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Hang Up and Listen is brought to you by Audible. Get a 30-day free trial by signing up at audiblepodcast.com/hangup. Our pick this week is League of Denial: The NFL, Concussions and the Battle for Truth by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru.

In this week’s episode of Slate’s sports podcast Hang Up and Listen, Stefan Fatsis, Josh Levin, and Mike Pesca are joined by Baseball Prospectus’ Sam Miller to discuss Major League Baseball’s sudden-death playoff games and other matters both statistical and philosophical. They also ponder whether the read-option is on the ascendance or the decline in the NFL. Finally, they look at the Cuban government’s decision to let its athletes play for pay abroad.

Here are links to some of the articles and other items mentioned on the show:

• Sam Miller’s story archive for Baseball Prospectus.
• Baseball Prospectus writers believe that Mike Trout should be the American League MVP.
• Sam’s article for ESPN the Magazine on WAR.
• Brian Bannister and Brandon McCarthy are a couple of the very few players who’ve used advanced stats to try to improve their on-field performance.
• Baseball Prospectus’ continuing coverage of the effect of catchers framing pitches.
• Mike’s Morning Edition report on Mariano Rivera and his cut fastball.
• Sports on Earth’s Mike Tanier takes a deep dive into the read-option numbers and concludes it’s here to stay.
• The MMQB’s Andy Benoit decrees that “the read-option as we know it is dead.”
• Washington offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan debriefs Peter King on the read-option.
• The 49ers beat the Packers earlier this year without relying on the read-option.
• The Eagles have used the read-option to great effect thus far in 2013.
• In Grantland, Chris Brown explains the latest thinking on how to stop the read-option.
• As of 2013, the NFL has decreed that defenses can read-option quarterbacks like they’re runners.
• The New York Times’ story on Cuba’s recent decision to let athletes make money abroad.
• It’s now legal to be a real estate agent in Cuba.
• Four players have defected from Cuba’s national baseball team this year.
• The Havana Times asks a bunch of Cubans for their thoughts on athletes who defect.
• The Los Angeles Times’ Kevin Baxter explains that the players leaving Cuba now are younger and better than those from previous generations.
• Grantland’s Jonah Keri on Jose Abreu, Cuba’s next baseball superstar.
• The New York Times Magazine’s feature story on Chinese tennis player Li Na.
• Michael Lewis’ 2008 Vanity Fair article on traveling to Cuba to watch baseball.

Hang Up and Listen’s weekly Rogelios:      

Mike’s Rogelio: The time Whitey Herzog put three pitchers in his lineup as a form of protest, and Yankees public-address announcer Bob Sheppard wrote a poem about it.

Stefan’s Rogelio: Earnshaw Cook may not have gotten everything right, but he was a baseball statistics pioneer.

Josh’s Rogelio: Everyone should have the pleasure of shooting a pumpkin out of a cannon. You can also attend the Punkin Chunkin world championship and learn about the world-record-setting launch in Utah.

Podcast production and edit by Mike Vuolo.

You can email us at hangup@slate.com.