Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the impressiveness of a prediction by Carlos Estévez, how to say the score from the losing team’s perspective, and getting hit in the head by a hot dog. Then (23:13) they discuss getting hit in the head (or the hands) by a baseball: how often it happens, how dangerous it is, and whether (as Whit Merrifield argues) MLB must act to discourage it. Then (58:28) they brainstorm about visiting teams’ first-inning disadvantage and answer listener emails (1:08:42) about Triple-A teams as playoff warm-up acts, an obscure Rich Hill record, post-PitchCom performance in past sign-stealing situations, headfirst sliding vs. feet-first sliding (and whether running more can cause one to slump at the plate), the concept of a “natural position,” and the ethics of a UCL exclusivity deal.
Audio intro: Moon Hound, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Ian Phillips, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Link to Estévez story
Link to Estévez game
Link to Estévez game highlights
Link to McMahon homer
Link to Estévez game story
Link to 2022 Merrifield HBP
Link to Merrifield Athletic article 1
Link to Merrifield Athletic article 2
Link to Ben on HBP in 2021
Link to Mains on HBP in 2021
Link to Arthur on HBP and batters 1
Link to Arthur on HBP and batters 2
Link to FG on HBP in 2022
Link to HBP per PA by year
Link to HBP per pitch by year
Link to avg. HBP velo
Link to avg. FB HBP velo
Link to HBP FB% by year
Link to avg. HBP height
Link to avg. FB HBP height
Link to HBP in danger zones by year
Link to Shadow Zone HBP by year
Link to HBP in the strike zone by year
Link to BP Recovery Dashboard
Link to Rosenthal on command
Link to Sarris on command
Link to BP on hitter injuries
Link to Mains on HFA by inning
Link to Smith on first-inning HFA 1
Link to Smith on first-inning HFA 2
Link to Japanese baseball rules
Link to 2015 Japan Times column
Link to Ben C. on playoffs layoffs
Link to Hill Stathead query
Link to MLBTR on Hill’s DFA
Link to Hill’s 2024 game log
Link to B-Ref bases-occupied splits
Link to runner-on-second offense
Link to no-runner-on-second offense
Link to sliding mitts blog
Link to Mark Simon’s Twitter
Link to SIS Twitter
Link to injury rates on slides
Link to Andrews on Cruz
Link to Benz on Cruz
Link to info on lefty defenders
Link to Buck on butts
Link to mindset explainer
Link to listener emails database
Link to gunk story 1
Link to gunk story 2
Link to gunk story 3
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form
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