Ben Lindbergh

Ben Lindbergh

Ben Lindbergh has been the co-host of the Effectively Wild podcast since its inception.

## Other positions

Ben is currently a Senior Editor for The Ringer.

Ben was formerly editor-in-chief of Baseball Prospectus, and a writer for Grantland and FiveThirtyEight. He also served as co-host of the Ringer's MLB Show and Achievement Oriented podcasts.

He previously interned for the New York Yankees and for the Wall Street investment bank Bear Stearns, and is a lifelong New Yorker. He is a member of the New York Chapter of Baseball Writers' Association of America.

## Books

Ben is co-author of the 2016 book, *The Only Rule Is It Has to Work*, with EW co-host Sam Miller.

Ben co-authored the New York Times bestseller *The MVP Machine: How Baseball's Nonconformists Are Using Data to Build Better Players* with Travis Sawchik.

## Appearances elsewhere

Ben appears occasionally on MLB Network's *MLB Now*.

Ben often appears as a guest on the Slate podcast *Hang Up and Listen* when baseball is a topic.

## Trivia

Ben usually records the podcast from his apartment in New York City.

Ben chooses the episode's music bumpers from his extensive music collection. He tries to avoid using the same song more than once. Table of songs used in each episode.

Some of Ben's hobbies and interests that have been revealed over the course of EW include music (particularly the Beatles and Sloan), video games, astronomy, and Star Wars. Favorite television series include *Game of Thrones*, *The Good Wife*, and *The Wire*.

Ben does not travel much, having been burnt out as a child by his travel-loving mother who took multiple yearly family vacations all over the world. (Ironically, Ben's mother loves to travel because she did not get to travel as a child. The pendulum swings back and forth.)

Ben does not have a driver's license. He has never needed one in New York City.

Many listeners, when meeting Ben in real life, are shocked to learn he is - in the words of one Meg Rowley - "built".

Ben's education consists entirely of Catholic schools, including Regis High School and Georgetown University, although Ben does not consider himself a religious person. Ben's mother is Catholic; his father is Jewish.

Ben is married to musician Jessie Barbour, who also performs the Stat Blast and Meet a Major Leaguer theme songs. They have a daughter Sloan.

## Effectively Wild episodes without Ben

In the entire history of Effectively Wild, Ben has missed only 23 episodes:

* Episode 8: Screen Door (Sam Miller and Ian Miller)
* Episode 512: TV Blackouts Will Rot Your Brain (Sam Miller, Craig Goldstein, Wendy Thurm)
* Episode 918: One Word: Plastics (Sam Miller and Craig Goldstein)
* Episode 1452: Play It Again, Sam (Sam Miller and Meg Rowley)
* Episode 1453: Time Is on Our Side (Sam Miller and Meg Rowley)
* Episode 1509: To All Hosts Other Than Ben Lindbergh (Sam Miller and Meg Rowley)
* Episode 1754: Never Tell Me the Odds through Episode 1767: Goodbye World Series, Hello Winter Ball (14 episodes): (Meg Rowley and a rotating guest host - Ben took a five-week paternity leave upon the birth of his first child, which he announced on Episode 1753: Bringing Up Baby.)
* Episode 2046: These Segments Are Underrated through Episode 2048: Calling Up All Angels (3 episodes): (Meg Rowley and a rotating guest host - Ben attended a week-long Ringer/Spotify retreat in Sweden)

## Running jokes

* Lindbergh Burrito Method
* Smash Mouth
* Shohei Ohtani
* Ben's birthday is December 25. There are usually a number of holiday-themed birthday wishes on the Facebook group.

## Links

* Ben on Twitter
* The Ringer: Ben Lindbergh story archive
* The MVP Machine
* FiveThirtyEight: Ben Lindbergh contributor archive
* Grantland: Ben Lindbergh contributor archive
* Baseball Prospectus: Ben Lindbergh author entries