Épisodes

  • Infinite Inning 372: The Yankees' Owner’s Mistress and the Bomb
    Apr 25 2026
    A major metropolitan newspaper contends a pitcher “blows,” while he insists he is in “the best shape of his life.” Which would prove to be closer to the truth? Then we revisit the birth of the atomic bomb, the Yankees’ decision to start a farm system in spite of their wealth, and the mysterious woman whose very existence might have hinted at undisclosed cash-flow problems on the part of a very wealthy man.

    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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    52 min
  • Infinite Inning 371: One of the Jackie Robinson Generation Weak Arm and All
    Apr 18 2026
    We note the recent passing of some stalwart ballplayers, some of all too recent a vintage, then travel back to the 1950s and the breaking of the Braves color line by an outfielder who everyone liked to pick on.

    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 min
  • Infinite Inning 370: The Ballplayer's Lost Bones
    Apr 11 2026
    In which we track the posthumous career of one of baseball’s earliest players, who might simultaneously lie in three different places or maybe nowhere at all. Then we wish Parker Meadows a quick recovery by recalling an earlier outfield collision which injured two future Hall of Famers. And in between some wisdom from Cato the Elder, Robert Pirsig, and others.

    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 min
  • Infinite Inning 369: An Odd Cardinals Walk-Off or a Typical Cubs Loss?
    Apr 4 2026
    Infinite Inning 369: An Odd Cardinals Walk-Off or a Typical Cubs Loss?
    First we ask an evergreen question prompted by Konnor Griffin’s promotion: Were Casey Stengel’s expectations of Mickey Mantle unfair? Then we visit 1949 for one of the more unusual walk-off hits in Cardinals history and the popular player whose momentary lack of awareness allowed it to happen—and find ourselves questioning the way we live.

    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 min
  • Infinite Inning 368: Baseball, War, and the Day the $100,000 Infield Buried a Child
    Mar 28 2026
    Two players who might have made the Hall of Fame if not for time missed to national service during World War II stand in for all of those whose trajectories were deflected by the games played by those in high places, then we visit turn-of-the-20th century Philadelphia for a forgotten first baseman who won it all and lost something even greater at the same moment.

    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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    56 min
  • 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 min
  • 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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    39 min
  • 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 min