Effectively Wild Episode 2479: Batters Up!

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon. Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about whether Ben cursed Shohei Ohtani’s bat by predicting that Ohtani would win the Cy Young award but not the MVP award, whether Bobby Witt Jr. could win his first MVP award this season, the defensive transformation of Luis Arraez, and more, then (33:16) further interrogate what homoerotic celebrations say about baseball culture, discuss the latest ABS challenge mishaps, answer listener emails (54:30) about an ABS double-or-nothing idea, trading challenges for runs, purchasing challenges midgame, an upside of umpire rotation, boosting offense with double-barreled batters, and a baseball equivalent to the Kelce brothers, plus Stat Blasts (1:28:21) about players with the most inning-ending at-bats in a game, swing rates in debut plate appearances, grand-slam merchants, teams with many MVP vote-getters, and picked-off pinch runners. Audio intro: The Gagnés, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Dave Armstrong and Mike Murray, “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to preseason predictions episode Link to Ohtani slump story 1 Link to Ohtani slump story 2 Link to Ohtani slump story 3 Link to Ohtani slump story 4 Link to Ohtani slump story 5 Link to FG WAR leaders Link to B-Ref WAR leaders Link to FG post on Arraez Link to MLB.com on Arraez Link to FRV leaders Link to Outsports post 1 Link to Outsports post 2 Link to Outsports post 3 Link to homosociality wiki Link to Ross memoir Link to Valentine/Baty incident Link to Torres challenge denials Link to Heim play Link to Ben on accidental challenges Link to Jake on accidental challenges Link to Gausman quote Link to batter challenge leaders Link to Rumsfeld quote wiki Link to catcher challenge leaders Link to team challenge leaders Link to Clemens on FA $/WAR Link to Ortiz ump injury Link to double-barreled BP article 1 Link to double-barreled BP article 2 Link to HUAL segment Link to ex-athlete pods article 1 Link to ex-athlete pods article 2 Link to Tkachuks pod Link to Harrisburg vs. Erie game Link to 1977 Jays-Yanks game Link to five-inning-ending players Link to 2003 NL MVP voting Link to teams with 8+ MVP vote-getters Link to SABR on WAR and awards Link to Baumann on WAR and awards Link to Sam on downballot MVP votes Link to debut-PA swing rates data Link to innings 1-3 swing rate Link to innings 4+ swing rate Link to grand slams data Link to listener emails database Link to highest PR pickoff rates data Link to Haggerty pickoff game Link to SABR on PR specialists Link to Wright on PR specialists 1 Link to Wright on PR specialists 2 Link to Langs Bell fun fact  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Give a Gift Subscription  Email Us: [email protected]  Effectively Wild Subreddit  Effectively Wild Wiki  Apple Podcasts Feed   Spotify Feed  YouTube Playlist  Facebook Group  Bluesky Account  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch! var SERVER_DATA = Object.assign(SERVER_DATA || {}); Source