Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben and Meg banter about Magic Johnson’s Game 5 preview, Game 4 observations, belated Game 2 takes on Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Jonas Brothers, Addison Barger’s sleepovers and doppelgangers, David Popkins’ impact on the Jays, another Cal Raleigh award win, Bryce Harper’s hurt feelings, and more. Audio intro: Luke Lillard, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Jimmy Kramer, […]

Ben and Meg banter about and draft their favorite 18 moments (one for each inning!) from an endlessly entertaining, and almost just plain endless, World Series Game 3. Audio intro: Grant Brisbee, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Alex Glossman and Ali Breneman, “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to Ben on Game 3 Link to Laurila on Game 3 […]

Ben and Meg banter about Ben’s trip to a World Series-obsessed city, whether Game 1 of a best-of-seven series can be “must-win,” the Jays-as-underdogs narrative, the global audience for the matchup, and a few factors they’re following throughout the series, before reacting to two California clubs’ managerial hirings: the Angels’ choice of Kurt Suzuki and […]

Meg Rowley and guest co-host Ben Clemens of FanGraphs discuss the conclusion of the ALCS, including Dan Wilson’s decision to the turn to Eduard Bazardo to face George Springer with runners on in the seventh rather than bring in a higher-leverage reliever like Andrés Muñoz. Then they preview the upcoming World Series between the Blue […]

In the hours before an ill-fated (for the Mariners) ALCS Game 7, Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the state of Meg’s fan feelings and the highlights, lowlights, managerial moves, and more from Games 5 and 6. Then they discuss Shohei Ohtani’s instantly legendary NLCS Game 4 performance (plus postscript). Audio intro: Kite Person, “Effectively […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about ALCS Game 4 and NLCS Game 3, with an emphasis on Max Scherzer’s must-win mentality and why his hyped-up mound and start-day demeanor stops just short of scanning as too intense, the Dodgers’ likeability (or lack thereof), and repetitive promos. Then (as Meg sporadically exclaims about the beginning […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the effect of road dominance on the postseason spectator experience and discuss NLCS Game 2 and ALCS Game 3, touching on Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s throwback complete game, the historic playoff production of Kiké Hernández, the less surprising excellence of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., a budding Dodgers backlash, pitcher usage when […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley revisit Meg’s experience of Mariners-Tigers ALDS Game 5 and recap the first few games of the Championship Series round, touching on postseason broadcast booths, the Mariners’ mauling of the Blue Jays in Toronto, Pat Murphy’s burnishing of the Brewers’ underdog image, broader narrative-building about the Brewers-Dodgers series, whether the Dodgers […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley announce their playoff livestream plans and then break down Game 4 of the Phillies-Dodgers NLDS, including their musings on Orion Kerkering’s game-ending error and the events that preceded it, whether baseball would be better or worse without its tragic on-field figures, the Phillies’ future, and the intimidating Dodgers. Then, after […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the rampant overuse of the phrase “must-win game,” denying late timeouts, the Blue Jays’ victory over the Yankees, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., a Yankees postmortem, Aaron Judge’s partial postseason redemption, the athletic (and managerial) highlights and lowlights of the other ALDS and the two NLDSes, the swan song of […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg’s recovery from illness and her ongoing emotional distress as a postseason spectator, then share their takeaways from the first two games of each ALDS and the first game of each NLDS. After that (51:15), Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie joins to talk about how he’s […]

Ben Lindbergh brings on Michael Baumann, who immediately makes Ben regret it by subjecting him to a lyrical ode to Effectively Wild inspired by the Taylor Swift song “Wood.” Then they play “College Baseball Player or Make and Model of Car?” before recapping the three decisive Game 3s of the wild card round (with an […]

Ben Lindbergh brings on Hannah Keyser and Zach Crizer of The Bandwagon to banter in a hopefully not-immediately-dated way about the first two days of playoff action, including the Dodgers dispatching the Reds, Dave Roberts using “Strategy,” Aaron Boone’s perceived mismanaging, the flamethrowing Mason Miller and a playoff-pitch-speed conundrum, and more, plus conversation about how […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about their plans for playoff livestreams and an MLB attendance announcement, then recap the highlights of the last weekend of the regular season and discuss what excites them about the playoffs. Along the way, they rank the collapses of the Astros, Tigers, and Mets and banter about trade-deadline do-overs, […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Mariners clinching the AL West, the benefits and drawbacks of MVP debates, the power of great players to enhance a season for spectators, the Cardinals’ and Giants’ reciprocal eliminations, the near-extinction of the 200-inning pitcher, the Nationals’ new head of baseball ops, and how predictive a track […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the delights of the last week of the regular season, the Dodgers’ bullpen problems, and what kind of compromise the challenge system is, then (43:09) answer listener emails about where the warning track extends, the easiest day at the office for a batter, a player who exclusively hits […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the standings and stakes of an unexpectedly wild last week of the regular season, whether there’s such as a thing as a playoff team that can’t make a deep run, why Cal Raleigh is the player of the year regardless of whether he wins MVP, whether it still […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about 2025’s record number of 25-25 players and whether the current power/speed version of the sport is rendered any less impressive by its recent rule-change origins, the historic pre/post-All-Star break splits of Julio Rodríguez and whether the Mariners can help him become less of an extreme slow starter/fast finisher […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the state of the wild cards and whether the pennant races have been more exciting than forecasted despite the lack of actual changes in the playoff field, Cal Raleigh’s latest explots, Geraldo Perdomo’s quiet excellence, the Orioles’ 2026 outlook, the Dodgers’ rotation and bullpen, Shohei Ohtani’s playoff role(s), […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg’s reaction to the Mariners moving into first place in the AL West (at least temporarily), Jac Caglianone and the Royals’ woeful corner-outfield offense, whether major leaguers have gotten better at sliding, and an unjust byproduct of the zombie runner. Then (50:43) they bring on baseball researcher and […]