francisco*How Do the Giants Rebuild?*The Potential of a Mediocre Champion*Thyroid Estrada*Regression on the Farm*“1920 and ‘22”*Putinconfusion*The Great Illusion*Aaron Judge to San Francisco?*Dodgers Gear at the Giants Game*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 239: The Bullpen Catchers of Classic Hollywood Sep 24, 2022

Show notes

Craig Calcaterra (Cup of Coffee, Everything is Broken) returns to adjudicate the AL MVP race, the pitch-clock, the value of managers, and more. Plus tales: The attitudes and abilities of Carl Hubbell and Babe Ruth compared and contrasted over a matter of road selection and how Hubbell always knew where he kept his plow.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Carl Hubbell, the Avatar of Yes, and Choosing the Best Road Home*Hubbell’s Bad Inning and a Waiting Plow*Craig Calcaterra: Second Series/Downton Abbey Spoilers?*The Bullpen Catchers of Classic Hollywood*Tournament vs. Pennant Race*Sad Trombone Champion*Postseason Previews*Pitch Clock: Mark Harris Objects*The Dead Time in ‘69*The Purist’s Version Devalued*The Pitch Clock Works*The Once and Future Ted*The Spontaneous Spectator*Judge vs. Ohtani*Because Andruw Jones Didn’t Go to Medical School*Take a Letter to Tony*Managers and Contingency*The Vibe-Setters*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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