Episode 962: Buck, Britton, Bonds and Boredom

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Episode 962: Buck, Britton, Bonds and Boredom
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Date	October 05, 2016
Hosts	Ben Lindbergh Sam Miller
Intro	Dinosaur Jr., "Blowing It"
Outro	MGMT, "The Youth"

Summary

Ben and Sam banter about an aged usher, Buck Showalter’s decision not to use Zach Britton in the AL wild-card game, and Barry Bonds, then answer listener emails and talk to Saber Seminar raffle winners Armaan and Ishaan about the Red Sox and whether baseball bores kids.

Topics

• Mike Trout at Coors Field
• Impact of fans
• Imposter AAA manager
• Worst defenders since 2014
• Interview with Armaan and Ishaan
• Losing players to a rival team
• David Ortiz's final season
• Mookie Betts
• Getting young kids to watch baseball
• How to make baseball more interesting
• Opinions on PED use

Banter

• Episode 856 follow-up: Ben wonders if Phil Coyne, a 98 year old usher for the Pittsburgh Pirates, could compete with Vin Scully for most games seen.
• Buck Showalter's decision to not use Zach Britton in the AL wild-card game and reasons why he might have kept Britton out of the game.
• Episode 794 follow-up: Barry Bonds will not return as a hitting coach with the Marlins. Sam had not expected Bonds to last through spring training.

Email Questions

• Giles: "Colorado manages the deal of the century and acquires Mike Trout. Assume that the offensive talent there remains, does Trout have the greatest offensive season of all time? Does Sam need a new bike lock code?"
• August: "Suppose a team that typically draws an average number of fans plays all 81 of their home games in a completely empty stadium. Zero fans, all year. How does their record change?"
• Neil: "Let's say we took a person who looks the part of an early 40s baseball man. Assume he knows the game and is familiar with the lingo and procedures, and we make him the manager of a AAA team. We invent a very mundane backstory (drafted in the 12th round, played 7 seasons in the minors, never made the show) of which no one on the team will have firsthand knowledge. How long until someone on the team 1) gets suspicious 2) makes an accusation 3) does actual research to verify? Assume that no one in the media figures it out and tips them off. How long until a journalist notices?"

Play Index

• Sam uses the Play Index to look up the worst defenders were at each position over the past three years.

Notes

• Armaan and Ishaan won a raffle at Saber Seminar to appear on the show.
• Listener Darius discovered that John Smoltz once appeared in 73 consecutive regular season victories with the Braves from 2002-03.
• Giles' question references Sam's bike lock code which was mentioned in Episode 762.
• Sam, on impersonating a manager, "I'm not 100% sure that I know how to put on a uniform."
• Armaan and Ishaan are in favor of a pitch clock to speed up the pace of games.

Links

• Effectively Wild Episode 962: Buck, Britton, Bonds and Boredom
• Out-by-out examination: When Buck should have used Britton by Sam Miller