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PODCAST

The Infinite Inning

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

sports baseball

All Episodes

59:14

Infinite Inning 396: The Pitcher Who Wouldn't Stop

The Infinite Inning ·

2026/10/09

Two players who destroyed their careers before they got anywhere close to the major leagues. Maybe they never would have, but who can say? A first baseman with a high on-base percentage throws it all away just to get some pants—a lot of pants. All the pants. Then, in our own time, a college pitcher is charged with sexual assault, but despite his lawyers insisting that the victim had “put herself in harm’s way,” the accusers just kept on coming. TRIGGER WARNING: Once again, this episode contains

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61:38

Infinite Inning 395: The Cardinals Center Fielder Who...

The Infinite Inning ·

2026/10/03

A .500 Astros team that slipped into the playoffs because of a faulty league structure bashes its own fans, something for which a long-ago cranky sportswriter had an answer that still obtains. Then we discuss the Cornell Rape Inquiry and note how some of the responses to it echo two long-ago cases involving major league ballplayers, one a completely incident in the career of a St. Louis Cardinals team captain. TRIGGER WARNING: Extensive, and I mean extensive discussion of sexual assault and related

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49:23

Infinite Inning 394 The Rogers Hornsby Theory of...

The Infinite Inning ·

2026/09/26

In a column that suggests that sportswriters never change, a “writer’s wing” scribe makes a weak excuse for the negative qualities of one of baseball’s greatest hitters and weakest leaders, the “Rajah of Swat,” Rogers Hornsby. First, though, we stop off with a pitcher who never made it—or, more accurately, he never made the majors, but he pitched long enough and successfully enough that he earned the sobriquet, “The Poor Man’s Satchel Paige.” Also, he was an Artist, capital A. We ask the musical

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45:49

Infinite Inning 393: Yankee Stadium Goes Fascist

The Infinite Inning ·

2026/09/19

First we visit a very close-by alternative reality in which a momentary weakness on the part of the original Yankee Stadium gives someone in a position of power the opportunity to slap his own name on the building (this should be starting to sound familiar). Then we visit a father and son, one who played the game at the highest level available to him, another who made art that celebrated it—and, oh, he was an astronaut too. The Infinite Inning is a journey to the past to understand the present using

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50:03

Infinite Inning 392: Red Sox Hunt/Negro Leaguers at War

The Infinite Inning ·

2026/09/12

An odd tale of a pitcher unboxing a stuffed and mounted boar in the clubhouse leads to speculation about the nature of marriage and the trial of giving gifts and getting what you want at the same time. Then we check in on the Great War Exploits of one of the less celebrated Negro Leagues greats, speculate of how his homecoming could have been in a different America, and note missed opportunities to learn from the world around us, whether via the Harlem Hellfighters or the ill-fated Herrero tribe of

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41:18

Infinite Inning 391: The Shohei Ohtani Trade Deficit

The Infinite Inning ·

2026/09/05

The 1938 Pittsburgh Pirates blow the pennant race in one of the most dramatic losses of baseball history, but according to one of the current lords of our realm the Cubs should have just handed them the win. Yes, “The Homer in the Gloamin’” has retroactively been declared unamerican. Then we consider under obsession of the leadership by asking if the Dodgers are running a $700 million trade deficit with Shohei Ohtani. Finally, we return to 1938 to see who took the blame for the Pirates’ downfall,

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67:12

Infinite Inning 390 Baseball and Children Forever...

The Infinite Inning ·

2026/08/29

Two tales of children whose adult life in baseball might have been influenced by childhood fears real and imagined (but mostly real). First, the speed-king of 1880s baseball (since dethroned or at least debunked) has to watch his parents await the arrival and Robert E. Lee and his hordes on their doorstep. Then we return to John McGraw, his dangerous youth, his possible encounters with Mark Twain, and an afterlife wish-list of writers, actors, and cartoonists posted by an obscure writer who soon

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53:33

Infinite Inning 389: The Pitcher Who Quit Midgame

The Infinite Inning ·

2026/08/22

Two stories featuring one of the more rage-addicted pitchers of all time (no, not Johnny Allen, but good guess), one in which he overestimated a Hall of Famer’s rigidity and got ejected for it, another when he had simply had enough and removed himself from the situation—a self-destructive impulse that, in select circumstances, it might well be liberating to emulate. Plus: We revisit a segment on Tommy John, who passed away this week, and an occasion when his pitching arm was badly hurt—no, not that

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35:48

Infinite Inning 388: A Ghost from the Negro Leagues

The Infinite Inning ·

2026/08/15

Two stories in which the players’ absence from the narrative is the point: First, we go back to John McGraw’s first right fielder with the Giants, a speed-based player who was supposed to be a nice guy, but still found occasion to heave this bat at the opposition. Then we visit a St. Louis Stars great who took a drink—or a lot of them—from the wrong bottle and ended up stiff and cold in San Diego. We ought to know more. Why don’t we? The Infinite Inning is a journey to the past to understand the

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63:12

Infinite Inning 387: If Babe Ruth Were a Patriot Missile

The Infinite Inning ·

2026/08/08

Over a hundred years ago, a forward-thinking sportswriter suggests that a certain Yankees slugger might solve a munitions crisis much like the one the United States military is reportedly suffering from today. Then we turn to the Giants of the John McGraw era for one of the more obscure Hall of Famers, one very different from Ruth but, like the Babe and the “platinum blonde” actress Jean Harlow, he got a raw deal from his own body. The Infinite Inning is a journey to the past to understand the

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62:36

Infinite Inning 386: The Yankees, the Giants, and the...

The Infinite Inning ·

2026/08/01

In 1922, two New York teams make July trades that provoke a change in the way the game is played. Both were successful in their way, but how successful were they, really? And why did one of them involve a pitcher throwing up on Casey Stengel’s floor and a future Hall of Fame third baseman possibly passing blood? And we stop in on Babe Ruth in his last days and contrast a life of actual experience with a life of artificial experience. Trigger Warning: There’s a cussword at about 19:35. Hide the dog

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53:27

Infinite Inning 385: The Fourth-Worst Self-Own in Red...

The Infinite Inning ·

2026/07/25

Hall of Fame Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog gets stuck in the Yankees system—and the Army—leading to a discussion of social responsibility when it comes to risking the lives of citizen-soldiers (whether Herzog or Ted Williams in the Korean War years or something closer to the present day). Then we visit the win-or-go-home American League playoff game between the Red Sox and the Indians, a contest famously mishandled by Joe McCarthy, another future Hall of Famer. What went into his thinking that

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56:56

Infinite Inning 384: Dodgers of Dubious Abilities &...

The Infinite Inning ·

2026/07/18

Two instructive tales of the Brooklyn Dodgers, who, as Casey Stengel said, were at that time in Brooklyn. The 26-inning man places a clever comeback among his last words, but not before pilfering some stocks that didn’t belong to him, marrying the bosses daughter, and going broke, not necessarily in that order. Then a Deadball Era shortstop is spectacularly overrated compared to his betters, which included one of the best of all time, Honus Wagner. We also wing past one of the great forgotten

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59:43

Infinite Inning 383: When Babe Ruth's Car Turned Turtle

The Infinite Inning ·

2026/07/11

We ask of various figures past and present (as Mark Twain once did) “Is He Alive or Is He Dead?” finishing with the time Babe Ruth was reported to have fatally crashed his car. Then we try to compare players across eras and find too many irreconcilable differences for comfort, and conclude with an Expos semi-great, the writer who seemingly inspired his parents, and the decline of reading. The Infinite Inning is a journey to the past to understand the present using baseball as our time machine

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55:40

Infinite Inning 382: Joe DiMaggio Weeps for Lou Gehrig

The Infinite Inning ·

2026/07/03

A July 4th episode: Lou Gehrig’s farewell and slight return, Joe DiMaggio flashes back to the Iron Horse streak, the National League is founded in the Centennial year as things go very wrong for George Custer (couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy), one of Sitting Bull’s kids gets baseball fever, and a .400 hitter sickens and vanishes from history because of a sometimes-flexible “rule.” The Infinite Inning is a journey to the past to understand the present using baseball as our time machine

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48:09

Infinite Inning 381: Yogi Berra versus Roy Cohn

The Infinite Inning ·

2026/06/27

A young Yogi Berra battles his own pitching staff just as Dalton Rushing struggles to call pitches for Shohei Ohtani, Casey Stengel drags Yogi into the Joe McCarthy mess in Washington, Lefty Grove throws at a catcher and Dorothy Thompson tries to help war refugees. And John McGraw thought tennis-playing pitchers were effeminate? All that and more in this week’s episode! The Infinite Inning is a journey to the past to understand the present using baseball as our time machine. America's brighter

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47:56

Infinite Inning 380: The Cubs Outfielder Who Hated...

The Infinite Inning ·

2026/06/20

The San Francisco Giants’ botched attempt at Pride Night prompts a look at Billy Sunday, the Cubs outfielder who had a religious awakening and became one of the most popular traveling evangelists of the early 20th century. Plus pitchers named Head, an ERA of 6.66, a no-hitter pitched with the wrong arm, and a young woman whose name baseball shouldn’t have forgotten. The Infinite Inning is a journey to the past to understand the present using baseball as our time machine. America's brighter mirror,

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47:44

Infinite Inning 379: Requiem for a Reds Pitcher

The Infinite Inning ·

2026/06/13

Trigger Warning: Discussions of self-harm. A Reds pitcher confuses the end of his arm for the end of his life, several other players take the easy way out, a bizarre trade is deconstructed, the Marlins compared to the Browns and a certain IPO, and 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

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30:35

Infinite Inning 378: Casey, the Muscle or the Bone

The Infinite Inning ·

2026/06/06

A shorter episode about bad timing as exemplified by the time that Hall of Fame manager Casey Stengel was run over by a car. 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

en

32:49

Infinite Inning 377: The Negro Leagues were a Ceiling

The Infinite Inning ·

2026/05/30

A shorter episode that takes a quick look at the Homestead Grays and the attenuated career of the late Bob Horner. 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

en

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