The Infinite Inning

Infinite Inning 401: He Ran All the Way to the Cardinals Game

A young man shows his love for baseball by running all the way to the Cardinals game—and likes it so much he buys the team! But this is the Infinite Inning, so he only ge

Infinite Inning 400: A River Runs Through the Outfield

Thank you for supporting the show through (more than) 400 episodes! In addition to the usual celebrations and ruminations about what it all means, we have the usual two s

Infinite Inning 399: Isn’t it Time the Brewers Move On?

Our first post-World Series episode asks if the Brewers’ inflexible budget will help or hinder them in the defense of their championship. Examples from the past provide a

Infinite Inning 398: Hey! Babe Ruth's in the Wrong Dugout!

The Tampa Bay Rays’ return to the World Series inspires a look at the best players to come out of Florida, and—surprise—we discover that the most prominent Hall of Famers

Infinite Inning 397: Living with the American Terror

Meet the Milwaukee Brewers of yesterday and today—1944, 1982, and 2026—as well as that time Casey Stengel managed them to a pennant and had to leave anyway. Then we go ba

Infinite Inning 396: The Pitcher Who Wouldn't Stop

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-

Infinite Inning 395: The Cardinals Center Fielder Who Pled Guilty

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 answ

Infinite Inning 394 The Rogers Hornsby Theory of Leadership

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 a

Infinite Inning 393: Yankee Stadium Goes Fascist

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 oppor

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

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

Infinite Inning 391: The Shohei Ohtani Trade Deficit

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

Infinite Inning 390 Baseball and Children Forever Frightened

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 baseb

Infinite Inning 389: The Pitcher Who Quit Midgame

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

Infinite Inning 388: A Ghost from the Negro Leagues

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 wh

Infinite Inning 387: If Babe Ruth Were a Patriot Missile

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 milit

Infinite Inning 386: The Yankees, the Giants, and the First Trading Deadline

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?

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

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 l

Infinite Inning 384: Dodgers of Dubious Abilities & Moralities

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,

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

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 hi

Infinite Inning 382: Joe DiMaggio Weeps for Lou Gehrig

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