Effectively Wild Episode 1396: Stars and Chubs

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Twitter commotion caused by the Pioneer League’s Grand Junction Rockies (who are definitely not named the Humpback Chubs), an Angels outfield sign and Mike Trout, the curious rise and fall of Yonder Alonso, the promotion of Rays rookie (and two-way player) Brendan McKay, the upcoming FanGraphs All-Star Game event, the All-Star starters and how All-Stars should be selected, and J.D. Martinez’s comments about writers wanting to work in front offices. Then (40:33) they talk to FiveThirtyEight’s Nathaniel Rakich about his sabermetric analysis of the Congressional Baseball Game, why the Dems have dominated recent games, the two-way talents of Rep. Cedric Richmond, and why the game has resisted the polarization of politics. Lastly (1:06:21), they bring on NPR’s Linda Holmes to discuss her debut novel, Evvie Drake Starts Over, her love of baseball and fascination with the yips, whether a character with the yips is based on Brandon McCarthy, how the book has been received, her writing process and approach to dialogue, and more. Audio intro: Greg Brown, "Grand Junction" Audio interstitial 1: Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording), "Take a Break" Audio interstitial 2: Warm Thoughts, "Romance Novelist" Audio outro: 10cc, "The Dean and I" Link to Craig Goldstein on the Grand Junction Rockies tweets Link to Humpback Chubs petition Link to interview about the Humpback Chubs petition Link to OCR story about Angels outfield sign Link to Craig Edwards on the McKay call-up Link to Dave Cameron on Alonso Link to FanGraphs All-Star Game event post Link to Devan Fink on All-Star starters and WAR Link to Martinez’s comments about writers and voting Link to Nathaniel’s article about the Congressional Baseball Game Link to Nathaniel’s Congressional Baseball Game stats Link to order Evvie Drake Starts Over Link to order The MVP Machine  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: [email protected] var SERVER_DATA = Object.assign(SERVER_DATA || {}); Source