Podcast appearances and mentions of meg rowley

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the most exciting prospects who haven't yet made the majors but should soon (including Jac Caglianone, Roman Anthony, Bubba Chandler, and Andrew Painter), the struggles of once-ballyhooed trade targets Sandy Alcantara and Luis Robert Jr., the recent rebounds of Emmanuel Clase and Devin Williams, the returns of Mike […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Rockies' historic series losing streak and their rest-of-season projections, an Orioles fan's decision to get the name of Trevor Rogers tattooed on his butt, a Patrick Corbin innings-eating update, draft prospect Jace LaViolette's dedication to staying in the lineup, the late-career struggles of Clayton Kershaw, Justin Verlander, […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the new hardest-hit ball of the Statcast era, exit speeds across eras, Oneil Cruz vs. Elly De La Cruz, whether Tarik Skubal has gotten too good, Aaron Judge not feeling great at the plate, whether Rockies fans should boycott the team, how the (first) Juan Soto trade is […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Rockies being so bad that mostly innocuous stories about them now seem like examples of organizational incompetence, a wild loss by a Rockies affiliate, and why recent terrible teams have been so bad, then (36:56) answer listener emails about catchers framing poorly on purpose, penalizing hitters when […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Rich Hill's latest perfect game bid, whether the Tigers are as good as they've looked, Jared Jones' elbow surgery and the Pirates' offensive outage, Paul Skenes and whether lower arm slots will protect pitchers' arms, Pete Crow-Armstrong and the players who've ascended to “main character” status this season, […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Elly De La Cruz's unspectacular start to the season, the firing of Brandon Hyde and what it would take for them to blame a manager for a team's disappointing season, the hubbub about Juan Soto's hustle, MLB's announcement about Rivalry Weekend's success, Kyle Schwarber and the lineage of […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about listener suggestions for terms for tandem home run robberies (and the opposite of home run robberies), whether it's so O'sver in Baltimore, Jacob deGrom succeeding despite slightly less dominant stuff, and the realness of the rivalries in MLB's inaugural “Rivalry Weekend,” then (48:46) answer listener emails about awarding […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Julio Rodríguez gifting a homer and then taking one away, two Red Sox outfielders teaming up to make a catch, home-run-robbery terminology, Conor Jackson and remembering some guys who were good for your fantasy team, pouring one out for the Austin Barnes Dodgers era, lopsided scores, and the […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about an expert's stance on stretching, whether the White Sox were the funniest team for the new Pope to support, what Paul Skenes signing up for the WBC signifies, an optimistic take on the odds of a lost season, Bud Black's firing and the dreaded “vote of confidence,” Roki […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Mike Trout's latest injury, Pete Alonso's renaissance, a Daulton Varsho recovery catch, Andrés Muñoz the cat guy, and the called strike zone (sort of) shrinking. Then (40:49) they bring on top-tier Patreon supporter Carson Otter to talk about his background with baseball and the podcast, share his baseball-related […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the unexpected power of Meg's Mariners (and Jorge Polanco, specifically), in contrast to the Rangers' unexpectedly light-hitting lineup. They also discuss a Jackson Chourio comment about Julio Rodríguez, the long-awaited comeback of Lance McCullers Jr. and the thus-far-deflating comeback of Sandy Alcantara, the literally diminished Mookie Betts, Jose […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Roki Sasaki and the Dodgers' bidets, baseball in The Last of Us, The Simpsons, and the (future) work of Lin-Manuel Miranda, walk-off groundouts, two possibly botched calls, Jesús Luzardo and how skilled teams are at evaluating medicals, a four-homer effort in a loss, the unexpectedly exciting NL West […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a new contender for the highest bat flip, meet major leaguers (14:28) Ryan Johnson and Alan Roden, and (48:35) answer listener emails about how different baseball would be if losses were free for fans and wins cost extra, whether the Rockies will finish in first before the Dodgers […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about old-pitcher comebacks (or dropoffs), James Wood's inefficient excellence, Aaron Judge's potentially unparalleled peak, whether pitching to contact pays, a possible Paul Skenes change, a base-stealing update, private equity's MLB plans, and Rob Manfred's feelings on fandom. Audio intro: Tom Rhoads, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Guy Russo, “Effectively Wild Theme” […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about EW's Ella Black series and catch up on topics they missed during the week away from regular episodes, including: some struggling teams (including the Orioles and Braves), Cal Raleigh's (and David Rubenstein's) bobbleheads, an Atlanta kerfuffle involving Brian Snitker, Ronald Acuña Jr., and Jarred Kelenic, recent pitcher injuries, […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the acceptable circumstances (if any) for a bobblehead of a team owner, the Grand Junction Jackalopes belatedly embracing their destiny as the “Chubs,” and more, then (29:35) review and discuss the Netflix documentary The Clubhouse: A Year with the Red Sox, followed by a tease for an upcoming […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s big bonus, Edmundo Sosa's beginner's home run robbery, how much of a difference depth makes, and the relative levels of alarm about the shoulder injuries of Reynaldo López, Victor Robles, and Blake Snell. Then (49:14) they talk to MLB.com's Michael Clair about what it was […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about umpires' surprising preference for full ABS, Rob Manfred's take on torpedo bats, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s $500 million extension, players' frugal behaviors, precedents for Dennis Santana's short pants, the Giants' new City Connect jerseys, and (1:14:31) the Dodgers' White House trip. Audio intro: Benny and a Million Shetland Ponies, “Effectively […]

In a grab-bag episode, Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the low league BABIP early in the season, the most interesting standings developments so far (with emphases on the Dodgers, Padres, Braves, and AL Central), Atlanta re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-acquiring Jesse Chavez, early attendance issues for the A's, (team-friendly?) extensions for Jackson Merrill, Kristian Campbell, and Ketel […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about several oddities of the early season, including pitcher Ryne Nelson's single and a drone encounter with an A's bat boy, then discuss Jurickson Profar's PED suspension, Garrett Crochet's extension, and Jonathan Lucroy‘s reaction to Roki Sasaki's apparent post-start tears, before bantering about whether full ABS would encourage even […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley have an in-depth discussion on all aspects of the sport's topic du jour: torpedo/bowling-pin/juggling-pin(?) bats. They also banter (59:58) about the abysmal beginning of Rafael Devers's season, Aaron Judge's interviews, MLB's attempt to make up for its MLB.TV outage, the vibes at Blue Jays games, Willson Contreras eating bat tape, […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley react to assorted frustrations and delights of Opening Day, then (42:07) conduct the fifth annual Team Fun Draft, in which they draft all 30 teams in order of how fun they expect them to be to follow in 2025. Audio intro: Jonathan Crymes 2, “Effectively Wild Theme 2” Audio outro: El Warren, […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Mookie Betts's unwanted weight loss, new Statcast data on batter positioning, and whether hitters should generally move back in the box, then recap Cal Raleigh's extension and a smattering of other buzzer-beating transactions before discussing (35:46) some of their favorite moves of the offseason. Then (1:10:31) they talk […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg's positional power rankings progress and discuss why MLB is “evaluating” its Diversity Pipeline Program, then for the first time in a while answer listener emails (15:35) about how baseball would be different if swinging hard caused more serious injuries, a high-elevation league/division, inter-game penalties for frivolous end-of-game […]

Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and FanGraphs authors Michael Baumann and Ben Clemens play “College Baseball Player or Musician Who's Performing at Sea.Hear.Now 2025” (4:53), and then explain the third annual preseason predictions game (11:53) and make 10 bold predictions apiece (18:57) about baseball in 2025, to be voted on by listeners. Audio intro: The Gagnés, “Effectively […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the opening series of the regular season in Japan, then (10:55) discuss the removal (and eventual restoration) of a page about Jackie Robinson on the Department of Defense website, before (39:53) bantering further about breakouts, how player heights dropped (or didn't!) after players were measured more accurately this […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about completing the season preview series, then preview the 2025 New York Yankees (7:48) with Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News, and the 2025 Chicago White Sox (1:04:41) with Sox Machine's James Fegan. Audio intro: Xavier LeBlanc, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio interstitial: Liz Panella, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Cory […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Jacob deGrom dialing down the velo, the Cardinals signing their first free agent of the offseason, David Robertson still being available, the underrated career of Yasmani Grandal, the latest New Era cap confusion, follow-ups on several recent topics, and the newly jacked Mr. Met. Then (57:22) they talk […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a surprising amount of Mo Vaughn content, a rash of spring injuries (including Gerrit Cole‘s Tommy John surgery and other Yankees ailments), the latest A's and Rays woes, and more. Then they preview the 2025 Los Angeles Dodgers (26:11) with The Athletic's Fabian Ardaya, and the 2025 Colorado […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a baseball flub in medical procedural The Pitt, Lawrence Butler's extension, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s lofty contract target, how the ball moves differently in the Cactus League, and the value of variety in pitch selection, followed by Stat Blasts (49:20) about the WAR values of letters in player names, […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a fresh wave of “breakout candidate” crimes, Jerry Dipoto's latest Meg-maddening comments, the rise of the “kick change,” how ball/strike calls differ from other boundary calls, Barry Bonds's comments about Shohei Ohtani, and more. Then they preview the 2025 Atlanta Braves (50:56) with 92.9 The Game's Grant McAuley, […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about whether the challenge system will inevitably pave the way for full ABS, the degrees of difficulty for two-way Travis Hunter vs. two-way Shohei Ohtani, and (very briefly) reinstating Pete Rose. Then they preview the 2025 Philadelphia Phillies (36:58) with The Athletic's Matt Gelb, and the 2025 Cleveland Guardians […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the balletic strikeout celebrations of Rockies reliever Jefry Yan, Terry Francona's selective opposition to ABS this spring, how frequently potential game-ending strikeouts will get challenged, and baseball in Season 2 of Poker Face. Then they preview the 2025 Arizona Diamondbacks (36:00) with The Arizona Republic's Nick Piecoro, and […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about some members of last year's Yankees and Dodgers still sniping about the World Series, Max Scherzer's objection to the challenge system, how ABS has broadly been received so far, and assorted tactical considerations concerning when to challenge. Then they preview the 2025 New York Mets (29:08) with The […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about whether certain injuries can improve players, old-but-good guys not getting gigs, the offensive disparity between the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues, and Bryce Harper's Phanatic tattoo. Then they preview the 2025 Boston Red Sox (31:16) with The Boston Globe's Alex Speier, and the 2025 Sacramento Athletics (1:25:13) with Jason […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the end of the Yankees' beard ban, the potential end of MLB's business relationship with ESPN, and whether the World Baseball Classic should imitate the NHL's 4 Nations Face-Off. Then they preview the 2025 Texas Rangers (50:07) with MLB.com's Kennedi Landry, and the 2025 Pittsburgh Pirates (1:27:23) with […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the start of spring training games, the charms of Tigers reliever John Brebbia, whether MLB's uniform pants were always semi-transparent, and Shohei Ohtani's parallel parking skills. Then they preview the 2025 Seattle Mariners (27:37) with Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times, and the 2025 Cincinnati Reds (1:12:53) with […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a player who signed an extension (Geraldo Perdomo), a player who didn't sign an extension (Vladimir Guerrero Jr.), a player who's switching positions (Mike Trout), and a player who's not switching positions, at least for now (Rafael Devers), plus an update on Meg's updated beliefs about Shohei Ohtani's […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Ben's new sound-dampening windows, listener defenses of MLB's altered two-way-player rule, and the latest intolerable “breakout” pick, followed by Stat Blasts (15:49) about the teams with the most winless, non-lossless pitchers and the all-time past-their-prime/time-travel teams. Then they preview the 2025 Houston Astros (32:41) with The Athletic's Chandler […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Red Sox signing Alex Bregman, the Padres signing Nick Pivetta, and Anthony Rendon's latest long-term injury. Then they preview the 2025 Chicago Cubs (29:35) with The Athletic's Sahadev Sharma, and the 2025 San Francisco Giants (1:14:41) with The Athletic's Grant Brisbee. Audio intro: Jimmy Kramer, “Effectively Wild Theme” […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Rob Manfred's Super Bowl cameo, the return of not-terrible uniforms, a new finding in the “familiarity vs. fatigue” debate about the times through the order effect, two more Dodgers signings, and an intriguingly timed alteration to the criteria for two-way-player classification. Then they preview the 2025 Minnesota Twins […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Dodgers' overstuffed 2025 bobblehead lineup, Ippei Mizuhara's sentencing, and the Angels' tireless pursuit of players who were good several seasons ago. Then they preview the 2025 Baltimore Orioles (35:55) with the Baltimore Banner's Danielle Allentuck, and the 2025 Kansas City Royals (1:08:21) with the Kansas City Star's […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Mets re-signing Pete Alonso, the Twins signing Harrison Bader, and the compressed standings in the newly released FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus playoff odds. Then they preview the 2025 Tampa Bay Rays (31:35) with MLB.com's Adam Berry, and the 2025 Milwaukee Brewers (1:09:55) with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's […]

It's a touchdown for trivia on Go Fact Yourself!In this episode…Guests:Ryan Kalil and Yeardley Smith from episode 75.Heidi Gardner from episode 80.Meg Rowley and Moujan Zolfaghari from episode 99.Keegan-Michael Key from episode 136.Billy Gardell and Gina Yashere from episode 142.Bobby Massie from episode 151.Ann-Margret from episode 164.With Guest Experts:Glover Quin: Former Pro-Bowl defensive back for the Detroit Lions.James Farrior: All-Pro linebacker, two-time Super Bowl champion, and member of the Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Honor.Jon Ryan: Super Bowl Champion punter for the Seattle Seahawks.Greg Townsend: Two-time NFL Pro-Bowler and Super Bowl champion with the Raiders.Hosts: J. Keith van StraatenHelen HongGuest Co-host Moujan ZolfaghariCredits:Theme Song by Jonathan Green.Maximum Fun's Senior Producer is Laura Swisher.Co-Producer and Editor is Julian Burrell.Seeing our next live-audience shows by YOU!You can also hear a different version of our episodes – and play a corresponding trivia quiz – at laist.com/gofactyourself***Listen to GFY on the radio!***You can now hear the show LIVE on the radio in the Los Angeles area on NPR station LAist 89.3 FM. You can also stream the show live around the world at LAist.com (Click the big “Listen” button at the top of the page.)Airtimes: Saturdays at 10am & 5pm. Sundays at 8pm. (All times Pacific)

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley introduce the 13th annual Effectively Wild season preview series, then banter about the Tigers signing Jack Flaherty to a smaller-than-expected deal, a long-awaited explanation for the gambling-related firing of umpire Pat Hoberg, and the death and legacy of former commissioner Fay Vincent. Then they preview the 2025 Toronto Blue Jays […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Max Scherzer and Jorge Polanco signings, Scherzer vs. Justin Verlander, and the changes in pitcher usage over the course of those pitchers' careers. Then (20:17) they discuss stricter restrictions on the size of fielders' gloves, and the merits of a tax in Meg's county to help pay […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the overwhelming listener response to their previous conversation about cover models for baseball video games, and Ben issues some “Bo Nos” in support of his previous Royals reporting. Then (18:19) they talk about the Rays signing Ha-Seong Kim, Roki Sasaki “prospect” rankings, a recent leaguewide run on relievers, […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about some good news and bad news about breakout picks, Junior Caminero's unbeatable bat flip and home run trot in the LIDOM playoffs, the latest MLB The Show cover model(s) and the lone MLB franchise that hasn't put a player on the cover of a video game, the Ryan […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg's memories of Ichiro and his sensational MLB debut, Ippei Mizuhara's letter about his work with Shohei Ohtani, Roki Sasaki's dog, the misleading name of “Sluggball,” Jurickson Profar and the prospect of a Braves rebound, which players will get “shorter” thanks to the challenge system, two new rules […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley bring on FanGraphs senior writer Jay Jaffe to break down the Hall of Fame voting results, from new honorees to one-and-done candidates to trends in support to forecasts for future ballots and much more. Audio intro: Philip Bergman, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Tom Rhoads, “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to Hill report […]