Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast - Effectively Wild Episode 2515: All Fun and Games

Episode Date: August 8, 2026

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon. Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the long-in-the-making major league debut of gravity-defying, strikeout-celebrating reliever Jefry Yan, Steven Kwan’s resurgence, a lineup with lots of Juniors, a scooter celebration, a double FARTBAT, Luis Arraez abandoning home plate, MLB players’ low-stakes conspiracies, a head-to-head MVP battle, the Mets’ Francisco Lindor–Juan Soto drama, the A’s firing David Forst, a pitcher plate appearance, and more. Then (1:02:46) Ben brings on YouTubers Noah Campbell (aka SOFTDRINKTV) and Taylor McNelis (aka WildLion Games) to discuss the decline in the quantity and quality of sports video games, how well baseball lends itself to gaming, the golden age of baseball video games, and whether a few new challengers might endanger MLB The Show’s dominance. Audio intro: Benny and a Million Shetland Ponies, “Effectively Wild Theme (Pedantic)” Audio interstitial: The Gagnés, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Philip Bergman, “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to Reddit post on Yan Link to first Yan episode Link to second Yan episode Link to Yan debut story Link to Yan debut video Link to Yan leap on single Link to Guardians’ Yan mockery Link to MLBTR on Brebbia Link to Brebbia’s second EW appearance Link to previous Kwan chat Link to Kwan leaderboard Link to Kwan pillow quote Link to sports nepo babies article Link to article on baseball nepo babies Link to Ryan HoF page Link to Giants scooter celly Link to Arraez abandonment Link to @ScoringChanges explanation Link to Marlins misplay Link to EW Episode 500 Link to PCA comments Link to Saucedo comments Link to Ottavino comments Link to PCA vs. Ohtani game Link to Peralta/Lindor/Soto report Link to 2025 Yankees bullpen blowup Link to Lindor/McNeil article Link to MLBTR on Forst Link to Mikolas PA article Link to Nusbaum tweet Link to Button Mash Link to The Ringer-Verse Link to SOFTDRINKTV on YouTube Link to WildLion Games on YouTube Link to Paine on sports games 1 Link to Paine on sports games 2 Link to Jabroni Baseball video Link to EA buyout Link to EA layoffs report Link to EA layoffs report Link to College Football microtransactions Link to Ben on MVP Baseball 2005 Link to Noah on MVP Baseball 2005 Link to Super Mega Baseball 4 article Link to Metalhead on EW 1 Link to Metalhead on EW 2 Link to Taylor on SMB4 roster updates Link to Taylor’s SMB4 review Link to Zach Kram on Backyard Baseball Link to Backyard Baseball comeback article Link to Backyard Baseball wiki Link to Taylor’s Backyard Baseball review Link to Noah on MLB Power Pros Link to Indoor Baseball Link to Noah on Indoor Baseball Link to Noah on MVP 06: NCAA Baseball Link to Noah’s MLB The Show 26 review Link to Taylor’s MLB The Show 26 review Link to Power Pros wiki Link to Professional Baseball Spirits wiki Link to article about eBaseball Pro Spirit 2026 Link to Noah on eBaseball: PRO SPIRIT Link to eBaseball: PRO SPIRIT 2026 on PS5 Link to Noah on eBaseball: PRO SPIRIT 2026 news Link to Noah’s eBaseball: PRO SPIRIT 2026 review Link to Taylor’s eBaseball: PRO SPIRIT 2026 review  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Give a Gift Subscription  Email Us: [e-mail]  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

Well, it's moments like these that make you ask, how can you not be pedantic about baseball? If baseball were different, how different would it be? On the case with light ripping, all analytically, cross-check and compile, find a new understanding not effectively while there can you not be pedantic. Yes, when it comes to baseball, how can you not be pedantic? Hello and welcome to episode 2515 of Effectively Wild, a baseball podcast from Fangraphs presented by our Patreon supporters.

I am Ben Lindberg of the Ringer, joined by Meg Raleigh of FanGraphs. Hello, Meg. Oh, hello. You know, we talk about a lot of things on this podcast, most of them about baseball, or tangentially at least. And the nice thing about that is that we hip people to some stuff that becomes bigger news long after we've talked. about it. We're recording on Friday at the start of the day. Six teams were within a game and a half of a playoff spot. One wild card holder had a sub 500 record. We can't tell you how that's all going to shake out. You can't always get the info you want from Effectively Wild. But if you try sometimes, you just might find. You get the info you need. And I saw a post on the

Effectively Wild subreddit this week. And the headline was Jeffrey Yan. And user win affectionate 3804 posted. I feel like such a hipster already knowing about this guy and his great antics on the mound from the Rockies preview pod from, I think, 2025, thanks, EW. And I believe it actually wasn't the Rockies preview pod, oddly enough. I think it was episode 2290, which was a Diamondbacks and Nationals preview pod last last March when we talked about Jan. And we talked about him because he was in spring training and he was doing his balletic airborne

strikeout celebration. And maybe he came up on the Rocky's preview pod as well. We may have mentioned him multiple times, but he's kind of been a niche figure, maybe in some social circles and internet

alcoves because people have seen his celebrations in the minors. He's been bouncing around. And this week he went mainstream because he got called up to the Mets and he was facing the Guardians and strikeouts were recorded, and he did his usual schick.

He did his leap, and people were taken aback if they had not been clued in before this. And it's really something, because he's 29 years old. He's almost 30. He turns 30 later this month. Happy early birthday to Jeffrey Yan, and he probably will be pretty happy because he has finally made his major league debut after this long minor league goddessy, and he's a pitched all over the place in different organizations and was out of baseball for a while. But he has this signature trademark move after every strikeout.

He takes to the air. He looks like he just finished Game 7 of the World Series, and it's just a regular all strikeout. And some people are upset. Some people are confused. Some people are delighted and tickled by this. The reactions have really run the gamut. But if you've been an effectively wild listener for a while, You knew about Jeffrey Yan, and perhaps it was like being greeted by an old friend when you saw him on a major league mound for the first time.

I think that this story I'm about to tell is consistent with the first time that we talked about him. But like my first exposure to Jan came during Lidom. It was a winter ball phenomenon. And so, yeah, like get with the program, you guys. I can appreciate why if one is unfamiliar. with Yon's preferred mode of celebration. Why it might take one of back the first time one sees it, because it is dramatic.

Oh, certainly. You know, and it does feel, if you're trying to contextualize individual player performances and celebrations within the broader milieu of the team, perhaps a bit shocking, because, Ben, I don't know if you know this, but the Mets aren't very good. You know, and so I can imagine a cranky king of queens, you know, seeing Jan out there doing his, his strikeout move and taking umbrage.

But I would just invite him to to enjoy the journey, appreciate the journey that this young man has gone through. Yeah. I say young. I mean, he's younger than I am. How about that, you know? And he is still young within the context of being a human person. But as you noted, almost 30. We'll turn 30, 10 days from now, in fact.

So I know that Mets fans feel as if this season is one where they have wandered the wilderness, where they have sought refuge from some oasis in the desert and been spoiled by a mirage every time. But here, I'm here to tell you, let Yon be your oasis, you know? Like let him remind you that even in a terrible season, one marked by disappointment, there are moments of delight. And if you think you've been waiting a long time, well, you ain't got nothing on Yon. I wouldn't say, Ben, that the Mets most recent World Series appearance is like officially recent, reasonably recent at this point. But it's like, you know, within the course of Yon's career, How about that?

A lot of other fan bases would consider it relatively recent. But yeah. And I'm not trying to give Mets fans the business in this instance. There are times when I like to give them the business because it keeps them honest. But, you know, when the Mets are bad, they pack a lot of bad into that stretch, right? This isn't normal bad. This is like when you get those hyper-concentrated cold bruise and you're like, wow, I just drank jet fuel and now I can fly. You know, it's like that.

It's like being in a distilled pure. state of suck. But now you have this and you get to enjoy it. So that's nice. Like get with the program of enjoy. And it's, you know, if you've worked up about it, don't

worry. In all likelihood, this journey man will continue his journey, man. Yes. You know? Yes. And we did talk about him subsequently on the Rockies preview. And that was episode 2294 and we asked Patrick Lyons about him. And the thing about him is that it's not done with any malice and it's not personal.

He does this on every single strikeout against every, which is what makes it performance art. It just makes it so preposterous and ridiculous. But also, I think, makes you shrug and say, all right, that's just his thing, which I think Stephen Vote, Guardians Manager more or less said like that. That's just the thing he does. And everyone knows. Now, not everyone knows. Fans might not know.

I think people in the game generally know, oh, yes, that's the guy who. who has that trademark leap after every single strikeout. I would hazard a guess. I don't know this to be true, but I would not be remotely surprised if, kind of like an umpire issuing warnings. Like, I wouldn't be surprised if the Mets went to Stephen Boat.

We're like, so, hey, this isn't, don't worry about it. Okay, this isn't, he's not doing it at you, I promise. He's not doing it at any of the batters he might strike out tonight. This is just his thing that he does. And we're going to roll with this quirk because it's, it's ultimately pretty harmless and like, here's this guy getting a shot, you know? And how exciting is that? Yeah.

And he's heard it all before. He may have heard it from more quarters and a little more loudly this week than usual just because more people are paying attention. But he has encountered this at every step of the way. And I think he's developed a thick skin and he has somehow preserved his joy. And this is an expression of it against all the slings and arrows that I'm sure he has suffered because of this behavior and policing baseball exuberance and particularly with non-white players, perhaps you never know, people are going to disapprove.

And yet, somehow he has made it to the majors and almost to 30 years old. Still doing this and being true to himself. And is it completely over the top? Yeah, absolutely. To be clear, 1,000 percent. It's so silly. Just the mismatch between the leverage and how. common the outcome that he is celebrating is. And he looks like he's celebrating the highest leverage,

just wow. And he does it in every single situation. But that's why it's not targeted. He's not trying to pick on you personally. It could be anyone. And he's not a high profile player, obviously. He may not be around for that long. He was pitching in the sixth inning. That's the work that he's going to get. So I think if he were more accomplished, if it were more sporadic, for example, to name another hard-throwing lefty reliever, when a oldest Chapman did his somersault off the mound after finishing a game one time, that got nipped in the butt. That was, the Kaibash was put on that, and he was not going to be able to do that.

But this is different because mostly people are just, he's happy to be here. Yeah, man. Mostly people are happy for him that he's there. And once you learn the lore of Jeffrey Yan, and you realize that it's not about you, it's about him, then I think you can sort of celebrate it or at least say, well, different strokes

for different folks, I guess. And his numbers are actually pretty impressive this year because AA, AAA, and now an inning in the majors, he has struck out 77 batters in 41 and two-thirds innings. That's a lot of strikeouts. That's a lot of leaps. That's 16.6 strikeouts per nine. Right.

And now he has the six walks per nine to go with that. You're wondering, gee, why does a guy with this sort of strikeout rate who can hit 101 from the left side? How is he not making the majors until now? Well, a lot of it has to do with the control issues. It's pretty wild. So wild in more than one way. But, you know, it's not done with any desire to show anyone up, I think. And it's a personal expression and it's quirky. And we like when players have their signature celebrations. And that's just his. his thing, man. So just enjoy it or tolerate it. Just let him have this, I guess. Yeah. I hope that people will tolerate yawn just like they will tolerate the 27 different

metaphors I reached for when I was talking about him. Yeah. And I know we talked about this before, but you just, he gets such air like he's catching so much air. It's wild. Yeah, you just, you wonder once he's on the other side of 30, like, can he keep doing this? Is he got to twist an ankle at some point. Like, will this, will this hurt him in some way? He actually, he did it on a, on a single, he sort of started to do it. And I don't know if it was just reflexive. It was kind of back up the middle. It wasn't like his leap prevented him from gloving it. I don't think he would have gotten it anyway. And maybe he was just reflexively trying to get it out of the way or something. But yeah, I guess it doesn't matter what fielding position he's in because he does this on strikeouts.

but if he were to do it prematurely or have a misfire and do it on a ball and play back to him or something or just hurt himself. And then, I mean, we already invoked the Twitter meme the other day about the move. And it's not clear what you were trying to do, right? Like if he did that at the wrong time, you know, then maybe I think if it were costly in some way,

then maybe teams would actually crack down and say don't do this anymore. But as it is, I think they just feel like, well, let him be exuberant. and why would you want to crush his spirit? He's been through a lot, so let him express that. Yeah, I just, you know, I'm not saying it's a zero risk sort of endeavor. I'm not totally confident that my memory of this is reliable,

but I seem to recall, despite this, again, being something that people know he does, there being folks during, say, the lead home season who took exception to him doing it. And, like, recently, after a track record, had been established that this is, you know, what's coming. So even setting aside the reputational and sort of benches clearing potential of it, you're right, there's non-zero injury potential, even if I don't think it to be particularly likely. And he is compromised in terms of his fielding position. If he gets it wrong and thinks he has a strikeout and needs to be quick off the mound to react to something.

So yeah, but also, I don't care. Even the Guardians guys in the dugout were mimicking and mocking the celebration. Oh, sure. And the Guardians got a hit and scored a run. And Jose Ramirez was hopping up and down in the Guardians dugout doing a Jeffrey Yan celebration. That's fair game too. Sure. So like if they get you, then they can do a reprisal.

They can fight fire with fire and they can do their little leaps. Right. So it's kind of if you don't want him to leap, don't strike out, I guess. And if he gets tagged, then they can jump at him. Yeah, exactly. Well, he's been doing it for several years anyway, just like through the Marwin system, Winterball. So again, it's not new, but it's new to the major league. So that's exciting.

And he does other celebrations, too. Like he does finger guns sometimes. He does like an umpire style strikeout call. I don't know. He's just, he's in his own world. And now we're in his world too. It's too athletic to describe as theater kid energy, right? Because, you know, other than the dancers, the leaping, that's not necessarily theater kid energy.

But it does kind of have that. It's like, hey, you got a lot, you got a lot going on, man. A lot of different things happening here. But again, I don't care. I think it's great. Anyway, that's the effectively wild advantage. We will talk about today's big stories today, but we'll also talk about them. Years in advance, sometimes, maybe.

Sometimes we're probably late to things, too. Who knows? Anyway. I don't think that's true. We do so many damn pods, Ben, and we talk for such a long time. It's true. Well, I will be talking for some time later on this episode with a couple of guests. And people know I'm a video game guy.

I also do a video game podcast. It's called Button Mesh. It's on the Ring Reverse feed. Hope you'll listen and like it. But occasionally, I have crossovers on Effectively Wild, and we talk about baseball video games. And so I will be joined by Noah Campbell, aka Soft Drink TV on YouTube, and Taylor McNellis, aka Wild Lion Games on YouTube. These are two of the most established, most prolific makers of videos about video games that are sports-related, baseball-related.

And they're going to come on to talk about the baseball video game landscape, which has been shaken up a little bit lately. And I think and hope this will be of interest to people who aren't big gamers because there's been a big sea change really in the sports video game landscape and everything's gotten consolidated and kind of monopolized. And there are many fewer games than there used to be fewer franchises. And that's certainly true in baseball with MLB the show establishing its dominance for so long and kind of being the only show in town. Sorry, didn't even mean to, but just walked right into it. And that has had some costs in terms of a lack of alternatives and some stagnation in the games.

But perhaps that is finally changing because there are some alternatives. There's a new backyard baseball game. That series has been rebooted. And professional baseball spirits. So for years, there's been a Japanese franchise called Professional Baseball Spirits, which is an NPB alternative. Oh, cool. But it hasn't been broadly available in the West and hasn't been localized. And so there is a real barrier to playing that if you were just an MLB fan, for instance.

But for the first time, that series now has been westernized and they have released it worldwide and with English commentary and everything. And so you can play that now. And it is an exciting alternative to the show. Not that the show is bad. It's just it would be nice if there were some options out there. So between that and backyard baseball and indoor baseball and other. things that are happening. Perhaps the stranglehold is loosening. Perhaps there are other options out there. And competition is good for consumers. And even if you like the show, it would behoove everyone

to have more than one option out there. So we will get into all of that and some of the best baseball games of all time and how sports video games have evolved or devolved with Noah and Taylor a little later. So before I get to that, just a grab bag of banter here. And a couple other follow-ups. So we talked about Yefri-Yan long ago. We have now talked about him again. We also got an email from Zach, who I believe is a guardians fan. So the guardians

were on the receiving end of Yefri-on's strikeouts this week. However, they have something to celebrate themselves, which is Stephen Kwan in his resurgence. Yeah. So email from Zach, all of your guardians at the deadline points are absolutely fair, and saying the outfield is cursed is reasonable,

but let's give some credit to resurgent Stephen Kwan, rightfully back in the leadoff spot who has been one of the best hitters in baseball since July 1st. Arbitrary endpoints maybe, but he was one of the worst hitters in baseball through June and then had a 188 WRC Plus in July. He stayed hot in the first few games of August,

currently riding a 21 game on base streak. And his WRC plus on the season is now above average, which is pretty impressive, considering that it got as low as 65 in June. I was impressed by the Guardian's deadline, even granting the curve. They got better on Monday, and I'm excited to see how they work with Yo.

How much they raise their ceiling for the season probably depends on how hot Jose can get at the plate. But there's probably a little less pressure on him than there has been, thanks to Kwan. And that's true. We talked about Stephen Kwan and his struggles. This was on July 10th. And by then he had already had a few games and perhaps the comeback had begun. But his full season numbers were still really rough at that point. And we were lamenting that and trying to figure out what was going on with that.

him because it was kind of perplexing under the hood. It was hard to see why exactly he had been so much worse. And maybe that's because he was about to be better. He was already on the uptick. And it's true since July 1st. He has now a 184 WRC plus and he has 1.7 war. He is sixth on the non-pitcher leaderboard since July 1st. It goes Pekker Armstrong, Yorda, Alvarez, Dylan Dingler, Elie de la Cruz, Sadeon Raphaela, and Stephen Kwan. So yeah, he's been good again. And yes, he has had a 440 Babbip over that span. But also a lot more walks than strikeouts.

Sure. Now, not much power. Still a sub-100 isolated power. No homers over that span. He's batting 398 with almost a 500 on base, but a whole lot of singles over that span. So I don't know. Is he completely different than what?

what he was or has he just sort of stayed the course and luck has corrected and other things. But whatever the reason or reasons he has been back to being productive and that has certainly helped bolster a lackluster guardians offense. Yeah. I mean, look, I love Stephen Kwan. I hope that he has a new pillow. Maybe he finally got a new pillow and that's what turned everything around. We have talked about the importance of pillows on this spot and we know that his has been

wanting in the past. It was him that had the weird pillow, right? I'm not just remembering that entire brick or rolly piece. I think that what we said at the time remains true and perhaps, you know, despite him being on the right side of it now, his existing sort of shape of production isn't doing anything to undermine this point. He just doesn't have a lot of margin for error when it comes to his approach at the plate because there is no power. There's no power.

I mean, there's, there has. been power in the past for stretches at times, but it's not his carrying tool, right? And so when you can't really provide much in the way of thumb, you limit the sort of scope of your potential contribution and when things aren't working out for you when you aren't able to get on base when you don't have the same kind of strike zone discernment when you're not making contact at elite rates. Like, you can get kind of in the muck. And then sometimes every hit is following. And you're one of the most productive players in baseball. And I think that, you know, his challenge is going to be trying very hard to sort of get to the same spot and have there be some consistency, right?

Like rather than operating totally at the extremes to be, you could be a little more middle of the room maybe and so be productive. So, you know. Yeah. The quote from that athletic piece last year from Kwan, I had a pillow for 10 years that my now wife was totally disgusted by. She's like, you can get a new one. And I was like, why? I don't need a new one. One day she took the cover off and said, you need to look at this. It's disgusting. And it was. I did end up throwing it away my first year up here. It made it to the big leagues, though. So congrats to Jeffreyon and also Stephen Kwan's 10-year-old pillow for making it to the big leagues.

Yeah. And look, when we talked about the pillow thing, I had to issue a correction both on the frequency of my own pillow replacement and the necessity to do it as often as I was suggesting. But everyone would agree that 10 years with one pillow is too long a time. That is an absurd. That is too long of a time. Indeed. Yes. Also, John Brebria follow up, as always. Anytime John Brebria has a new employer, it will be reported on this podcast. He's back in Boston and he has signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox, just a big deadline era acquisition for them. And last time he was on here, he talked about his previous stint with the Red Sox, which was very brief and undistinguished because it was like late last year and he just got sick and never really pitched for them and then was gone again. And it was sad because he grew up in the area and was a Red Sox fan as a kid.

And so he fulfilled his dream of being a member of the Red Sox organization, but very briefly and was ill at the time. So hopefully the second stint will go better than the first did. That's a pretty low bar too clear, I suppose. Also, got an email here from listener Dan, who says, an abundance of juniors has happened in New York, because with the acquisition of Luis Garcia Jr. And the promotion of George Lombard Jr., whom we discussed the other day, the Yankees are now running three juniors in their lineup,

with Jazz Chisholm Jr. being the third. And so Dan asked which lineup in MLB history has featured the most juniors. And, you know, this is a good intro because we'll probably be talking about Ken Griffey Jr. baseball games later in the episode. But the juniors who have populated a single lineup, this is, I guess, a brief little stat blast. Michael Mountain looked this up. And he notes that data sources can be inconsistent on who actually uses the junior. And he was using the Chadwick register one data source which differs slightly from say what's on fan graphs where on fan graphs Nolan Ryan is a junior.

Nolan Ryan Jr. Who knew? So it really differs. But according to the Chadwick Register data, three juniors in one starting lineup is tied for the most in AL or NL history. And the Yankees are the first team to field such a lineup without Jerry Hirston Jr. Because the 2012 Dodgers had Jerry Harson Jr., Tony Gwyn Jr., Tony Gwyn Jr., and Ivan de Jesus Jr.

And the 2001 Orioles had Hairston, Tim Raines Jr. and Cal Ripkin, Jr. And the 1998 Orioles had Hairsten, Ripkin, and Danny Clyburn, Jr. And that trio started only a single game together. So this is the first Hirsten-less trio of juniors in a single lineup. So that's exciting.

And we'll see if we can go to four blades. Can we get another? Junior. And I like to think we can because there are just, there are so many nepo babies in baseball, right? Right. And maybe more than ever. And I've seen some suggestions to that effect. And also, I don't know if people are getting more willing to display the junior officially, but it sort of seems that way. So I think maybe, maybe we can go to four. But this is the first time in almost 15 years, I guess, that we have seen this. there were a lot of sons of big leaders who moved at this deadline i would just point out that nolan brian juniors how his name appears on mlb.com on his mlb player page yeah yeah i'm sure it matches yeah yeah it's just uh we're not just we're not going rogue just winging it we're not winging it no it's true but uh yeah he's he's not commonly referred to as as nilbrian junior in fact when i

saw that i was like wait is that noon ryan son no it's it's the nolan ryan i don't know why they did that. It's so funny because, first of all, I'm learning that Nolan Ryan's given first name is actually Lynn, which I did not know. And also, I find it funny that they have his nickname listed

on this page, and it's like, well, just isn't Nolan Ryan also a nickname then, technically, you know? I know that it's not as famous as Ryan Express, but like, you can just go on Nolan Ryan on there, and it would be the same because that's also a nickname if his name is Lynn Nolan Ryan, Jr.,

I think whether we have more juniors or not, what has changed at least is that the junior is more likely to be displayed prominently on a jersey, for example. Like, it wasn't Ryan Jr. at the end of a Nolan Ryan. And same for accent marks and such. I mean, that's good that people can choose to do that if they want. It's just, yeah, the juniors. And I know that you have been flummoxed by the, because it's not the last name that is the. It's also just, right. And your dad. not there, you know? Like, he's not there. Yeah. I mean, yeah, I have no problem with people choosing to say their name or list their name however they want. You're just, yeah, you've quibbled with, but it's the first name. It should be like Nolan Jr. Ryan or something. Right. And that would be, you know what? That would, that would be stupid. It would be silly. I mean, I guess, yeah, it's also the last name. It's, maybe you could say it's a package deal, right? Because

it's, it's the first, the full thing. Right. It's not like every Ryan. or every in Nolan Ryan's case, every Lynn. Well, and this is, and okay, now I have a new problem. Why is he Nolan Ryan Jr.? If his given first name is Lynn, shouldn't it be Lynn Ryan Jr? It should. But I guess if you adapt the Nolan, then you're just, you're knowing. Right, you're just Nolan Ryan.

What are we doing? What are we doing? And if he has a son and names him after himself, he couldn't, he wouldn't name him Nolan Ryan the third. There's no Nolan Ryan the second. There's a Lynn Ryan. Yeah. I'm just saying.

I wonder when the junior got applied to his MLB.com data. I have no idea. Because, well, I guess on his, his Hall of Fame plaque, it does say Lynn Nolan Ryan Jr. Okay. But on his Hall of Fame player page, it just says Nolan Ryan. Right, because that's what everyone knows him. Yeah. So maybe it was a post-career preference.

I don't know where he said display me like this. And I want to be clear. I don't think that my own sort of style pedantry should supersede the display preferences of anyone. They should put on their jersey whatever makes them happy, whatever they think is their expression of themselves. I am just pointing out, it's not necessary. You know, it's like, it's not a not another thing I do. Yeah. Lots of other silliness to discuss here. We mentioned Harrison Bader and his scooter misadventures.

The Giants on Wednesday debuted a scooter celly, so they have a new celebration now that is them riding a scooter like someone doubles. And they ride a scooter. Yeah, I wonder, was this done? I think Bader was, people were laughing in the dugout. And I don't know, look, people might be pissed at Bader for all I'm. I'm sure they are. I'm sure they are. Not happy, right? Like his team is not paying him and everything. The players might feel like, hey, you are letting down the team because you got into another

scooter accident and we could use your help here or whatever. Wait, another scooter accident? Well, oh, yeah, did you not know? I talked about this last week, but this was his second one. He had one very similar incident, which was in college. Did he also get run over by a fire truck in that incident? No, no fire truck. No.

That would have been uncanny. I'm saying to say. He needs to worry about his own outfield curse. Yes. So the giants are poking fun at him, perhaps in a good-natured way, probably. I don't know. I don't care for that. I was kind of amused.

I mean, you know, I like the motion of it because it's like you put your hands on the bars, basically, and then your foot is kicking. It looks amusing. I don't dislike it as a celebration. I mean, I want to be clear. my my squishy liberal heart is not so squishy as to not think that like Harrison Bader was very much in the wrong here and should suffer consequences for it because like come on come on come on come on but also he is suffering consequences it just feels a little I don't know I guess it's a rallying around sort of thing or it could be we don't know the context here might be laughing with him not at him probably but yeah I think this was Daniel Susack who who debuted it anyway we've talked plenty about giant celebrations this year in more than one context. So this is their latest little innovation here.

And an ex-giant, Louisa Rise, I don't know whether you saw this highlight, but it greatly amused me because he's been hot to start his Phillies career. And I think was it his debut game where Jesus Luzardo just shut down everyone and it's like, yeah, maybe we can't field, but if I don't actually allow Bals and play,

then maybe we'll be just fine. But I just said, I have seen this, but it's still so delightful that I'm going to be. It's so good. So he's trying to score and there's a play at the plate. And he leaps over the tag very acrobatically. And we've seen all sorts of acrobatic tag avoidance these days and innovations in that space, what with replay review and everything.

And so he leaps over the tag, but also in the process of avoiding the tag, avoids the plate. and sails right to the side of the plate. And so the catcher then gets up and puts himself between the plate and Arise. And Arise is trying to find a lane and there just isn't one. And so he's like fainting, uh, going to go this way, got to go that way. And then turns around and runs back to the dugout. And that's that.

He never got tagged. He never actually made an attempt to touch the plate. He just put his head down, conceded defeat, turned right around and ran away after faking like he was going to try to make some weird approach to the bag. Just, just great. I just, I love this little move. Just fantastic. Yeah, it's very, it's very funny.

He, you got to be careful, Louise. They're going to fall in love with you. You know, like, yeah. The, he had such a, a thrilling debut. Kroc is calling him Tony Gwynn and everyone is just falling all over themselves. And he's so hype and it was exciting, you know. And then when you do goof. stuff like this. I'm like, oh, boy, they're going to sign and lose a rise like a 10-year-old track.

Careful. Careful. It's pretty good. And the call here, this is abandonment. He's called out for abandonment, I believe, which sounds so, so severe. But that's the call. It's a judgy little rulebook, you know? It's got some real judgy little bits in it. Yeah, because instead of trying to touch the base, he's just like, well, I'm out. That's it for me. And the umpire waited because theoretically until he's called out, he could have turned around and come back. It's not like you're out of the baseline sort of thing. Like the umpire called him out once he got back to the dugout and then the put out is credited to the catcher. And it's still a double for, I think it was Alec Bohm who got the hit and then a rise is out, 9,4-2.

And it's funny because you could imagine that if the catcher, let his guard down. I don't know whether this was what a rise was thinking. Probably not. I don't know if he was thinking anything. But when he went back to the dugout and headed back, like if the catcher had said, all right, well, he's gone.

And he had come back at some point after the catcher stopped paying attention, like lulled him into a false sense of security. I guess he gave up. And then he came back and touched the plate. I think that would have counted, as long as he had not been called out by the umpire already. And probably the catcher kept his eye on him

to make sure that he was actually. called out, but that was quite amusing. Because I think if the runner just jumped over and just ran to the dugout without stopping at all, then the catcher maybe would have had to touch the plate on an appeal to get the out, but he wasn't called out until he went in the dugout and the

catcher didn't have to tag home, so it was officially abandonment, which was explained by the at scoring changes account on Twitter helpfully. But yeah, very amusing move for Luis arrives or lack of a move ultimately. Also, in the silliness department, we had the rare double fart bat. We had two outfielders combined to propel what otherwise would have been a catch or a ball off the wall or something over the wall.

Because this was Ronald Ocuna, and it was an eighth inning homer that barely got over the wall after Estéari Ruiz, who was playing center and Ereberto Hernandez, who was playing left, kind of collided not painfully, not in a lasting damage sort of way. But it was a tag team effort to propel this ball over the wall. And so it wasn't quite as embarrassing as off the gourd, off the dome, Canseco or Adele style. But it was a true team effort. and I think it satisfies the criteria for the fart bat because it looked to me like it was off of Ruiz's glove,

but Hernandez's glove kind of smacked into Ruiz's glove as the ball was landing and thus propelled the ball over the wall. So like it wasn't just that it popped out of Ruiz's glove. I think Ruiz either would have made the catch or at least it wouldn't have been over the wall without the assists from Hernandez. It's pretty good. of this.

You know, people bet on baseball. And shit like this happens. That's hilarious. This isn't enough for everyone to be like, that's a bad idea. I shouldn't do that. I also love Okunia being like, do I do the thing?

Yeah, do I trot? Do I trot? Do I do a little fleby arm bird thing? Do it? I guess I do. You know, oh, buddies. You know, you can, you can be like, ah, buddies, because no one got hurt.

And you can laugh a little bit. too also because no one got hurt, but it's just like, that's, that's just bad, that's just bad luck, you know? Yeah. And it's not like no one was trying to call for it, you know? Yeah. Feelings got hurt. Yeah, it was just one of those things.

It was in no man's land. And, yeah, fart bat fielder accidentally rewards the batter a tater. Though in this case, I guess the F is plural because it's fielders accidentally reward the batter a tater. But fart bat still works. But yeah, what are the odds? They're low. because I can't remember seeing something quite like this before.

I'm sure it has happened at some point in baseball history. But yeah, this is a rare highlight slash low light that I quite enjoyed. That'll do it for the free preview of today's Effectively Wild. Thank you for listening. If you'd like to listen on and hear whatever wisdom and wit await, we would love to have you. You can visit patreon.com slash Effectively Wild to access the rest of this episode and plenty of other exclusive content. weekly subscriber only episodes monthly bonus shows,

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