Effectively Wild: A Fangraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the home run’s postseason supremacy, Clayton Kershaw’s performance in NLCS Game 5 and the Dodgers’ World Series outlook, the Cubs’ upcoming offseason and long-term future, and the significance of the Tigers’ Ron Gardenhire hiring. Audio intro: Pernice Brothers, "Subject Drop" Audio outro: Lurleen Lumpkin, "Bagged Me a Homer"  iTunes Feed (Please […]

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Jake Arrieta’s effective wildness (and free agency), the Astros’ offensive struggles, and Yu Darvish’s bases-loaded walk, then answer listener emails about sequencing wins in the playoffs, a Dodgers fun fact, postseason managerial specialists, why hitters telegraph taking all the way, whether hitters can read fielders to tell which […]

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Ben’s wedding weekend, the outfield-wall padding at Minute Maid Park, the rapid repair of a behind-home-plate sign, and a very long pause between pitches, then discuss the first four games of the championship series, including Joe Maddon’s decision-making in Game 2, the Cubs’ moribund offense, the pivotal plays […]

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Yellowstone-explosion sensationalism and discuss the improbability of the Cubs’ 277-minute NLDS Game 5 victory over the Nationals, the game’s umpiring oddities and errors, the Nationals’ and Cubs’ reputations and legacies in the wake of the series, and what to do about instant replay and slides. Audio intro: Thom Yorke, […]

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about John Farrell’s firing and the Nationals’ will-they-or-won’t-they pregame routine with Stephen Strasburg, then answer listener emails about the definition of “veteran,” projecting a team to win 116 games, looking up players’ stats, a pitcher getting both a blown save and a save in the same game, the career […]

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the inaccessibility of playoff stats and the average length of this year’s playoff games, then discuss whether we’re really witnessing a revolution in postseason pitcher usage before breaking down each of the division series, analyzing the latest controversial managerial decisions, and bidding farewell to two more eliminated teams. […]

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the larger improbability and significance of Archie Bradley’s triple in the NL wild-card game, how to experience a four-playoff-game day, the first games of both AL division series, Chris Sale’s and Masahiro Tanaka’s semi-struggles and the vexing nature of pitcher home-run allowance, the danger of using home/road splits […]

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter one last time about the Glory Hole Recreation Area, as well as fading feelings of fandom, the circumstances that led to Braves GM John Coppolella’s resignation, and poor press-conference questions. Then they discuss their takeaways from the wild-card games and thoughts on the division series matchups before answering playoff-themed […]

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about John Jaso’s possibly career-ending comments, the ends of the Dodgers’ and Tigers’ seasons and the teams that have never had a first-overall pick, the selling points of this postseason, the changing consensus about the best team in baseball, how to analyze the playoffs and manage playoff games, the […]

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Ben’s chat with Bill James, a fan who got ejected for giving Gary Sanchez pitch locations, a suggestion for tweaking the wild card game, and Sammy Sosa, then discuss the teams whose organizational stocks have risen or fallen the most this season and wrap up with brief banter […]

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about how one’s incentives alter one’s perception of a season, then answer listener emails about FanGraphs’ World Series odds, the mid-1990s Braves pitching staffs, the annual suggestion that a team start a reliever in the wild card game, a comeback for Tony La Russa’s pitching platoon system, Andrew McCutchen’s […]

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan follow up on their Glory Hole Recreation Area discussion and banter about a Brandon Crawford bunt attempt, an Andrelton Simmons deke, Oakland catcher Bruce Maxwell’s decision to kneel during the National Anthem, whether the 2017 season has been bad, and how one would even decide such a thing. Audio intro: The […]

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the Glory Hole Recreation Area, solve the mystery of Bill Doaks, discuss archaic baseball language and how today’s baseball writing will age, and touch on an odd double play and another byproduct of 2017’s record home-run rate, then weigh in on the expansion of netting in ballparks and […]

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about another odd end to an American Association game, a recent javelin-baseball crossover, Nick Sinay, the first Tibetan-born player signed by an MLB team, and MLB’s new record single-season home-run total, then answer listener emails about Mike Trout’s defense, multiple aspects of BABIP, the most Alexa’d MLB players, the […]

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the Astros’ almost insulting infield alignment against Albert Pujols and minor league hit-by-pitch machine Nick Sinay, then welcome on MIT draftee/new Mariners front-office addition David Hesslink and, later in the episode, YouTube baseball-highlight creator Andrew Vargha, proprietor of the newly anointed official baseball YouTube account of Effectively Wild. […]

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter (one last time) about Cleveland’s winning streak, Lenny Harris and an Ichiro record, Jeff’s successful search for the fly-ball revolution, and the increasing difficulty of scouting position players, then draft the World Series contenders that would be the best (and worst) stories. Audio intro: Eagle, "Pinch Hitter" Audio outro: Everclear, "Now […]

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the Indians (again), the AL Cy Young race, Jacoby Ellsbury’s new record, the 2018 MLB schedule (and the possibility of a pitch clock), and Shohei Otani’s impending availability. Then they answer listener emails about Mookie Betts, what constitutes the “heart of the order,” ERA hypotheticals, the hot corner, […]

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan revisit their banter about ups and downs and Joe Mauer, then talk about (and talk about talking about) baseball’s long-lasting streaks, their takeaways from the Indians’ and Dodgers’ recent results, who’s actually on the White Sox, which playoff teams are likely to ride their bullpens hardest this October, the pitching […]

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the end of their Hurricane Harvey relief raffle, the Indians’ and Diamondbacks’ winning streaks (and the Dodgers’ losing streak), an ambitious Hector Sanchez framing attempt, the dominance of softball star Monica Abbott, Giants’ fans perceptions of Brandon Belt, and why the prevailing tone of analytical baseball writing seems […]

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Willson Contreras’ Twitter behavior and the Yankees-Red Sox sign-stealing scandal, then answer listener emails about “up the line” vs. “down the line,” how rebuilding works, whether teams can count on the current home-run rate continuing, Deion Sanders’ career taking place today, the heat of the hot corner, the […]