Listen to Hang Up and Listen with Stefan Fatsis, Josh Levin, and Mike Pesca by clicking the arrow on the audio player below:
Subscribe in iTunes ∙ RSS feed ∙ Download ∙ Play in another tab
Slate Plus members: Get your ad-free podcast feed
Become a fan of Hang Up and Listen and join the discussion of this episode on Facebook here:
In this week’s episode of Slate’s sports podcast Hang Up and Listen, Josh Levin, Stefan Fatsis, and Mike Pesca discuss the stars of the baseball playoffs, including Clayton Kershaw, Javier Baez, and Francisco Lindor. They also examine the many theories on the decline of the NFL’s television ratings. Finally, they discuss the Fox show Pitch with former minor league baseball pitcher Ila Borders.
Here are links to some of the articles and other items mentioned on the show:
- The Los Angeles Dodgers evened the National League Championship Series behind Clayton Kershaw’s dominant performance in Game 2.
- Kershaw’s two-out save in Game 5 of the NL Division Series helped erase the memories of his past playoff performances.
- Javier Baez’s unconventional plays have made the Cubs second baseman look like a baseball genius.
- Toronto’s Jose Bautista criticized the home plate umpires, implying that Cleveland pitchers have been getting all the calls.
- The Indians’ Francisco Lindor has been the star of the American League playoffs.
- Derek Thompson of the Atlantic identified four culprits for the NFL’s ratings decline: presidential debates, cord-cutters, Twitter streams, and the absence of star players.
- According to a Rasmussen poll, one-third of NFL viewers say they’re “less likely” to watch games because of Colin Kaepernick’s protest movement.
- The MMQB’s Peter King on the ratings drop.
- The English Premier League has seen a 19 percent drop in ratings.
- Nielsen is expected to have a total audience measurement service in place by next season to better track changing viewing habits.
- In a potentially short-sighted ploy, the NFL has prevented teams from sharing highlights on social media.
- Watch episodes of the new Fox series Pitch.
- Pitch creator Rick Singer was inspired by Ila Borders’ late-1990s stint as a minor- league baseball player.
- A USA Today story on Borders and women in baseball.
- One of the show’s producers compared Pitch with The West Wing, describing it as “a workplace drama in a high-profile setting.”
- Buy Stefan’s book Wild and Outside: How a Renegade Minor League Revived the Spirit of Baseball in America’s Heartland.
Hang Up and Listen’s weekly Peanut Johnsons:
Mike’s Peanut Johnson: The 1999 film The Hurricane incorrectly portrayed a fight between Rubin “Hurricane” Carter and Joey Giardello.
Stefan’s Peanut Johnson: Ghost runner or imaginary runner—what’s the best term for a fake baseball player?
Josh’s Peanut Johnson: A Russian football team reportedly offered Tim Tebow $1 million to play two games in 2013.
On this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, Stefan, Josh, and Mike talk with Slate writer and beer vendor Justin Peters about his experience working at Wrigley Field during the National League playoffs. Visit slate.com/hangupplus and try it free for two weeks.
Podcast production and edit by Mickey Capper.
Our intern is Shane Monaghan.
You can email us at hangup@slate.com.