Effectively Wild: A Fangraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben and Sam banter about Ben’s engagement, then answer listener emails about Andrew Miller, playoff tactics during the regular season, renaming the playoff rounds, and more.

Ben and Sam banter about Zach Britton and Shohei Otani, then discuss Dave Roberts, bullpen management, and the NLCS.

Ben and Sam banter about Kidz Bop, answer emails about facing MLB pitching, a time-traveling manager, and communicating with catchers, and then cold-call the star of the Play Index segment.

Ben and Sam banter about the Madison Bumgarner-Noah Syndergaard wild-card duel, their favorite types of playoff games, and their favorite playoff rounds, then discuss whether the Dodgers are more dangerous than the Cubs and how to weight postseason performance in Cooperstown candidacies.

Ben and Sam banter about an aged usher, Buck Showalter’s decision not to use Zach Britton in the AL wild-card game, and Barry Bonds, then answer listener emails and talk to Saber Seminar raffle winners Armaan and Ishaan about the Red Sox and whether baseball bores kids.

Ben and Sam conduct multiple Mike Trout drafts and discuss DJ LeMahieu’s batting title, the AL Cy Young race, Vin Scully’s sign-off, and more.

Ben and Sam banter about a wild night in baseball, the morality of forfeits, and the triples record, then discuss Theo Epstein’s record-setting extension.

Ben and Sam banter about Rich Hill, Clayton Kershaw, and Shohei Otani, then answer listener emails about Mike Trout, playoff formats, inflated homer totals, their introductions to baseball, and more.

Ben and Sam talk about whether adding the late Jose Fernandez to the Hall of Fame ballot would be a fitting way to honor his superlative but tragically brief career.

Ben and Sam talk to Mike Fisher, the baseball coordinator of Moneyball and the new Fox series Pitch, about how he makes baseball look realistic on screen (and what he might have missed).

Ben and Sam banter about the Giants’ bullpen problems and Bryce Harper’s shoulder, then answer listener emails about Terrance Gore, Gary Sanchez, calling time, playoff formats, one-pitch baseball, and more.

Ben and Sam banter about Padres GM A.J. Preller’s suspension, then discuss whether each of 2016’s non-playoff teams should consider its season a success or a failure.

Ben and Sam talk to former Sonoma Stompers pitchers Santos Saldivar and Dylan Stoops about their progress as players, meager earnings, and clubhouse experiences during their rookie seasons in affiliated ball with the Brewers and Padres, respectively.

Ben and Sam banter about Shohei Otani and answer listener emails about Rich Hill, tanking in the season’s last series, interleague play, Jose Bautista’s ballpark ownage, and more.

Ben, Sam, and Los Angeles Times Dodgers beat writer Andy McCullough discuss Dave Roberts’ decision to remove Rich Hill after seven perfect innings on Saturday.

Ben, Sam, and Sonoma Stompers GM Theo Fightmaster answer listener emails about the Stompers’ past two seasons and Ben/Sam’s book, The Only Rule Is It Has to Work.

Ben and Sam banter about Yasiel Puig’s clubhouse qualities, Giancarlo Stanton’s comeback, and Anthony Rizzo vs. Wily Peralta, then answer listener emails about Kershaw and Trout, the Hall of Fame, roster sizes, young cores and more.

Ben and Sam banter about MLB’s copycat comedians, then discuss players whose big contracts seem much more movable (or unmovable) after perception-altering 2016 seasons.

Ben and Sam talk to BP’s Rob Mains about what Billy Hamilton’s career might have looked like in an earlier era, and whether baseball teams’ increasing efficiency has made the sport better or worse as a spectator experience.

Ben and Sam banter about Shohei Otani, then answer listener emails about running the Rockies (with a twist), a Kershaw dilemma, a time-traveling Ubaldo Jimenez, umpire park effects, and more.