Infinite Inning 370: The Ballplayer's Lost Bones

About this episode

The episode explores the posthumous career of an early baseball player and reflects on injuries and philosophical insights related to the game.

In which we track the posthumous career of one of baseball’s earliest players, who might simultaneously lie in three different places or maybe nowhere at all. Then we wish Parker Meadows a quick recovery by recalling an earlier outfield collision which injured two future Hall of Famers. And in between some wisdom from Cato the Elder, Robert Pirsig, and others. The Infinite Inning is a journey to the past to understand the present using baseball as our time machine. America's brighter mirror, baseball reflects, anticipates, and even mocks the stories we tell ourselves about our world today. Baseball Prospectus's Steven Goldman shares his obsessions: history from inside and outside of the game, politics, stats, and Casey Stengel quotations. Along the way, we'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?

People in this episode

Host: Steven Goldman

Topics covered

• baseball history
• posthumous careers
• injuries in sports
• philosophy in baseball
• narratives in sports

Keywords

• baseball
• history
• injuries
• Cato the Elder
• Robert Pirsig
• Parker Meadows
• philosophy
• narratives

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Infinite Inning

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