Episode 1010

On this week’s show, we consider the career of a potential Hall of Famer before getting to know one of our writers better.

• With Joe Mauer destined for the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame and set to arrive on the Cooperstown ballot for the first time this year as well, Jay Jaffe felt it appropriate to chat with Dan Hayes of The Athletic about the hometown hero. Jay and Dan discuss how stellar Mauer was despite a relatively short resume, and how the brutality of the catcher position combined with the brutality of his concussion symptoms only makes his performance even more impressive. The pair agree Mauer should probably be a slam-dunk pick for the Hall, but they expect some debate about it along the way. [4:02]
• After that, Ben Clemens is joined by Michael Baumann for the latest edition of FanGraphs Backstories. We get the story of Michael’s sportswriting career before ending up at FanGraphs, including grad school and stops at Crashburn Alley (RIP) and The Ringer. Michael also shares some of his favorite baseball memories from over the years, the most notable of which actually concern college and Little League ball. Finally, Ben and Michael discuss the 2023 SABR Awards (both have nominated pieces) and how their writing styles have adapted to FanGraphs. [27:15]

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Audio after the jump. (Approximate 65 minute play time.)

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