SABRcast with Rob Neyer

Baseball fans, tune in this season to SABRcast with Rob Neyer, a weekly podcast hosted by award-winning author and longtime SABR member Rob Neyer. SABRcast features insights and analysis of what’s happening in modern baseball on and off the field, plus compelling interviews with figures from around the game — and music from The Baseball Project.

Subscribe to SABRcast on your favorite podcast networks, including Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, or Stitcher, and listen to each episode as soon as it’s released.

Neyer is a longtime baseball writer and editor for ESPN.com, SB Nation, and FoxSports.com. He began his career as a research assistant for groundbreaking baseball author Bill James and later worked for STATS, Inc. He has also written or co-written seven baseball books, including The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers (with Bill James), winner of the Sporting News/SABR Baseball Research Award, and most recently Power Ball: Anatomy of a Modern Baseball Game, winner of the 2019 CASEY Award.

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Current Episode

Episode #182: October 3, 2022

This week’s guest is Emma Baccellieri, a staff writer at Sports Illustrated since 2018 and a two-time recipient of the SABR Analytics Conference Research Award. She was honored in 2022 for her article on deadening the baseball and in 2018 for her exploration of MLB Statcast at Deadspin. Her recent work includes stories on minor leaguers’ unionization efforts, in-game player interviews, and a history-making St. Louis Cardinals battery. She grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina, and graduated from Duke University with a history degree. She was a guest on SABRcast #164 in May 2022.

Click here or press play below to listen to Episode #182:

What’s Rob Reading?

“The Robo-Ump Revolution Will Be Less Than Expected”
By J.J. Cooper, Baseball America

“For years, when we’ve talked to scouts and front office officials about draft-eligible catchers, there’s been an addendum tacked onto many of those evaluations. If a catcher was a great pitch framer or a terrible pitch framer, we’d often hear the same comment: “When robo-umps come to the majors, it will change what we’re looking for in catchers.” For years, the arrival of an automated ball-strike system in the majors (or robo-umps) has been viewed as more a matter of when than if. The idea is that the day balls and strikes are called by computers, pitch framing would disappear as a skill. Anyone thinking that catching is going to change dramatically in the next few years should probably reassess those expectations.”

Also reading: Leo Cloutier’s Manchester Baseball Dinners (Intown Manchester)
Also watching: Leo Cloutier’s 1958 interview of Hall of Famer Ty Cobb (YouTube)
Also listening: Studs Terkel’s 1963 interview with Eight Men Out author Eliot Asinof (WFMT)
Read more: Click here to check out Rob’s full list of book recommendations on Goodreads.com

Archived Episodes

2022

Episode #181: Jared Ravich (September 26, 2022)

Episode #180: Rob Nelson (September 19, 2022)

Episode #179: Steven Goldman (September 12, 2022)

Episode #178: Jimmy Lonetti (September 6, 2022)

Episode #177: Bill Bavasi (August 29, 2022)

Episode #176: David Eskenazi (August 22, 2022)

Episode #175: Josh Rawitch (August 15, 2022)

Episode #174: Jim Coffman (August 8, 2022)

Episode #173: Curt Bloom (August 1, 2022)

Episode #172: Kevin Cremin (July 25, 2022)

Episode #171: Willie Horton (July 18, 2022)

Episode #170: Josh Wilker (July 11, 2022)

Episode #169: Mark Armour and Dan Levitt (July 5, 2022)

Episode #168: Danny Peary (June 27, 2022)

Episode #167: Scott Bush (June 20, 2022)

Episode #166: Steve Steinberg (June 13, 2022)

Episode #165: Jean Fruth and Jeff Idelson (June 6, 2022)

Episode #164: Emma Baccellieri (May 30, 2022)

Episode #163: Bill Nowlin (May 23, 2022)

Episode #162: James Brunson III (May 16, 2022)

Episode #161: Rich Waltz (May 9, 2022)

Episode #160: Kostya Kennedy (May 2, 2022)

Episode #159: Jim Kaat (April 25, 2022)

Episode #158: Jim Allen (April 18, 2022)

Episode #157: Tyler Kepner (April 11, 2022)

Episode #156: Andy McCue (April 4, 2022)

Episode #155: Dale Scott (March 28, 2022)

Episode #154: Alan Nathan (March 21, 2022)

Episode #153: Pedro Moura (March 14, 2022)

Episode #152: Jeff Katz (March 7, 2022)

Episode #151: Will Carroll (February 28, 2022)

Episode #150: Gary Cieradkowski (February 21, 2022)

Episode #149: Allen Barra (February 14, 2022)

Episode #148: Katherine Walden (February 7, 2022)

Episode #147: Jake Stone (January 31, 2022)

Episode #146: Terry Pluto (January 24, 2022)

Episode #145: Zack Hample (January 17, 2022)

Episode #144: Eno Sarris (January 10, 2022)

Episode #143: Jeff Neuman (January 3, 2022)

2021

Episode #142: Kyle Schultz (December 20, 2021)

Episode #141: Richard Lally (December 13, 2021)

Episode #140: Eduardo Pérez (December 6, 2021)

Episode #139: Mark Simon (November 29, 2021)

Episode #138: Perry Barber (November 22, 2021)

Episode #137: Steven Goldman (November 15, 2021)

Episode #136: Chris Stewart (November 8, 2021)

Episode #135: Mark Armour (November 1, 2021)

Episode #134: Tim Hagerty (October 25, 2021)

Episode #133: Rich Burk (October 18, 2021)

Episode #132: Joe Sheehan (October 11, 2021)

Episode #131: Tony Castro (October 4, 2021)

Episode #130: Joe Posnanski (September 27, 2021)

Episode #129: Ellen Adair and Eric Gilde (September 20, 2021)

Episode #128: Dan Evans (September 13, 2021)

Episode #127: Rob Friedman (September 6, 2021)

Episode #126: Josée Tellier (August 30, 2021)

Episode #125: Dave Parker and Dave Jordan (August 23, 2021)

Episode #124: Jerry Blevins (August 16, 2021)

Episode #123: Ken Levine (August 9, 2021)

Episode #122: David Nemec (August 2, 2021)

Episode #121: Todd Radom (July 26, 2021)

Episode #120: Steve Rushin (July 19, 2021)

Episode #119: Hannah Keyser (July 12, 2021)

Episode #118: Alan Zweibel (July 6, 2021)

Episode #117: Emma Baccellieri (June 28, 2021)

Episode #116: Sean Forman (June 21, 2021)

Episode #115: Gary Bedingfield (June 14, 2021)

Episode #114: Gar Ryness (June 7, 2021)

Episode #113: Mike Cieslinski (May 31, 2021)

Episode #112: Rowan Ricardo Phillips (May 24, 2021)

Episode #111: Tom Shieber (May 17, 2021)

Episode #110: Will Leitch (May 10, 2021)

Episode #109: Daniel Jacob Horine (May 3, 2021)

Episode #108: Dan Epstein (April 26, 2021)

Episode #107: Victor Rojas (April 19, 2021)

Episode #106: Felipe Alou and Peter Kerasotis (April 12, 2021)

Episode #105: Lauren Meyer (April 5, 2021)

Episode #104: Tom House (March 29, 2021)

Episode #103: Tony Adams and Bradford William Davis (March 22, 2021)

Episode #102: Amanda Smith (March 15, 2021)

Episode #101: Adam Richman (March 8, 2021)

Episode #100: Brandon McCarthy (March 1, 2021)

Episode #99: Lawrence Rocks (February 22, 2021)

Episode #98: Hannah Keyser (February 15, 2021)

Episode #97: Marty Appel (February 8, 2021)

Episode #96: Susan Slusser (February 1, 2021)

Episode #95: C. Trent Rosecrans (January 25, 2021)

Episode #94: Chris Welsh (January 18, 2021)

Episode #93: Jason Turbow (January 11, 2021)

Episode #92: John Shea (January 4, 2021)

2020

Episode #91: Gary Ashwill (December 21, 2020)

Episode #90: Scott Bush (December 14, 2020)

Episode #89: Dan Shulman (December 7, 2020)

Episode #88: Mark Armour (November 30, 2020)

Episode #87: Daniel Okrent (November 23, 2020)

Episode #86: Scott Simkus (November 16, 2020)

Episode #85: Chris Dial (November 9, 2020)

Episode #84: Jeff Idelson and Jean Fruth (November 2, 2020)

Episode #83: Jon “Boog” Sciambi (October 26, 2020)

Episode #82: Sean Gibson (October 19, 2020)

Episode #81: Scott McCaughey (October 12, 2020)

Episode #80: Josh Schaub (October 5, 2020)

Episode #79: Bill Henderson (September 28, 2020)

Episode #78: Anika Orrock (September 21, 2020)

Episode #77: Eric Nusbaum (September 14, 2020)

Episode #76: Howard Bryant (September 7, 2020)

Episode #75: Ellen Adair (August 31, 2020)

Episode #74: Kat Williams (August 24, 2020)

Episode #73: Michael Schur (August 17, 2020)

Episode #72: J.J. Cooper (August 10, 2020)

Episode #71: Jon Pessah (August 3, 2020)

Episode #70: Brian Kenny (July 27, 2020)

Episode #69: Steve Goody and Seth Daniels (July 20, 2020)

Episode #68: Rob Fitts (July 13, 2020)

Episode #67: Bill Nowlin (July 6, 2020)

Episode #66: Greg Proops (June 29, 2020)

Episode #65: David Nemec (June 22, 2020)

Episode #64: Bob Kendrick (June 15, 2020)

Episode #63: Hannah Keyser (June 8, 2020)

Episode #62: Gabe Kapler (June 1, 2020)

Episode #61: Ball Four panel with Mitchell Nathanson and Mark Armour (May 25, 2020)

Episode #60: Doug Glanville (May 18, 2020)

Episode #59: Josh Lewin (May 11, 2020)

Episode #58: Fred Claire (May 4, 2020)

Episode #57: Jason Benetti (April 27, 2020)

Episode #56: Kyle Boddy (April 20, 2020)

Episode #55: Len Kasper (April 13, 2020)

Episode #54: Jon Sciambi (April 6, 2020)

Episode #53: Joan Ryan (March 30, 2020)

Episode #52: Jason Turbow (March 23, 2020)

Episode #51: John Dewan (March 16, 2020)

Episode #50: Bob Costas (March 9, 2020)

Episode #49: Rob Nelson (March 2, 2020)

Episode #48: Todd Radom (February 24, 2020)

Episode #47: Bill Ripken (February 17, 2020)

Episode #46: Mark Rucker (February 10, 2020)

Episode #45: Don Zminda (February 3, 2020)

Episode #44: Alyson Footer (January 27, 2020)

Episode #43: Jacob Pomrenke, Jason Turbow, Joe Sheehan (January 20, 2020)

Episode #42: Joe Posnanski (January 13, 2020)

Episode #41: Mark Armour (January 6, 2020)

2019

Episode #40: Leslie Heaphy (December 30, 2019)

Episode #39: Craig Wright (December 23, 2019)

Episode #38: F.X. Flinn (December 16, 2019)

Episode #37: Paul Lukas (December 9, 2019)

Episode #36: John Thorn (December 2, 2019)

Episode #35: Hannah Keyser (November 25, 2019)

Episode #34: Jason Schwartz (November 18, 2019)

Episode #33: Tyrone Brooks (November 11, 2019)

Episode #32: Justin McGuire (November 4, 2019)

Episode #31: Joe Sheehan (October 28, 2019)

Episode #30: Derrick Goold (October 21, 2019)

Episode #29: Dwight Jaynes (October 14, 2019)

Episode #28: Ben Mankiewicz (October 7, 2019)

Episode #27: C.J. Nitkowski (September 30, 2019)

Episode #26: Jane Leavy (September 23, 2019)

Episode #25: Steve Hofstetter (September 16, 2019)

Episode #24: Jacob Pomrenke (September 9, 2019)

Episode #23: Ricky Cobb (September 2, 2019)

Episode #22: J.J. Cooper (August 26, 2019)

Episode #21: Aviva Kempner (August 19, 2019)

Episode #20: Paul Dickson (August 12, 2019)

Episode #19: Joe Lemire (August 5, 2019)

Episode #18: Sean Forman (July 29, 2019)

Episode #17: Janet Marie Smith (July 22, 2019)

Episode #16: David W. Smith (July 15, 2019)

Episode #15: Bud Selig (July 8, 2019)

Episode #14: Randy Jones and Mark Sweeney (July 1, 2019)

Episode #13: Hannah Keyser (June 24, 2019)

Episode #12: Scott Bush (June 17, 2019)

Episode #11: Jerry Cohen (June 10, 2019)

Episode #10: Paul Goldberger (June 3, 2019)

Episode #9: Ben Lindbergh (May 27, 2019)

Episode #8: David Cone (May 20, 2019)

Episode #7: Meg Rowley (May 13, 2019)

Episode #6: Jon “Boog” Sciambi (May 6, 2019)

Episode #5: Mark Armour (April 29, 2019)

Episode #4: Meredith Wills and Rob Arthur (April 22, 2019)

Episode #3: Art Chou and Dr. Steven Cadavid (April 15, 2019)

Episode #2: Tyler Kepner (April 8, 2019)

Episode #1: Brian Kenny and Scott Bush (April 1, 2019)

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SABR 52

SABRcast with Rob Neyer

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What’s Rob Reading?

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