The Infinite Inning #048: Deal With Reality

Russell Carleton (Baseball Prospectus, author of The Shift: The Next Evolution in Baseball Thinking) joins Steven to discuss things we don’t have words for, and surprising findings on third-base coaches, the effect of managers, and, of course, the shift.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Day the Sun Shone on Ty Tyson*Reframing the problem of Alex Johnson*Russell Carlton: Man with a Doctorate*You can’t control for Salvador Perez’s knee*Baseball and Arkham Asylum*Fire all the third base coaches*A book about people (with numbers)*The Zach Britton Game that Zach Britton wasn’t in (We Need a Word for That)*Opportunities for communication (a letter from a general manager)*The Bruce Bochy Effect?*“The shift is kind of freakin’ the pitchers out”*“The model of the starting pitcher is a little bit broken”/”Most teams have a 22-man roster”*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?