Infinite Inning Reissue 9 (079): Cubs in the Stands, Giants on the Breadline, and Lou Reed in New York

The Infinite Inning

In new remarks for this week’s baseball, history, and politics reissue, we apply Lou Reed’s classic 1989 album New York to this week’s events in Washington and elsewhere, a discussion which also affords us a momentary visit to that year’s Yankees trying to make some absurd trades (and the Mets actually consummating one of the worst). The flashback segment revisits Hack Wilson’s trip into the stands to thrash a misbehaving milkman and the much-neglected founders of the Giants franchise, among other discarded laborers.
The Infinite Inning is a journey to the past to understand the present using baseball as our time machine. Baseball, America's brighter mirror, often reflects, anticipates, and even mocks the stories we tell ourselves about our world today. Baseball Prospectus's Steven Goldman discusses the game’s present, past, and future with forays outside the foul lines to the culture at large. Expect history, politics, stats, and frequent Casey Stengel quotations. Along the way, we'll try to solve the puzzle that is the Infinite Inning: How do you find the joy in life when you can’t get anybody out?