Ben Lindbergh and The Ringer’s Van Lathan banter about Van’s love of baseball, his origin story as a fan, how he got back into the sport, MLB’s resurgence in popularity, advanced stats questions, why the percentage of Black players in MLB fell, how average sports fans perceive MLB’s labor battle, and much more (warning: language). Then (1:25:38) Ben talks to Thomas Gilbert, author of Death in the Strike Zone: The Mystery of America’s First Baseball Hero, about how Jim Creighton revolutionized pitching and reshaped the game, and how Gilbert investigated the many unknowns and misperceptions surrounding the right-hander’s life and death. Audio intro: Gabriel-Ernest, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Guy Russo, “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to Van’s Ringer archive Link to Van’s baseball outfit Link to Van’s dad story Link to Chico Escuela clip Link to Ben on Dunn and Pierre Link to B-Ref career WAR leaders Link to wOBA glossary entry Link to Field of Dreams scene Link to Jeter’s dating history Link to The Simpsons scene Link to Death in the Strike Zone Link to How Baseball Happened Link to Creighton wiki Link to Thorn on Creighton 1 Link to Thorn on Creighton 2 Link to EW on pesäpallo Link to The Universal Baseball Association Link to Defector on Coover’s book Link to Ella Black series  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Give a Gift Subscription  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com  Effectively Wild Subreddit  Effectively Wild Wiki  Apple Podcasts Feed   Spotify Feed  YouTube Playlist  Facebook Group  Bluesky Account  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch! var SERVER_DATA = Object.assign(SERVER_DATA || {}); Source