The Infinite Inning – Details, episodes & analysis

We explore what put the “Solon” in Sacramento, plus the Man of 1,000 Baseball Caps returns! We enjoy a visit with original Infinite Inning rotation member Cliff Corcoran for the usual wide-ranging discussion of hats and a variety of 2024 baseball topics!

TABLE OF CONTENTS
What is a Solon? *Cliff Corcoran: “I Prefer the Ones Without Guests”*Ghosting Guests and Baseball Cards*Jorge Posada vs. Yadier Molina*Rejection and Mike Scioscia*Distance and Objectivity*Brett Phillips: Athlete*Running ‘Em Out*Qualifying for the Marathon*19th Century Senators Toque Caps (Mike Easler/Cliff Johnson)*Authentic Browns Caps, Authentic Reds Caps*Upside-Down NY*The Astros Ride Again*SlumpyTeams ™*The White Sox Clean Out the Coaches’ Room*“Major League Coach”*The Giants*Gabe Kapler’s One Big Year*MVP: Judge vs. Witt*The DH Argument/Judge Finds the Ledge*Hard Scoreboards, Power Boxes, Drains, and Chicken-Wire Fences*Progress in Trout-Medicine*Wounded Mantle, Injured Maris*Rickey’s Hammies*Goodbyes.

The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman discusses the game’s present, past, and future with forays outside the foul lines to the culture at large. Expect stats, anecdotes, digressions, explorations of writing and fandom, and more Casey Stengel quotations than you thought possible. Along the way, they’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?

Various reflections of the Orange Confidence Man extended universe, the 2024 White Sox, and other frauds, featuring an exploration of what happens when you knock the opposing pitcher out in the first, featuring visits with Babe Ruth, Jimmy Carter, and other legendarily temperamental figures.

  The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman discusses the game’s present, past, and future with forays outside the foul lines to the culture at large. Expect stats, anecdotes, digressions, explorations of writing and fandom, and more Casey Stengel quotations than you thought possible. Along the way, they’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?

Tiny Bonham and William Shakespeare revisited, Steve Trout, Don Mattingly, 20-run losses, and dealing with loss.

The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman discusses the game’s present, past, and future with forays outside the foul lines to the culture at large. Expect stats, anecdotes, digressions, explorations of writing and fandom, and more Casey Stengel quotations than you thought possible. Along the way, they’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?

Craig Goldstein (Baseball Prospectus) returns to talk Dodgers, diving for balls, and salary caps. Plus tales: A short shortstop fails to measure up and Roy Campanella asks the wrong team for a job.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Tommy Macmillan and the Non-Magical Manger*Campy’s Plea to the Phillies*Craig Goldstein: Baseball is Everything it Touches*The Trea Turner: Time-Traveler?*Cool Papa Calls In/Joe DiMaggio Didn’t Dive*Seager vs. Turner?*Once More Unto Cody Bellinger*Betts to Second/Tatis to the Outfield*Goldstein on Sprint-Speed*Is the ‘Playoff Chase’ Over?*James and Chaim*The Orioles and ‘Competitive Balance’”*The Barstool Flirtation*Goodbyes.

The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman, rotating cohosts Jesse Spector, Cliff Corcoran, and David Roth, and occasional guests discuss the game’s present, past, and future with forays outside the foul lines to the culture at large. Expect stats, anecdotes, digressions, explorations of writing and fandom, and more Casey Stengel quotations than you thought possible. Along the way, they’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?

Cliff Corcoran returns to talk trading deadline and Olympic-mandated underwear worn as outwear. Plus tales: A player loses half of what he’s got below the waist and another loses everything, period, on two hellish plane-flights.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Schang!*Cool Papa Bell and Roy Parnell*Proper Comportment for Airline Passengers, 1935 and 2021*Cliff Corcoran: The Busiest Trading Deadline in History*The Trevor Story Story*Juan Samuel Tingles*Eugenio Suarez at Sea/Kyle Farmer at WAR*Women’s Olympic Beach Volleyball Uniforms*How Does Anyone Survive the Olympics?*What’s Up with the Rays?*No First Baseman to Boston/Schwarber vs. the Green Monster?*The When/As/If of Chris Sale*The Blue Jays Stay In*A Brief Look at the Phillies*Goodbyes.

The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman, rotating cohosts Jesse Spector, Cliff Corcoran, and David Roth, and occasional guests discuss the game’s present, past, and future with forays outside the foul lines to the culture at large. Expect stats, anecdotes, digressions, explorations of writing and fandom, and more Casey Stengel quotations than you thought possible. Along the way, they’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?

Jesse Spector returns to talk everything from Olympic softball to Australian-rules football with a great deal of trade deadline chatter in-between. Plus tales of a player whose bat-control skills got him punched in the face and some Negro Leaguers recall one time they struck back.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Twenty-Seven Foul Balls Equals One Punch*Revenge on Bobo*Jesse Spector: Olympic Ennui*Softball, Carl Mays, Dan Quisenberry*Watching for the Joy of It*Trade Deadline for the Unvaccinated/State of the Yankees*Joey Gallo for Another Year*Jason Derulo?*The Children are Awaiting on You All to Awaken and See*What if You Bring a Gun to a Genocide?*Kendall Graveman Revisited*“Too Much Analytics!”*The Interchangeable Rays*Back to the White Flag Trade*Amoral Drafting (Logan Mailloux) and Empathy*An Australian Grace Note*Goodbyes.

Warrior for the Underdog Sheryl Ring returns to discuss Trevor Bauer, the limits of consent, and why it’s so difficult to escape an abusive situation. Plus tales of a Yankees-Braves trade that nearly happened but didn’t and we look at the lessons of a shooting outside the Nationals game.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Roberto Kelly for Jeff Blauser*Shooting at the Nats Game*Sheryl Ring: Eviction Moratorium*Collapse in Florida*Trevor Bauer: Power and Control*It’s So Very Hard to Leave*On Consent*The Difference Between Sex and an MMA Match*Should the Yankees Trade at the Deadline?*Goodbyes.

The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman, rotating cohosts Jesse Spector, Cliff Corcoran, and David Roth, and occasional guests discuss the game’s present, past, and future with forays outside the foul lines to the culture at large. Expect stats, anecdotes, digressions, explorations of writing and fandom, and more Casey Stengel quotations than you thought possible. Along the way, they’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?

Craig Calcaterra returns to talk All-Star Game Ennui, Enjoyable MLB 2021 surprises and disappointments, Richard Donner’s “Superman,” and much more. Plus tales of bad knees and collapsing teams in both baseball and the larger world.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Mourning Ronald Acuna’s Knee and Other Things as Well*The Orioles, the Astros, and the Danger of Deferred Maintenance*Craig Calcaterra: “Swell” and “Superman: The Movie”*The All-Star Game Blahs*Are We Over Validation by Authority Figures?*The Rural Purge*When Good Teams Go Bad It’s Wonderful*The Giants, “The A-Team,” and a Team That Can’t Repeat*Aged Tigers*The 2021 Yankees*Kevin Maas Syndrome*Ruth Kapelis on Trevor Bauer*On Consent*What Kind of Person?*The Morals Clause*”The Goose Man”*Goodbyes.

The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman, rotating cohosts Jesse Spector, Cliff Corcoran, and David Roth, and occasional guests discuss the game’s present, past, and future with forays outside the foul lines to the culture at large. Expect stats, anecdotes, digressions, explorations of writing and fandom, and more Casey Stengel quotations than you thought possible. Along the way, they’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?

David Roth returns to discuss the upcoming trading deadline, climate change, and Mets injury-setbacks that aren’t setbacks. Plus the Yankees’ disappointing season provokes a remembrance of George Steinbrenner’s cruelty and generosity and (TRIGGER WARNING) Trevor Bauer is discussed in the context of a great old baseball horror story.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Some of George Steinbrenner’s Greatest Hits*George Steinbrenner and the Vets’ Reunion at Yankee Stadium*Trevor Bauer and “Foul Play”*David Roth: “Cool”*A Brief Orson Welles Digression*The Great Sweating Players of Our Time*“It Sure Holds the Heat!”*Portland, ME Accents versus Delco, Baked Beans and Brown Bread*Vaccination is a Competitive Advantage*COVID and the College World Series*Anthony Rizzo, Jason Heyward and Unproductive Agency*The [Twins?] Vaccine Lottery*“The Italian Doctors”*Trade Value of the Unvaccinated*deGrom deDiagnosed*Travails of Francisco Lindor*Not Everyone Can Trade for Starling Marte*The Vogelbach Incident*Goodbyes.

The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman, rotating cohosts Jesse Spector, Cliff Corcoran, and David Roth, and occasional guests discuss the game’s present, past, and future with forays outside the foul lines to the culture at large. Expect stats, anecdotes, digressions, explorations of writing and fandom, and more Casey Stengel quotations than you thought possible. Along the way, they’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?

Cliff Corcoran returns to talk sticky stuff and celebrate the Negro Leagues, plus tales of players having catastrophic organ failure on the field and reacting to some of the game’s longest losing streaks.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
When Your Organs Fail Mid-Pitch and Other Digressions*Nazi Losing Streaks Never End (with the Arizona Diamondbacks)*Cliff Corcoran: No team in a sombrero*A “Bring It On” Reference on the Infinite Inning?*The Cheaters (Waiving the White Shirt)*There’s a Bathroom on the Right*Aaron Judge and Non-Incriminating Home-Road Splits*The Ethics of A.J. Hinch*Juneteenth, the Negro Leagues, and Baseball-Reference*Goodbyes.

The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman, rotating cohosts Jesse Spector, Cliff Corcoran, and David Roth, and occasional guests discuss the game’s present, past, and future with forays outside the foul lines to the culture at large. Expect stats, anecdotes, digressions, explorations of writing and fandom, and more Casey Stengel quotations than you thought possible. Along the way, they’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?