A chat with former tourney champ Lindley brings up memories of podcast

At the recent Chicagoland tournament, I had a chance to talk to former Chicagoland champion Gary Lindley.  Now Gary may come off as a quiet man but once you start chatting with him, especially about baseball, he is very opinionated and will not hesitate to give you his perspective on the matter.

Well, as the tournament was in the playoff stage, I approached Gary and struck up a conversation.  We got onto the topic of reliever usage in baseball.  Gary told me he got into a 8th inning save situation during the tourney when his opponent’s 3rd, 4th and 5th guys were up.  With the one inning limit in place, he decided to bring in his “closer” even though he wouldn’t be able to pitch the 9th and get the save.

For my part, I thought that was a solid move.  Getting those big guys out of the way is key.  It’s not the first time I’ve heard of this strategy.  I have read articles by SABR-types who wish the save rule would be re-written to accommodate this kind of situation.

Of course, that got both Gary and I going on an “in my day” rant positing that Goose Gossage or Bruce Sutter could last two or three innings if need be (now, get off my lawn!!).

During the conversation, I mentioned to Gary that I once had a baseball podcast and interviewed a staff member of Retrosheet.org.  Mark Pankin from Retrosheet was nice enough to spend some time with us back in 2007.  You can find it here if you want to listen to it.  My good friend and fellow IAL manager Chuck Lucas co-hosted the show with me.

Do keep in mind:

• The show was recorded 10 years ago
• I do not have a radio voice (Chuck does though, in my opinion)
• It was done with cheap equipment and software

Regardless, it was lot of fun and there is some good historical info there and I thought it might be a fun look back into past.

I promised Gary I would get this to him as he is a big Retrosheet fan.  I don’t have his email address so I hope this makes its way to him somehow.