Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon.

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley share listener solutions to the mystery of why the 12-straight-hits club is such an undistinguished group, the Home Run Derby field, Bryce Harper’s video message (13:28) to a sports-betting addict and sportsbooks’ practice of preying on whales, the disparity (35:54) in the recent treatment of two pitchers who had no-hitters in progress, and Zack Wheeler’s gripe against All-Star selecting, then (1:02:42) answer a listener email about how much a game one has to have seen to claim to have “watched” it, and Stat Blast (1:23:20) about partial home run robberies, games with matching starter pitch and strike counts, historical team no-hitter conversion rates, and prolific “first” strikeout and home-run recorders.

Audio intro: Ian H., “Effectively Wild Theme”

Audio outro: Justin Peters, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Tolbert record post 1

Link to Tolbert record post 2

Link to Williams 11th hit

Link to Pedroia 11th hit

Link to HRD field

Link to Norway rowing pedant

Link to Inquirer article on Harper

Link to Post article on Harper

Link to lawsuit article

Link to Giannis/Kalshi article

Link to gambling damage research 1

Link to gambling damage research 2

Link to addiction story 1

Link to addiction story 2

Link to addiction story 3

Link to addiction story 4

Link to addiction story 5

Link to story on Jones 1

Link to story on Jones 2

Link to Jones game log

Link to questions about Jones

Link to Jones Q&A

Link to Cease story

Link to BP on Cease

Link to top 2026 pitch counts

Link to Blum on pulling pitchers

Link to Scott/PCA clip

Link to Ben on no-hitter strike zones

Link to Wheeler quote clip

Link to Wheeler’s agent article

Link to latest Luzardo start

Link to 2025 Phillies ASG complaints

Link to “May I meet you?” meme

Link to Pascal’s wager wiki

Link to “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?”

Link to Simpson/Adell robbery

Link to Glavine game 1

Link to Glavine game 2

Link to Nola question

Link to Bois on Stieb

Link to Stat Blast data

Link to listener emails database

Link to Cubs fact 1

Link to Cubs fact 2

Link to MLBTR on Ohtani

Link to MLBTR on Wetherholt

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about failed former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt’s subsequent sports ownership endeavors, a claim about Jacob Misiorowski’s pitching improvement, Jackson Chourio (batting lefty) as “a baseball player,” the recent struggles of Paul Skenes and Steven Kwan, Justin Verlander’s retirement, Zack Wheeler’s continued dominance, Andrew McCutchen’s return to the minors, the Orioles’ lack of improvement, the epitome of a Little League home run, Tyler Tolbert’s contribution to one of baseball’s great mysteries, and a 2026 Dodgers first.

Audio intro: Jonathan Crymes, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Audio outro: Alex Glossman and Ali Breneman, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to McCourt’s new league

Link to McCourt wiki

Link to show jumping wiki

Link to Vladimir Shpunt article

Link to NPR on Fitzgerald’s quote

Link to Nickelodeon Guts wiki

Link to “Let’s go to Mo”

Link to “Aggro Crag piece

Link to Slippery Stairs video

Link to Murphy/Chourio quote

Link to Rendon lefty dinger

Link to Mr. Baseball wiki

Link to Mr. Baseball scene

Link to FG post on Skenes

Link to Sheehan on Skenes

Link to Skenes mechanics post

Link to Skenes velo tweet

Link to Skenes velo data

Link to Skenes on his velo

Link to Skenes on O’Hearn

Link to O’Hearn article

Link to Skenes hot dog ad

Link to Skenes on EW

Link to Griffin injury article

Link to sagittal band info

Link to FG post on Kwan

Link to Verlander’s retirement post

Link to Verlander Legend pick

Link to 2025 ASG box score

Link to Wheeler leaderboard

Link to Wheeler ASG article 1

Link to Wheeler ASG article 2

Link to McCutchen tweet

Link to Orioles record post

Link to Orioles WAR leaders

Link to “great call from the haters”

Link to LLHR article

Link to LLHR video

Link to Sam on the LLHR

Link to Posnanski on the LLHR

Link to BP on the LLHR

Link to FG post on the LLHR

Link to Tolbert record post 1

Link to Tolbert record post 2

Link to Dodgers extra-inning game

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about two significant MLB debuts on NBC’s “Star-Spangled Sunday” (by Eddy Yean and Eliezer Alfonzo), the fallout from the Marlins pulling Eury Pérez mid-perfecto, a rare fog delay, the All-Star Game rosters (featuring a very normal number of Blue Jays, and also Rob Manfred’s good buddy Bryce Harper), whether the league set a target home-run rate (and whether that would be a bad thing), and the rotation durability of the Cards and Guards.

Audio intro: Liz Panella, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Audio outro: PJ Harding, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to “Star-Spangled Sunday” explainer

Link to minor league draft scoreboard

Link to Yean’s cart clip

Link to Yean debut article

Link to bullpen cart driver episode

Link to team RP WAR

Link to Alfonzo article 1

Link to Alfonzo article 2

Link to Contreras apology

Link to B-Ref’s new debuts

Link to Pérez article

Link to Sheehan on pulling Pérez

Link to Ben on Marlins play-by-play

Link to 2016 Hill article

Link to 2022 Kershaw article

Link to 2022 Scherzer article

Link to Stripling on his debut

Link to Bachar’s Instagram

Link to fog game article 1

Link to fog game article 2

Link to BP on the fog game

Link to foggy ABS clip

Link to Fog Bowl wiki

Link to Statcast Hawk-Eye explainer

Link to All-Star rosters announcement

Link to Vladito back injury info

Link to Harper All-Star story

Link to 2025 Harper/Manfred story

Link to recent episode on baseball behavior

Link to MLB statement

Link to Baseball Savant drag dashboard

Link to 2026 Athletic ball article

Link to 2025 Athletic ball article

Link to 2022 ball article 1

Link to 2022 ball article 2

Link to 2022 humidor article

Link to 2021 ball-deadening article

Link to eyeblack ball report

Link to NPB ball scandal article

Link to NPB ball scandal outcome

Link to Strange-Gordon farming info

Link to NBA deflation scandals

Link to Sheehan on the Cards/Guards

Link to BP IL Ledger

Link to SP used per team

Link to team SP FB velo

Link to team SP WAR

Link to Pitcher List on Guardians SP stuff

Link to Thress Pérez/Bachar post

Link to RE24 explainer

Link to SP/RP RE24 data

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In the fifth incarnation of a time-honored tradition that recurs every 500-ish episodes, Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley are joined by ex-co-host Sam Miller and The Athletic’s Grant Brisbee to draft assorted things that they like about baseball.

Audio intro: Sam Miller, “Effectively Wild Theme (Ken Maeda’s Nice ‘n’ Easy Remix)”

Audio outro: Grant Brisbee, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to EW wiki page for things drafts

Link to Episode 500 wiki

Link to Episode 996 wiki

Link to Episode 1500 wiki

Link to Episode 2000 wiki

Link to U.S. semiquincentennial wiki

Link to Pebble Hunting

Link to Grant at The Athletic

Link to Ben on pre-WAR value estimates

Link to spaghetti policy research

Link to article on spaghetti research

Link to Devil Rays food policy article

Link to The Roundtable cancellation

Link to O’Neil on bat cracks clip

Link to O’Neil on Bo article 1

Link to O’Neil on Bo article 2

Link to Tracy quote about Harris

Link to Kershaw on McKinstry

Link to Tito Translator post

Link to Murphy on Vargas

Link to Space Jam sound clip

Link to Space Jam video clip

Link to Space Jam quote 2

Link to Space Jam clip 2

Link to Franzke on Stott

Link to Martinez comment

Link to Schneider on Lukes

Link to Kemp quote 1

Link to Kemp quote 2

Link to Baldelli on Vázquez

Link to Cora on Mayer

Link to Roberts on DeLuca

Link to Maddon on Fletcher

Link to Campbell on Andrews

Link to Snitker on Acuña Jr.

Link to Roberts on Betts

Link to Stark on Rollins

Link to supposed Tabler quote

Link to Malone on Counsell

Link to Sandberg quote

Link to Royko on Sandberg

Link to Royko on Kruk

Link to Royko wiki

Link to Kruk and Koch

Link to 1978 Willoughby article

Link to Tomlinson Father’s Day bit

Link to Can’t Hardly Wait scene

Link to Everybody Wants Some!! clip

Link to Sam on sound outside ballpark

Link to Sam on K-strutting

Link to Sam on Brewers challenging

Link to Leeroy Jenkins wiki

Link to The Athletic on Ruiz

Link to best-hitting catchers

Link to 2015 Cozart article

Link to 2015 FG post on Cozart

Link to 2016 FG post on Cozart

Link to 2017 Cozart article

Link to 2017 FG post on Cozart

Link to The Athletic on Cozart

Link to Wong/Chapman story

Link to Sam on “drawing interest”

Link to Sam on SP strike rates

Link to Bill James strike zone quote

Link to Cansecos switcheroo story

Link to Cansecos switcheroo conspiracy

Link to Jolly article

Link to Ben on Twins.com

Link to MLB trademark application

Link to Niekro-on-Niekro homer

Link to Perry home run story

Link to Gameday 3D explainer

Link to previous Gameday 3D banter

Link to Defector on Gameday 3D glitches

Link to other glitch 1

Link to other glitch 2

Link to other glitch 3

Link to other glitch 4

Link to other glitch 5

Link to other glitch 6

Link to other glitch 7

Link to other glitch 8

Link to other glitch 9

Link to Grubb on Gameday glitches

Link to deleted Gameday 3D post

Link to possible source of deleted clip

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon.

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about tough times for a few EW favorites and Ben’s pre-podcast injury, then (15:00) discuss the response to Cade Cavalli telling Willson Contreras to “Sit down, boy.” After that (38:10), they cover the MLBPA’s proposals to limit certain types of transactions, a continued tightening of the leashes on starting pitchers, Paul Skenes’s recent struggles, the unlikely win-loss records of Tanner Bibee and Aaron Ashby (and an embarrassing Cooper Ingle error), Dansby Swanson and Pete Crow-Armstrong hot streaks and PCA’s newfound patience, recent swoons by the Braves and Yankees and surges by the Marlins and Rangers, what the Red Sox and Tigers should do at the deadline, and more.

Audio intro: Philip Tapley and Michael Stokes, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Audio outro: Sean .P, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to MLBTR on Brebbia

Link to MLBTR on Rooker

Link to Rooker/Pasquantino pod

Link to MLBTR on Lin

Link to MLBTR on Lasko

Link to Brussels sprouts episode

Link to Venezuela earthquakes story

Link to MLB/MLBPA Venezuela donation

Link to Cavalli/Contreras video

Link to story on first Contreras ejection

Link to ump’s ejection explanation

Link to story about Contreras/Cavalli incident

Link to Cavalli apology

Link to Toboni comments

Link to Bixby census data

Link to The Athletic on Cavalli

Link to punishments for players

Link to MLBTR on the suspensions

Link to Contreras Instagram comment

Link to Contreras Instagram report

Link to The Athletic on player proposals

Link to MLBTR on player proposals

Link to Ben on pitcher roster restrictions

Link to BP on rampant DFAing

Link to BP on rampant optioning

Link to MLBPA prop-bet proposal

Link to Crizer on Skenes, etc.

Link to Skenes Big Glizzy ad

Link to McClanahan game

Link to Sam on starter usage

Link to Snell no-hitter

Link to familiarity vs. fatigue research

Link to Ingle error

Link to MLB wins leaders

Link to Ashby quotes

Link to RP IP leaders

Link to RP leverage leaders

Link to 23-3 game

Link to Littleton save

Link to Corbin save tweet

Link to PCA fun fact

Link to Swanson fun fact 1

Link to Swanson fun fact 2

Link to fun-fact-finding interview

Link to Woodrum on PCA

Link to NL East playoff odds graph

Link to Defector on the Marlins

Link to Sheehan on the Rangers

Link to Jay on bad defenses

Link to Temecula incident

Sponsor Us on Patreon

Give a Gift Subscription

Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com

Effectively Wild Subreddit

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Apple Podcasts Feed

Spotify Feed

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Facebook Group

Bluesky Account

Twitter Account

Get Our Merch!

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