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 episodeLink to Ohtani slump story 1Link to Ohtani slump story 2Link to Ohtani slump story 3Link to Ohtani slump story 4Link to Ohtani slump story 5Link to FG WAR leadersLink to B-Ref WAR leadersLink to FG post on ArraezLink to MLB.com on ArraezLink to FRV leadersLink to Outsports post 1Link to Outsports post 2Link to Outsports post 3Link to homosociality wikiLink to Ross memoirLink to Valentine/Baty incidentLink to Torres challenge denialsLink to Heim playLink to Ben on accidental challengesLink to Jake on accidental challengesLink to Gausman quoteLink to batter challenge leadersLink to Rumsfeld quote wikiLink to catcher challenge leadersLink to team challenge leadersLink to Clemens on FA $/WARLink to Ortiz ump injuryLink to double-barreled BP article 1Link to double-barreled BP article 2Link to HUAL segmentLink to ex-athlete pods article 1Link to ex-athlete pods article 2Link to Tkachuks podLink to Harrisburg vs. Erie gameLink to 1977 Jays-Yanks gameLink to five-inning-ending playersLink to 2003 NL MVP votingLink to teams with 8+ MVP vote-gettersLink to SABR on WAR and awardsLink to Baumann on WAR and awardsLink to Sam on downballot MVP votesLink to debut-PA swing rates dataLink to innings 1-3 swing rateLink to innings 4+ swing rateLink to grand slams dataLink to listener emails databaseLink to highest PR pickoff rates dataLink to Haggerty pickoff gameLink to SABR on PR specialistsLink to Wright on PR specialists 1Link to Wright on PR specialists 2Link to Langs Bell fun fact
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