Effectively Wild Episode 2410: You Can Observe a Lot By Watching

Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley

Sports, Baseball

4.8 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 5 December 2025

⏱️ 132 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

EWFI
Ben Lindbergh, Sam Miller, and podcast scorekeeper Chris Hanel review the results of an under-25-pitchers draft Ben and Sam conducted a decade ago. Then (13:38) Ben and Sam banter about Ben’s physique, answer listener emails about doing a The Only Rule-style experiment 10 years later, discuss Sam’s revamped, unique approach to writing about baseball this year, and consider some possibilities for what we’ll remember about baseball in 2025. After that (1:05:57), Ben continues the sporadic “Baseball Jobs” series by interviewing 71-year-old John Yandle, the Giants’ left-handed batting-practice pitcher since 1985, about his transition from pitcher to BP pitcher, the keys to good BP, balancing his day job and his baseball side gig, anticipating starting-pitcher matchups, fending off advanced pitching machines, his incredible longevity, arm care in his 70s, the hitters who’ve complained the most, throwing BP to Barry Bonds, and more, followed by (2:01:20) a postscript.

Audio intro: Gabriel-Ernest, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio interstitial: Sam Miller, “Effectively Wild Theme (Ken Maeda’s Nice ‘n’ Easy Remix)”
Audio outro: Jimmy Kramer, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to EW Episode 669
Link to competitions/drafts sheet
Link to EWStats site
Link to The Only Rule
Link to Ben’s Vince Gilligan video
Link to Pebble Hunting
Link to Sam on tripping
Link to Sam on non-highlight highlights
Link to Sam on the CI challenge
Link to Sam on dropped third strikes
Link to piece about first pitches
Link to How To with John Wilson
Link to Sam on remembering past years
Link to Sam on Ohtani in 2024
Link to Sam on the World Series
Link to Sam on the Hall
Link to titular Yogi-ism
Link to John’s B-Ref page
Link to John’s Newmark bio
Link to 2024 article on John
Link to 2012 article on John
Link to 2007 article on John
Link to Johnson’s first pitch
Link to Bonds TTO splits
Link to Giants Trajekt machine
Link to Cooney/Wharton
Link to Cooney’s LinkedIn
Link to Byrnes wiki
Link to Wrapped post
Link to Patreon gift subs
Link to Secret Santa sign-up

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Effectively Wild
0:14.0	Hello and welcome to episode 2410 of Effectively Wild, a Baseball podcast from Fangraphs presented by our Patreon supporters.
0:29.0	I am Ben Lindberg of the Ringer, not joined today by Meg Rally, who is traveling, but will rejoin me next week from the winter meetings.
0:37.2	And so later on this episode, I will be continuing the intermittent, sporadic baseball jobs series,
0:44.1	bringing it back by talking to a very long-time batting practice pitcher, John Yandel,
0:51.1	who has been throwing batting practice for the Giants for 41 seasons and counting ever since 1985.
0:58.7	I love talking to octogenarians and nonagenarians, sometimes even centenarians, so a septuagenarian is nothing.
1:06.1	But 71, that's how old John is, is pretty old in batting practice pitcher years.
1:11.4	But first, joining me is a fellow who has been following the Giants for roughly as long as John has been throwing batting practice to them.
1:19.6	Co-host, Emeritus, and Pebble Hunting substack proprietor, Sam Miller.
1:24.0	Welcome back, Sam.
1:24.9	Thanks, Ben.
1:25.4	How are you?
1:26.3	Doing well.
1:27.2	Also with us at the start of this
1:29.2	segment is official effectively wild scorekeeper Chris Hanel. Hello, Chris. Hello, very happy to be
1:35.4	back. So I don't know exactly why you're back. I know roughly that you have something to share
1:42.7	with us. You have a habit of just trusting me and being like, hey, yeah, okay, come and explain
1:47.3	whatever madness it is that you've discovered.
1:49.6	Yeah, hasn't steered us wrong so far, but you told me something about a draft that
1:54.5	Sam and I did a decade ago that is now concluded, I suppose.
1:58.6	Well, the draft concluded a decade ago, but the results now are official cemented.
	...

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