Effectively Wild Episode 1572: Baseball on Borrowed Time
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley discuss the coronavirus spreading to the NL Central, the difficulties MLB faces compared to other sports leagues, the dramatic changes that the pandemic has imposed on the sport, why robot umps aren’t part of the pandemic makeover, the jarring visuals of virtual fans, the promotion of Nick Madrigal and the overlap of good and bad baseball news, the latest vexing comments by Astros owner Jim Crane, the power of pitcher deception and the potential to quantify it, and reports that the season could soon cease if conditions don’t improve, plus a follow-up addendum about why the automatic-runner rule shortens games.
Audio intro: John Lennon, “Borrowed Time“
Audio outro: Dr. Feelgood, “One Weekend“
Link to Jay Jaffe on the latest positive tests
Link to Ben Clemens on a baseball bubble
Link to GIF of Nelson Cruz and virtual fans
Link to Jim Crane article
Link to Josh Flowerman on reliever sequencing
Link to Hareeb al-Saq on reliever sequencing
Link to Ben on the knuckleball hangover effect
Link to Ben on perceived velocity
Link to Jon Anderson on quantifying pitcher deception
Link to Jeff Long on pitcher deception
Link to Eno Sarris on pitcher deception
Link to Eno on Yusmeiro Petit’s invisiball
Link to Johnny Cueto Statcast wireframe shimmy
Link to Passan report
Link to Ben Clemens on Passan’s report
Link to Ben on Nick Madrigal
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