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Rich Hill, the Home Run Record, and the Evolution of Position Playing

Ben Lindbergh and Michael Baumann discuss Rich Hill’s heartbreaking loss and more
Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

Ben Lindbergh and Michael Baumann banter about Rich Hill’s brilliant, heartbreaking, nine-no-hit-inning loss (0:35), Giancarlo Stanton’s comments about the single-season home run record (6:10), and why every record comes with caveats (8:10). Then, they talk to Baseball Prospectus writer Russell Carleton about how teams are abandoning traditional defensive alignments (12:40), why it’s becoming more common for players to play multiple positions (23:40), and whether techniques such as the four-man outfield, the Waxahachie Swap, and swapping corner defenders based on batter handedness make strategic sense (33:25).

Ben is a writer, podcaster, and editor who covers culture and sports. He hosts ‘Effectively Wild’ at FanGraphs and previously wrote for FiveThirtyEight and Grantland, served as editor-in-chief of Baseball Prospectus, and authored ‘The MVP Machine’ and ‘The Only Rule Is It Has to Work.’

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