Infinite Inning 187: The Ballpark Village People

Craig Calcaterra returns to talk ballpark villages, elevator test shafts, and Robert Culp: Guest-Star. Plus tales of relationships that went wrong or never happened with the sharp-tongued outfielder Bibb Falk and Reds relievers in the Summer of Love.TABLE OF CONTENTSBibb Falk Alone*McCool, Davidson, and a Gun*Craig Calcaterra: The Greatest American Hero, Bob Culp, and “Columbo”*The Low Maturity Level of Old-Time Television*The Oakland Coliseum Site Dismissed*The MGM Analogy*An Island in Oakland (or Vice-Versa)*Public Subsidies in Development*Food Deserts and Ballpark Villages*The Germania Test Shaft*The McDonald’s Analogy*Why Are the Pirates?*The Disney World Ratio*Is it a Flat Season?*Goodbyes.The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman, rotating cohosts Jesse Spector, Cliff Corcoran, and David Roth, and occasional guests discuss the game’s present, past, and future with forays outside the foul lines to the culture at large. Expect stats, anecdotes, digressions, explorations of writing and fandom, and more Casey Stengel quotations than you thought possible. Along the way, they’ll try to solve the puzzle that is the Infinite Inning: How do you find the joy in life when you can’t get anybody out?