Wednesday Feb 25, 2026
144 Martin Dihigo
Eds heads to the mound for his first outting of the season with the life story of Martin Dihigo. A Cuban superstar who many say was the greatest of his generation and the best player they ever saw at any position, and he played all of them. An eventual Hall of Famer, Dihigo earned his nickname El Immortal on both sides of the ball and eventually as a field general in the dugout, but unfortunately due to the circumstances of his day, his greatness for a while was lost in time.
3 months ago
Hi Sean and Edsy, My name is Jay Byland ; I’m an Assistant Professor of Sport Administration at the University of Louisville. Love the format, the storytelling, the willingness to sit inside a lesser-known life until it opens up...man, it’s genuinely good stuff. Your recent episode on El Immortal is a story I’ve been meaning to work into course content for a while now. I’m reaching out because I’m building the lineup for the second iteration of Shadowball: The Rise, Demise and Legacy of the Negro Leagues, which is an asynchronous online course I run during our summer session. The course traces Black baseball from its origins through the Jim Crow era, the economic and cultural peak of the Negro Leagues, integration’s complicated aftermath and the enduring legacy of the leagues in American sport and society...a legacy that you all have brought to life. I’d love to have you join us for a recorded conversation, just something informal and conversational (sorta like you already do) that students would engage with as part of one of the course modules. We could focus on how you approach researching and telling baseball’s untold stories, what the Negro Leagues represent as a subject area for podcasters and maybe what it looks like to do this kind of historical work. And maybe even add a couple of new followers to your stable. No pressure at all, though. I know your summers are busy with recording and research. But if there’s interest in any version of this, I’d love to connect and figure out what might make some sense. Thanks for the work you do. It matters more than you probably know!