Episodes

  • Infinite Inning 367: Baseball, the Yankees, and Bitterness

    Infinite Inning 367: Baseball, the Yankees, and Bitterness
    Mar 21 2026
    In which we talk about some of our own broken relationships, the war of Billy Martin’s ear and what George Steinbrenner’s plan to bring him back for a sixth tour says about his own morality, the way the Washington Senators loved their own players so much they ended up in Minnesota, very small dinosaurs, and so much more.

    The Infinite Inning is a journey to the past to understand the present using baseball as our time machine. America's brighter mirror, baseball reflects, anticipates, and even mocks the stories we tell ourselves about our world today. Baseball Prospectus's Steven Goldman shares his obsessions: history from inside and outside of the game, politics, stats, and Casey Stengel quotations. Along the way, we'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?
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    49 mins
  • Infinite Inning 366: The Yankee Who Went to Sea (The Wife Sent Him)

    Infinite Inning 366: The Yankee Who Went to Sea (The Wife Sent Him)
    Mar 15 2026
    A pitcher named Bob becomes Sailor Bob all because his wife wanted him out of the house in a fatal way, then we revisit the 1880s and a truly ridiculous ballpark that led to a player having both an inflated home-run total and an inflated liver.

    The Infinite Inning is a journey to the past to understand the present using baseball as our time machine. America's brighter mirror, baseball reflects, anticipates, and even mocks the stories we tell ourselves about our world today. Baseball Prospectus's Steven Goldman shares his obsessions: history from inside and outside of the game, politics, stats, and Casey Stengel quotations. Along the way, we'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?
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    Not Yet Known
  • Infinite Inning 365: When the Yankees Tried to Be the Cardinals

    Infinite Inning 365: When the Yankees Tried to Be the Cardinals
    Mar 7 2026
    How the King of France once had an illicit love life that bore both a great resemblance to that of some of our current villains, but was also kind of similar to one of Branch Rickey’s greatest innovations. Then we join a glowering Yankees owner who absolutely wrecked his team because he was Vince Coleman-dreaming before that was even a thing.

    The Infinite Inning is a journey to the past to understand the present using baseball as our time machine. America's brighter mirror, baseball reflects, anticipates, and even mocks the stories we tell ourselves about our world today. Baseball Prospectus's Steven Goldman shares his obsessions: history from inside and outside of the game, politics, stats, and Casey Stengel quotations. Along the way, we'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?
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    50 mins
  • Infinite Inning 364: The Pitcher Who Didn’t Duck and the Artist Who Was a Hypocrite

    Infinite Inning 364: The Pitcher Who Didn’t Duck and the Artist Who Was a Hypocrite
    Feb 28 2026
    This week, a light-hearted tale of a pitcher who braved the injury nexus in a body that just refused to flinch when under hostile fire, preceded by the story of a favorite cartoonist who pontificated on the subject of children and divorce even as he proceeded to get divorced and abandon his children. And in between, unwelcome news of war.

    The Infinite Inning is a journey to the past to understand the present using baseball as our time machine. America's brighter mirror, baseball reflects, anticipates, and even mocks the stories we tell ourselves about our world today. Baseball Prospectus's Steven Goldman shares his obsessions: history from inside and outside of the game, politics, stats, and Casey Stengel quotations. Along the way, we'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?
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    40 mins
  • Infinite Inning 363: The Shortstop Sets Us Free

    Infinite Inning 363: The Shortstop Sets Us Free
    Feb 21 2026
    A player who is remembered as “Jumbo” even though that was neither his name or his shape is described in both complimentary and critical terms, oysters are considered, and one of the greatest shortstops of all time, John Henry Lloyd, Pop, teaches an important lesson about why the past matters, and why his past was especially important.

    The Infinite Inning is a journey to the past to understand the present using baseball as our time machine. America's brighter mirror, baseball reflects, anticipates, and even mocks the stories we tell ourselves about our world today. Baseball Prospectus's Steven Goldman shares his obsessions: history from inside and outside of the game, politics, stats, and Casey Stengel quotations. Along the way, we'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?
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    1 hr and 1 min
  • Infinite Inning 362: The Cardinals-Giants 1935 Ethiopia Incident

    Infinite Inning 362: The Cardinals-Giants 1935 Ethiopia Incident
    Feb 14 2026
    A future Hall of Fame outfielder gets into a tiff with the first Hall of Fame umpire and the umpire says a rude word, but how rude was it? Then we briefly consider the worst 900-plus games careers before joining the 1935 season in progress for a fight at home plate that fizzled, but not before inspiring a New York Times writer to construct an especially inept metaphor involving the game and dire world events.

    The Infinite Inning is a journey to the past to understand the present using baseball as our time machine. America's brighter mirror, baseball reflects, anticipates, and even mocks the stories we tell ourselves about our world today. Baseball Prospectus's Steven Goldman shares his obsessions: history from inside and outside of the game, politics, stats, and Casey Stengel quotations. Along the way, we'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?
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    59 mins
  • Infinite Inning 361: Pitching for Our Lives

    Infinite Inning 361: Pitching for Our Lives
    Jan 31 2026
    A rare three-segment episode this week. First, in what is very much NOT a story, the host quotes Casey Stengel in a totally context-free way. Then a pitcher has to work hard to keep a team he doesn’t like IN the World Series or risk professional extinction. Finally, a personal reflection on the way we live now, based very much on a real-life example of lightning striking twice in a truly malicious way.

    The Infinite Inning is a journey to the past to understand the present using baseball as our time machine. America's brighter mirror, baseball reflects, anticipates, and even mocks the stories we tell ourselves about our world today. Baseball Prospectus's Steven Goldman shares his obsessions: history from inside and outside of the game, politics, stats, and Casey Stengel quotations. Along the way, we'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?
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    54 mins
  • Infinite Inning 360: Ballgame Called for Yellow Jack

    Infinite Inning 360: Ballgame Called for Yellow Jack
    Jan 24 2026
    An episode in which yesterday’s headlines are today’s. First, we find not William Bell the Negro Leagues great, but William Bell the victim of a false accusation in 1920s Chicago, the only murder of its kind. Then we travel south to the apprenticeship of one of the low-key center field greats and the epidemic that stopped his career in its tracks.

    Trigger Warning: There are a couple of rude words at the very end of the episode because the hots became exercised. If you are, say, in the middle of a meeting of the executive board or attending preschool, please use your headphones.

    The Infinite Inning is a journey to the past to understand the present using baseball as our time machine. America's brighter mirror, baseball reflects, anticipates, and even mocks the stories we tell ourselves about our world today. Baseball Prospectus's Steven Goldman shares his obsessions: history from inside and outside of the game, politics, stats, and Casey Stengel quotations. Along the way, we'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?
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    1 hr and 2 mins