Best Podcast in Baseball

What does Bloom with BoSox reveal about Chaim time in St. Louis? Nov 21, 2024

During the past two decades in Major League Baseball, only the Houston Astros have won pennants and appeared in more World Series than the Cardinals and Boston. Two of baseball's most accomplished and celebrated franchises have won four pennants each and faced each other twice in the World Series, both of them won by the BoSox.

The ties that bind go beyond shared Octobers these days as both clubs, perennial contenders for most of baseball's current era, are trying to find their footing and return to their postseason expectations.

Rob Bradford captured the connection in a brand new Best Podcast in Baseball.

"Both franchises are starving to find the certainty," he said.

Bradford, the host of the wildly popular podcast Baseball Isn't Boring, joins the next-best baseball podcast to discuss the shared traits of the Cardinals and Red Sox — and the one link that is about to define the Cardinals future. Bradford, the Red Sox reporter at WEEI in Boston, covered Chaim Bloom's tenure atop Boston's baseball operations, and Bradford talks through how the pressures and decisions on Bloom look different in hindsight.

With Best Podcast in Baseball host and baseball writer Derrick Goold, Bradford discusses how Bloom's time at Fenway Park gives a glimpse into how he'll do when he takes over baseball ops at Busch Stadium a year from now.

Bradford, who co-authored a book with former Cardinals pitcher Joe Kelly, also discusses the origin of their movement and his enthusiastic and entertaining podcast, Baseball Isn't Boring.

Which it isn't.

And this lively conversation about it aims to show why, right down to a tattoo promise Bradford and Kelly made that has now come due.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and baseball writer Derrick Goold.

As Cardinals play catchup, can their past be a guide to future success? Nov 15, 2024

After a brief discussion about a shared fondness for a recent, deeply moving and haunting collection of linked short stories, Sequioa Nagamatsu's 'How High We Got in the Dark,' two baseball writers focus on another work of speculative fiction.

What to make of the 2025 St. Louis Cardinals.

CBS Sports baseball writer Dayn Perry joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to discuss his lifelong fondness and connection to the Cardinals, and his questions for what comes next. Along with St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer and BPIB host Derrick Goold, Perry discusses if the Cardinals have reached a point where fans, like him, must "adjust their expectations."

If so, the podcast explores, are the Cardinals still stuck in the middle, not committing to an all-the-way rebuild in the same way they came shy of an all-in contender.

Perry makes the case that the future of the Cardinals may come down to Jordan Walker's bat. It is the tent pole around which a lineup and a contender could be built, Perry argues, and the young outfielder needs the opportunity to grow into that -- not seesaw between levels.
Perry counted up that he has 28 different Cardinals hats, and two of them he wrote in his Substack newsletter, Birdy Work, illustrate his connection to the Cardinals. One is the mesh hat worn by his father mowing the yard in the Mississippi heat, and the other is the winter cap Perry's son wears against the Chicago cold.

As Perry recounts the story, his father became a fan of the Cardinals during the 1940s heyday, and his son latched onto the Cardinals during their 2010s run. Perry became a fan of those charismatic WhiteyBall clubs from the 1980s, the ones built around defense and speed and the time-tested, standings-approved art of stealing outs in the field and not making outs at the plate.

That invites the question: As the Cardinals look toward the future and modernizing their farm system while financial titans load up with talent on the coasts, is the model for how the Cardinals succeed in the future actually from their past?

Perry's newsletter can be found on Substack.

The Best Podcast in Baseball is available wherever you listen to podcasts, and it's also housed right here at StlToday.com with all of the Constant Cardinals Coverage.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and baseball writer Derrick Goold.

Are Shohei Ohtani's Dodgers closer to 11th World Series title than Cardinals are to a 12th? Nov 01, 2024

While awaiting the parade's arrival at Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles Times sports columnist Dylan Hernandez veers into nostalgia as he wonders whether the Dodgers' run of success and appetite for more might spur the Cardinals to defend their place in the National League and re-spark one of his favorite rivalries.

Hosting a parade in Los Angeles for the first time since 1988 -- COVID restrictions kept one from happening in 2020 -- the Los Angeles Dodgers claimed their eighth World Series championship, their seventh since moving from New York. That ties them with the San Francisco Giants for the second-most titles by a National League club. For 80 years, it has been the Cardinals' brand and their claim to fame that they have the most World Series titles of any National League club, and since 2006, the Cardinals have had the second-most World Series championships in MLB history.

Yet, the gap between the Dodgers' eight titles and the Cardinals' cherished 11 feels a lot closer.

Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson wrote about the Dodgers' blitz on the Cardinals' history in Friday's newspaper and online at StlToday.com.

That same question offers a thread around which Best Podcast in Baseball host and baseball writer Derrick Goold talks with Hernandez about the Dodgers, their formidable team, their outrageous ability to outspend any other team, the innovation machine they have behind the scenes, and the ambitious global superstar at the center of their world, Shohei Ohtani. During the champagne celebration Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium following the Dodgers' clinching victory in Game 5, Ohtani sprayed bubbles in executive Andrew Friedman's face and shouted his intention to win nine more World Series titles.

Believe him, Hernandez said.

All of this comes just weeks after the Dodgers were on the brink of elimination in the division series. So, how real are the Dodgers' and Ohtani's ambitions to join the Cardinals and Yankees in the double-digit club, and what are the biggest threats to slow them down. Hernandez details how the Dodgers got here, how they intend to stay a contend, and what could undermine everything they've built. He also gives great insight in Ohtani's drive -- and the power of inspiration from comic books. Two former Cardinals, NLCS MVP Tommy Edman and Game 5 starter Jack Flaherty, were key contributors to the Dodgers' championship run, and within Edman's play specifically Hernandez saw something he has derided in the past.

He saw what he believes is the Cardinal Way and it gave the Dodgers an edge the Yankees, like the baseball, lost their grip on.

Hernandez also agrees to visit St. Louis and enjoy an excellent meal and walk to a neighborhood comic book shop.

Bonus: no traffic.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and baseball writer Derrick Goold.

Clearing the airwaves on the Cardinals' fuzzy broadcast bind: How it got bad and will get better Oct 29, 2024

As much as the standings and missteps of their player development system will shape the Cardinals' offseason, arguably the most significant factor in any of their decisions will be when the broadcast sports sinkhole reaches them, and how deep it goes.

The consternation will be televised.

This much is certain: The Cardinals games will be available to cable subscribers in 2025 and also subscribers to a forthcoming streaming service. What happens next, well ... stay tuned.

To explain how Major League Baseball (and other sports), Bally Sports Midwest/FanDuel Sports Network Midwest (and its parent company), and the Cardinals (and almost every other baseball club), got into this bind, the Best Podcast in Baseball brings Dan Caesar into the conversation. The Media Views columnist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch since 1988, Caesar could only think of one bigger story on the sports broadcast beat in his four decades than the one currently playing out in a Texas bankruptcy court. Diamond Sports Group, the parent company of many of the regional sports networks, filed for bankruptcy protection in spring 2023, and since then the entire industry as convulsed with confusion and concern.

Look no further than the Texas Rangers, who did not know where they would broadcast games for sure a year after winning the World Series and have had their ability to spend handcuffed by the uncertainty of their rights fees.

The Cardinals have advertised that they intend to trim payroll this winter, and a driving reason for this isn't just a shift to spending more on the farm system and its infrastructure. The Cardinals cannot be sure how much of their $78 million they're owed to broadcast their games in 2025 they'll be paid. The Post-Dispatch previously reported that Diamond Sports Group has approached the Cardinals about renegotiating their $1.1-billion rights deal, and Diamond Sports has threatened in court to drop all of its contracts for 2025 except for the Atlanta Braves.

How did this happen? What's next? What does it mean for the Cardinals? And where will fans watch games in 2025?

All of those questions are answered in this brand new Best Podcast in Baseball.

Short answer: It's going to get better for fans, eventually. It's going to take awhile and it's going to cost fans more, but access to games and the control fans will have over how they watch games will get better. But first, it could get worse.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and baseball writer Derrick Goold.

But at what cost? Auditing Cardinals' planned payroll trim amidst a changing brand (Part 2) Oct 25, 2024

Continuing the conversation that began in the Best Podcast in Baseball episode 21, season 12, KMOX/1120 AM's Kevin Wheeler considers the question on how the Cardinals can accumulate younger talent, draft picks, or both.

The answer begins at first base.

The questions continue from there in this brand new Best Podcast in Baseball that ultimately reaches a discussion about the World Series and whether a clash between high-spending baseball royalty, the Dodgers of Los Angeles and the Yankees of New York, is great for marketing the game, good for the fans, great for the history buffs, potentially grand for TV ratings, and yet is it a positive for the industry?

The 2024 World Series is the culmination of several years with a consolidation of talents.

On the field will be two handfuls of future Hall of Famers, two 50-homer players, and the favorites to win this year's MVPs in each league. In fact, no World Series has featured this many past MVP winners.

And all of them have either been traded or, in the case of homegrown Yankee slugger Aaron Judge, reached free agency.

The billion-dollar constellation of superstars in this World Series are all players who have hit the jackpot of free agency or extensions, with the exception of Juan Soto, who is days away from doing so. If such players collect on the same teams, like the Dodgers or primed-to-spend Mets, what does that mean for how other teams contend, especially those in the middle markets? That is something else to watch in the wake of this World Series.

But the podcast resumes its discussion of the current Cardinals and how president of baseball operations is taking a franchise that is also part of baseball royalty and like a vintage muscle car sprucing it up before passing it along to a new owner, who is tasked with turning it into a lean, mean, more full-efficient machine.

Within the next two weeks, Paul Goldschmidt will become a free agent for the first time in his career, and the Cardinals must decide whether to present him with a qualifying offer to secure a draft pick if he signs elsewhere. Such a move would give Goldschmidt the choice to accept a one-year, $21-million contract for 2025 or see if he could better in the marketplace. As the Cardinals look to cut costs, their decision seems clear -- but in this brand new podcast, Wheeler and Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold discuss another motivation in play for the Cardinals and their "reset."

Are they better creating an inventory of players to trade in 2025 or picks, and what does that mean for bringing back pitchers at the end of their contracts like Steven Matz, Erick Fedde, and Kyle Gibson, who has a team option for 2025.

Could they be trade pieces?

If so, when would be the best time to maximize the return on them -- the offseason or the trade deadline.

BPIB discuss the benefits of setting an asking price and sticking to it versus the risk of injury and performance that comes with waiting for the urgent market of July.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and baseball writer Derrick Goold.

But at what cost? Auditing Cardinals' planned payroll trim amidst a changing brand (Part 1) Oct 24, 2024

The official changes to some Cardinals' leadership roles, from the front office to the dugout, as they approach their "reset" winter continued on the eve of the World Series with the first new addition to the front office, a new coach, and a new role for an all-time great.

Kevin Wheeler, co-host of the drive-time show and baseball coverage at KMOX/1120 AM, joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to discuss with Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold the moves the Cardinals have made, the names involved -- and some of the motivations and goals driving them.

From there the conversation expands into an audit of the Cardinals strategy and financial position.

The team has advertised as cut in payroll as it bends young and reinvests in an eroded player development program, but there's more going on than just a shifting of dollars and sense. There is the potential for a huge cut in revenue that is driving some of their decisions, and is not their plan to increase spending on minor-league coaches and technology, nor the $100-million project to upgrade the Roger Dean Stadium complex in Jupter, Florida, with new player development facilities. Looming on the horizon is the possibility the Cardinals will not get some or all of the $78 million owed them from their broadcast partner for 2025 and the reality that the jackpot years ahead in their billion-dollar broadcast rights deal aren't going to come to fruition.

That shift in revenue prompts the questions that direct this podcast -- how much must the Cardinals cut, and how soon?

The answer may not be as simple as just shedding salaries.

There is a way for the Cardinals to chase their goal of accumulating young talent, clearing opportunity for in-house talent, and still cleave dollars off the payroll. And that is where this brand new podcast ends with Part 1 and will continue with Part 2.

Part 2 will drop Friday.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and baseball writer Derrick Goold.

Cardinals vet Matt Carpenter has seen dramatic shifts for MLB hitters, and does he have stories to tell Sep 28, 2024

Toward the end of his first professional season, not too long after he told a roommate Oliver Marmol about his personal and accelerated timetable to reach the majors, Matt Carpenter got a phone call that could have forever changed his career in baseball.

He was approached about being a coach, and he was tempted to take it.

The next summer his playing career took off.

There are baseball cards galore and probably a Cardinals Hall of Fame red jacket in his future that tell how that story ended, but Carpenter shares with the Best Podcast in Baseball how close he came to moving to a role in the game that he might eventually also have. A three-time All-Star who returned to the Cardinals for the 2024 season, Carpenter joins the Best Podcast in Baseball and baseball writer Derrick Goold for a conversation many months in the making. The two spoke this past week near the batting cage at Coors Field, just ahead of the Cardinals' season finale in San Francisco.

From his early days with the Cardinals as a spring-training standout and favorite of manager Tony La Russa, Carpenter's career had to constantly evolve.

He became a second baseman. He became a leadoff hitter. He broke a doubles record long held by Stan Musial, and then his changed his swing and late in one season led the National League in homers and slugging on his way to MVP considerations. And through it all, a coach's kid out of Texas who judged his production by how high above .300 his average was had to learn in real time as the game shifted to take that away from him, quite literally. He had to embrace slugging. He had to reinvent his swing. He had to reclaim his career.

And over the course of this season, Goold asked Carpenter if he would talke about all he learned about Major League Baseball's modern offense and how difficult it has become to be a hitter in a game when failure, already abundant, is increasing.

Consider the math.

As batting average has grown less important, hitters are being told they can do more with a .270 average and slugging than singling their way to a .330 average, and still that difference is six outs, six fewer times succeeding.

Carpenter has some thoughts and offers lots of insight.

This brand-new BPIB begins as all good stories do on a road trip with Matt Holliday and Carpenter and the trouble they encountered somewhere between Stillwater, Oklahoma, and Memphis, Tennessee. The conversation also touches on what went sideways for the Cardinals' offense during a season that will finish with a winning record but nowhere close to the team's stated goal of contending for the NL Central title and returning to the playoffs. Carpenter also discusses his immediate and longterm future, which brings up the story about the phone call he received while playing Class A baseball for the Cardinals with an offer he wasn't sure he could refuse.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

If a fan's base anger slips into apathy, what message can Cardinals deliver to reinspire the faithful? Sep 21, 2024

A year after "pitching, pitching, pitching" dictated the Cardinals' approach to the offseason, the club faces a far broader challenge this winter.

PR, PR, PR.

Or, as Best Podcast in Baseball guest Brooke Grimsley, noted: "Change, change, change."

The 2024 Cardinals' season comes to a close with the club trying ot break the hold of .500 and avoid a second losing season, what would be the first back-to-back losing seasons in a full schedule since Stan Musial played for the team in the late 1950s. Crowds, like wins and playoff appearances, have dwindled, and the one-off season the Cardinals promised after 2023 has become something more problematic for the club: a trend.

Grimsley, co-host of The Opening Drive at ESPN 101.1 FM/WXOS in St. Louis, said the feedback they've received from listeners and fans suggest that fans are moving from anger to acceptance to something more alarming for any club -- apathy.

With BPIB host and St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold, Grimsley discusses what messages and actions the Cardinals could take in the coming weeks and months to reanimate and engage the fan base. They discuss not just player movement and moves but how important comments, direction, and transparency from the front office could be, and what the role media plays in gathering that info and relaying it to fans.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

How Brewers borrowed from Cardinals blueprint, added patience and development, to rule NL Central Sep 05, 2024

Despite the smallest market in Major League Baseball, the Milwaukee Brewers have become a marvel of what it means to be a modern contender.

The organization the Cardinals used to be and the Cubs wanted to be , the Brewers now are, complete with the 10-game lead in the division standings ahead of the former kings with a month of the season remaining. MLB.com's longtime Brewers beat writer Adam McCalvy joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to talk about Milwaukee's rise within the division and reign atop. McCalvy talks with Best Podcast in Baseball host and baseball writer Derrick Goold about the "culture" the Brewers have created, one that seems to benefit from the team's business model, strong development infrastructure, and something the Cardinals have not shown, and may not be able to show.

Patience.

The Brewers appear to have hit Yatzhee on almost every move. They waited out the market to land Christian Yelich from Miami via trade, ending up with the best fit of the three Marlins outfielders available at the time and an MVP-caliber player. While the Cardinals were also shopping for a catcher, they joined in a trade to help Atlanta land catcher Sean Murphy from the Oakland Athletics and may have ended up with the best catcher in the deal, William Contreras. They fended off interest in Corbin Burnes to watch him become a Cy Young Award ace, and then traded him ahead of him leaving for free agency to then nourish a roster that again is contending.

McCalvy details the Brewers' business model and also how much they've invested in development, and how it continues successful at the major-league level, even as players move out or move out.

The two baseball writers also share some thoughts on Wisconsin-accurate accents and wax nostalgic about legendary slugger Joey Meyer the 1990s Denver Zephyrs.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

Cardinals must solve young hitters 'riddle' for top prospects' sake, with Bernie Miklasz Aug 24, 2024

Within the span of only a few hours, the Cardinals demoted two of their top prospects from the past decade, sending in separate moves their top left-handed slugging prospect and one of the top right-handed hitting prospects in all of the minors. What gives and what does it mean for the Cardinals ongoing, completely confounding "riddle" when it comes to developing young hitters? To explore this defining question for the current era of Cardinals baseball, the Best Podcast in Baseball turns to a Hall of Famer. BPIB co-founder and former Post-Dispatch sports columnist Bernie Miklasz joins podcast host Derrick Goold to discuss a week that featured Nolan Gorman and Jordan Walker returning to Class AAA Memphis just a few months after they were supposed to emerge as the next core contributors in the Cardinals' lineup. Urgency rules as the Cardinals try to capture magic from a series win against Milwaukee and turn it into a last-gasp run for a playoff spot. But is that same urgency, that same pressure to produce and perform and contend every day also contributing to a cycle the Cardinals cannot escape? The opportunity gap persists and now two of the most highly prized young prospects the Cardinals have had in the past decade are caught in the conversation on whether they must go elsewhere to thrive. Young hitters arrive. Some young hitters struggle. Some young hitters are traded. Those young hitters thrive elsewhere. Miklasz describes the conversations he's had with MLB sources about where and how the Cardinals' infrastructure is lacking, and Goold details where the answers might come from the young hitters, like Masyn Winn or Alec Burleson, who have thrived after alterations to their approach or swing encouraged by the Cardinals. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

Cardinals continue to muddle, stuck in the muck of the middle Aug 16, 2024

The proverbial turtle on a fencepost that clearly did not get there by itself is also an apt metaphor for the trouble a Major League Baseball club finds itself in when trying to balance between the hedge-fund tycoons and the heavy tankers. Stuck in the middle is a tough place to be as the Cardinals have shown -- and, as with the turtle, it can take looking beyond the shell for a way out of it. The Best Podcast in Baseball hosted by baseball writer Derrick Goold returns with guest Kevin Wheeler of KMOX/1120 AM to discuss the Cardinals as they emerge from a disastrous series in Cincinnati and begin the most grueling stretch of their season. They are, once again, balanced around .500 -- waiting for the wind of change to knock this turtle into one direction or the other. And that becomes the crux of the conversation. If the Cardinals are able to put together a 41-game sprint for October and a playoff berth, does such a run risk masking or misleading the direction the franchise is really headed. Look to the most recent World Series championship teams for examples. Will the 2024 Cardinals be like the surprise 83-win team of 2006 that won a World Series but prefaced a signficiant shift for the franchise when it tried to repeat that flawed roster in 2007, or are the 2024 Cardinals the Happy Flight-era 2011 Cardinals who buzzsawed to a World Series title and hinted at a successful run of pennant-contenders that even withstood the departure of a Hall of Fame manager and a three-time MVP and Hall of Fame player? One team gave off a false impression of the future. The other hinted at a future fueled by pitching development and some savvy outside additions. The '24 Cardinals have to overcome their run differential and an offensive deficit to contend, and even if they do what they had to overcome and how far they had to go should offer a lesson, even a reckoning, on where the franchise is going.

Thanks to all the listeners of BPIB for the patience as the podcast experienced one planned break as the host took some time off and another unplanned pause as the host had a few episodes experience hiccups of various types. The BPIB is back, ready to regain some of those lost episodes and sprint to the finish of the regular season.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, brought to you by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

Friendly confines: How constantly close games are defining, testing Cardinals Jun 14, 2024

It's Flag Day? Have you checked the standings yet? Following closely behind the Cardinals' 3-0 victory against the Cubs at Wrigley Field and each team's 49th game this season decided by three or fewer runs, a question was presented to KMOX/1120 AM's Kevin Wheeler.

What are the traits necessary for a team to do well in so many slim-margin games?

As a guest on a brand-new edition of the Best Podcast in Baseball with Derrick Goold, Wheeler outlines two necessities for every team to thrive in close games and how doing one will help the other survive. It is vital Wheeler illustrates for a team to get more innings from the rotation so that it's asking less of the bullpen in close games, and that will help keep the bullpen fresh to turn those close games into victories. This is how teams can get friendly with the confines of close games.

During a 4-3 home stand and again as they opened a Father's Day weekend series at Wrigley, the Cardinals showcased some of the developing depth in the bullpen that is helping them hold leads and secure slim victory. Ryan Fernandez has emerged with holds in consecutive games; Matthew Liberatore's return to the bullpen gives the Cardinals a third setup lefty and one with strikeout stuff at his best; and Chris Roycroft, only a few years removed from independent ball, has intrigued the Cardinals with his power stuff and movement. Or, as one teammate put it, "filth."

The Cardinals returned to .500 with the victory and should they spillover for the first time in more than a year, they'll be one of the few teams in the National League with a winning record.

Wheeler and Goold discuss if that's fallout from the consolidation of spending and power at only a few NL spots, such as Dodger Stadium and South Philadelphia. If those teams are collecting the highest-dollar stars in the NL what does that mean for the remainder of the standings and how do teams keep up as that spending gap grows into a standings gap. Wheeler suggests that a lot can be learned from NL Central-leader Milwaukee and how the Brewers have kept ahead without spending too much. It's an example of how the division, bunched-up and sometimes confusing mediocrity for parity, will be decided.

What team gets its stars to shine the brightest the soonest?

That list would include Cubs Dansby Swanson just as it could be asked of the Cardinals' cornerstones Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, and Willson Contreras, who is on the injured list with a fractured arm. That list would also include Cardinals starter Sonny Gray, whose bounce-back start helped Cardinals to a winning home stand. And all of that brings the conversation back around to one way for a team to thrive in so many close games.

Play fewer of them.

Score more runs to avoid them.

Also discussed in this episode of BPIB is the Cardinals' visit to Rickwood Field later this month for the first National League regular-season game at the nation's oldest ballpark.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and baseball writer Derrick Goold.

Walking in Memphis: A visit to Cardinals' scrutinized prospect pipeline Jun 08, 2024

When it comes to evaluating a farm system, few things offer a better glimpse of the external view than the trade deadline and nothing gives greater clarity on the internal view than when there's a need at the major-league level.

Consider the Cardinals.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Daniel Guerrero recently visited Memphis, Tennessee, to scout just that -- how actions at the big-league level relate to the production and development of top prospects at the higheset affiliate. Guerrero returned with stories for StlToday.com on Jordan Walker, Thomas Saggese, Victor Scott II, and several pitchers. And he joins the Best Podcast in Baseball and baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss if there's advancement coming from Memphis or just idling talent in Memphis.

An injury to Steven Matz at the beginning of May opened a spot in the Cardinals' rotation, and as they await the lefty's return they have at least twice had a chance to promote a prospect from within to make those starts. They did not. Actions always speak louder than rankings, and for the Cardinals their actions at the big-league level have suggested they feel it's more important for some of their prospects to continue developing in Class AAA Memphis than have their routine upset with a spot start, or, in some cases, that they're not ready to contribute to the majors even in a spot start.

It's a telling decision from the team that also strikes at their situation in the outfield.

The Cardinals are going to need contributions from the the organization in both the outfield and on the mound, and how they utilize their top affiliate is a chance to scrutinize the prospect pipeline and player development.

The two baseball writers conclude the episode by making their picks to represent the Cardinals in the Futures Game.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

Archrivals Cardinals and Cubs share more in common than still chasing Brewers for 1st May 25, 2024

"That gets to the frustration of Cubs fans," says The Athletic senior writer Patrick Mooney. "Of like look at this division and why is the approach so measured and logical all the time to its extreme? ... That drives Cubs fans crazy with good reason."

"It's where Cubs and Cardinals fans agree," continues Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold.

As the Cubs and Cardinals face each other for the first time in 2024, a conversation about the direction the Cubs are going becomes a reflection of how similar the teams have become, right down to the approach when it comes to the National League Central. It was at that point in the conversation that the above comments are made in a brand new Best Podcast in Baseball, recorded outside of Busch Stadium on City Connect. Mooney, a longtime baseball writer covering the Cubs in Chicago and co-host of the new podcast Northside Territory (part of A. J. Pierzynski's growing Foul Territory universe), joins St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer and BPIB host Goold for a conversation about the rivalry, right down to the designs on the field, designs in the front office, and the designs of their Nike-driven City Connect uniforms.

Perhaps inspired by the Arizona Diamondbacks and their run for the National League pennant in 2023 with fewer than 86 wins, the Cubs have created that "measured, logical" model that does not go all-in at all cost because of an accommodating division, and that approach, as Mooney describes, has irritated Cubs fans.

Sure sounds familiar.

And so are the results.

Neither the Cubs or Cardinals have overtaken the Brewers this season to lead the division despite Milwaukee allowing its manager to leave for Wrigley Field, its general manager to leave for Queens, and also trading away its ace not too long after trading away one of the best late-game relievers in baseball. Oh, and going most of this season with the winner of recent best-reliever awards, closer and St. Louis native Devin Williams. All of that and a smaller spending budget than either the Cubs and Cardinals, and the Brewers remain at the head of the class. And what a bunched-up class it is. The NL Central is the only division in baseball with all of the teams still within reach of both the division title and a league wild card berth. It's so close that it might not take many wins to claim the division crown and all of the teams could be within a 10-game bandwidth.

In a division where even the slightest edge could be the separator, enter Friday night's rainout. The postponement of the series opener gave both teams a choice with their starting pitching.

The Cardinals escaped another turn of the rotation without needed to name a fifth start. The Cubs, meanwhile, opted not to shift rising ace Shoto Imanaga's start a day, and instead will get the lefty additional rest. Imanaga, at 5-0, has the lowest ERA of any pitcher in his first nine major-league starts. The Cardinals will not see what has made him so successful and brought him to St. Louis with a streak of 12 consecutive scoreless innings. The Cardinals will not get to see how the split-finger fastball plays in the regular season after bruising his ERA during an exhibition game in Mesa, Arizona, a few months ago. What else the Cardinals won't see is a question that Mooney explores while detailing the signing of Imanaga, how the Cubs built the rotation, and what the Cardinals will face from the Cubs' rotation.

Mooney also helps explore the difference between this Cubs rebuild, the Jed Hoyer Rebuild, and the Theo Epstein Rebuild that won the Cubs the 2016 World Series but did not create the perennial contender promised. It comes down to pitching. And there's a former Cardinals executive who is helping the Cubs stockpile pitchers to develop.

Which only adds to the familiarity between the region's longest-running rivals.

And that prompts the question, are the Cubs trying to be like the contemporary Dodgers or Atlanta or Philadelphia, or are they still chasing being like the Cardinals c. 2010s? And if both teams are chasing that standard, what does it mean that Milwaukee continues to finish ahead of them?

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold. This episode features a debut of a new, temporary co-host: a symphony of cicadas.

Legends on the fall: How far are Red Sox and Cardinals from reclaiming their October prominence? May 18, 2024

Since the Boston Red Sox last bested the Cardinals nearly 11 years ago in one of their recurring World Series appointments, the Red Sox have had three last-place finishes and the Cardinals have slowly faded and fallen, like the leaves, into a decadelong cold snap without a World Series appearance.

For these two October rivals, once legends of fall now just legends after a fall, who is closer to a return to postseason prominence?

With the Red Sox in St. Louis for the first time since 2017, the year before their most recent championship, The Boston Globe's baseball columnist Pete Abraham joins the Best Podcast in Baseball. In the stands late Friday night at Busch Stadium with the sounds of a winding-down ballpark all around them, St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold and Abraham discuss the similarities between the two teams, the impatience of their respective fanbases, their shared history, and their shared challenge of returning to meet expectations as some of their peers widen the gap on spending and what it means to go all-in for a championship. Like, say, the Red Sox once did.

Change is either the goal or the need -- for both clubs.

And depending on how 2024 turns out for them, change could be forced upon them.

But somethings that won't are the ties that bind Boston and the Cardinals.

As the Cardinals look to regain an edge and rethink how they develop players (especially pitchers), they've hired former Boston general manager Chaim Bloom, and as Boston prepares for the possibility of manager Alex Cora's departure when his contract expires at the end of this season, it's possible a former Cardinal (or few) could emerge as candidates to replace him as the Red Sox have shifted to a new direction beneath Cora's feet. Abraham details the forces in play when it comes to Boston's new front office direction, new pitching coach, and how that all fits with the pre-existing manager who led them to their most recent World Series championship. The longtime baseball writer, who opined for the Globe throughout Bloom's tenure leading the Sox, also offers a viewpoint on what role he could best serve with the Cardinals going into a new era.

The Red Sox, off to a strong and even surprising start, arrived in St. Louis with the lowest team ERA in the majors -- before, that is, the Cardinals scored 10 runs to win the first game of the series -- and behind that radical reduction in ERA is a shift in pitching approach. Abraham explains the change Boston made, the pushback it got from some pitchers, and ultimately the strong results that won games and won over pitchers even while upending convention and throwing fewer fastballs. It's an innovation and response to the talent they have on the pitching staff that the Cardinals, likewise, are looking to make. Yet another overlap for the organizations.

The biggest connection, of course, could be the fan bases, which Abraham deftly describes by borrowing from another member of Major League Baseball's royal franchises: the Yankees. He quotes New York executive Brian Cashman's description of how the Yankees play 162 one-game series with all the pressure and attention and expectation that comes with everything being on the line that day. That fits for Boston and St. Louis, too. And pressure is building in both places.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold. It is part of the constant Cardinals coverage at StlToday.com and in the pages of the morning Post-Dispatch.

The meatball factor and super-size problem with Cardinals offense May 07, 2024

With apologies to colleague and Post-Dispatch food critic Ian Froeb, we're talking about meatballs in this episode of the Best Podcast in Baseball. Meatballs and super-sizing. Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson joins the Best Podcast in Baseball, and using his column as a map he and Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold explore the truths and falsehoods about the Cardinals' offensive problems. Statement: They're striking out too much. Response: False. Statement: They're swinging a lot. False: They're not swinging enough -- and they're not doing well against meatball pitches, the most delicious pitches to do damage on. Hence, the meatball factor. Statement: They need to stop "worrying" about home runs. Response: False. They need to hit more homers. The Cardinals are last in the majors in home runs and runs off homers, and that is an issue. Plus it goes deeper than just missing meatballs and not driving baseballs through or over the wall. There is the development question. That is where the podcast turns. In a sidebar that super-sizes the episode, Frederickson and Goold discuss on how maybe the focus has been all wrong. While the lens has been trained on the players who got away, the former Cardinals who have gone on to star and slug elsewhere, perhaps it's time to ask why the Cardinals haven't seen the same amplfication of the players they kept. When Tampa Bay acquired Richie Palacios from the Cardinals, the Rays suggested they saw more power in his swing and this season will show how they amplify that. The Cardinals know there is more power in Jordan Walker's swing and more consistent power in Nolan Gorman's swing -- they've seen the latter -- and yet haven't been able to harness that. Walker is back in Class AAA Memphis. Gorman is being passed over for key at-bats. The Cardinals have not been able to scale-up the talent they keep, and that development question is not isolated on the offense. The same can be asked on the pitching side. Where is the amplification? And that leads, finally, to where are the solutions? Which brings us back to Froeb. In his St. Louis 100 rankings of the top restaurants, he has The Gramophone's meatball sub as one of the area's top sandwiches. Maybe it's time to just roll out the feast. Before the Cardinals can crush some meatballs have them crush some meatballs. They've brought an ice cream wagon to spring training. What about a food truck at BP? Gramophone subs all around. And super-size them. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a weekly production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

Can Cardinals' outfield of recent past, Memphis' outfield in the present become St. Louis' outfield for the future? Apr 26, 2024

Less than a month after two of the Cardinals' leading young position players started opening day side by side in outfield, bringing a glimpse of the future into the present, Jordan Walker and Victor Scott II are reunited this weekend at Class AAA Memphis. Early season offensive struggles have led to both outfieldres being optioned to the Cardinals' highest affiliate. Since the minor-leagues are in the headlines, who better to swing by for visit on the Best Podcast in Baseball than Post-Dispatch baseball writer Daniel Guerrero, who covers the minors daily for StlToday.com and the Post-Dispatch. He details what the messaging and assignment was for Walker in his return to Memphis and offers some insight into what the Cardinals can still see in their future. For Scott, it will be his first time at the Triple-A level. He leapfrogged Memphis to debut in the majors, just as Walker did a year ago. That's not the only event that seems to be repeating. At almost the exact same point in the season that he was demoted a year ago, Walker returned to Class AAA with some of the same assignments. As in 2023, he was given a few days in the big-leagues to work on adjustments in the cage. That was prelude to going to Triple-A, where, again this year, he'll spend several days in the hitting lab before moving to the lineup. The Cardinals believe both outfielders are going to be impact contributors in the near future. Their more pressing need is production -- both to ignite some confidence at their April struggles, but also to see a return on the work they've been doing with their swings away from the game. Walker returns to Memphis with a .155/.239/.259 slash line, and he's got a 50% groundball rate to go with a 4.8% line-drive rate. He's not getting the lift out of his swing that he did to close last season with a .276/.342/.445 slash line and hint at what was ahead for his second season. Guerrero discusses with BPIB host and Post-Dispatch colleague Derrick Goold what specific adjustments the Cardinals are looking for Walker to make with his swing and Scott to make with his offensive approach. Guerrero also offers three prospects to watch, including a real-time update on Sem Robberse's latest blitz through a Class AAA opponent. He's been joined at Triple-A by four members of the Cardinals' opening day roster. The churn is real -- and it's just beginning. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold. Next stop Detroit and some Vernor's ginger ale.

What it was like to be born as a baseball fan into Whiteyball, a force multiplier for Cardinals history Apr 21, 2024

Whether it was the style of play still expected of the team, the restoration of championship expectations, or the devoted fans that filled the ballpark and informed and inspired generations to come, the 1980s teams of Whitey Herzog were a force multiplier for Cardinals history. They amplified the reach and the devotion of the fans. And Herzog was the exponent, doing more than just double, triple, or even tenfold the fans of the Cardinals for his decade as manager. This podcast built on remembrance and storytelling becomes a tribute. Herzog, a Hall of Fame manager, died this past week in St. Louis. He was 92. His legacy is large, his influence still ubiquitous at the ballpark. And who better to ask about Herzog's lasting impact on the organization and its fan base than a St. Louis native born in 1980 and born as a baseball fan during the era of Ozzie Smith, Willie McGee, and Herzog? So here is the question presented to St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Benjamin Hochman: What was it like being born as a baseball fan into Whiteyball? Cue the synthesizer. Hochman talks with Best Podcast in Baseball host and baseball writer Derrick Goold about the teams captured his imagination as young fan and put thousands on the edge of their seats from the moment the leadoff hitter stepped it. Those teams and their gregaroius manager galvanized a city and there are friendships that Hochman still has from his youth that were at least strengthened by a shared love for the Whiteyball-era Cardinals. They played an innovative and charismatic brand of baseball. The modern team could benefit from both. This brand-new BPIB closes with a discussion what to make of the Cardinals offense as they finish their first division series of the season. With former MVP and an engine of production for the team, Paul Goldschmidt, struggling, the Cardinals have needed some innovation to spark the offense. Where can that come from, and do the traits of Whiteyball offer any hints at how to maximize a roster and conjure a contender even while the top producers are struggling? The season is young, but the offensive struggles of the team already feel old. Hall of Fame broadcaster Jack Buck gets the last words with wisdom that applies to 1987 or 2024. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

Taking hacks to determine if Cardinals' frostbit offense is a warning sign or small sample size Apr 12, 2024

As the Cardinals head west for the second time in the first month of the regular season, they do so lugging the baggage from one of the least productive lineups in the majors. The Cardinals' rank in the bottom five for many significant offensive categories. Four of the team's home runs have come from the catcher position, none from third baseman Nolan Arenado. He and Paul Goldschmidt, only one full season removed from finishing No. 1 and No. 3 in the MVP voting, have struggled to start the season. So, can it be easily dismissed as small sample sizes? Or, is it right to consider how last season ended and the struggles of spring to search for early warning signs for the Cardinals and their offensive production? KMOX/1120 AM's Kevin Wheeler joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to discussion with Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold the difference between small sample sizes, track records, and warning signs. Consider the JoJo Romero question about the offense. The Cardinals' lefty reliever, off to an impressive start to the season along with the rest of the bullpen, had a strong finish to last season and a strong spring, and that amplifies the April success he's had in limited innings. If that's true for Romero, then isn't the opposite also true? Hitters who struggled toward the end of last season, struggled through spring, and are struggling now cannot be so easily dismissed as small sample sizes. Or can they? This episode of the Best Podcast in Baseball uses a discussion hinged on the lineup to also explore Lars Nootbaar's return from injury, Wheeler's question about the transaction that brings Nootbaar back, how long the Cardinals can run with Victor Scott II in center field, and the power of the left-handed bats on the Cardinals roster to limit what's asked of the pillars, Goldschmidt and Arenado. Also, a point is made about how it's not possible to embrace Dave Duncan's groundball approach for limiting hitters and not see that the pursuit of line drives and balls in the air for hitters is the same idea, just the opposite side of it for enhancing hitters. It's 13 games in and the Cardinals have reached the first true litmus test of their commitment to defense. BPIB is there to explore what comes next. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

Cardinals starter Lance Lynn joins BPIB to discuss returning home, baseball's 'sense of humor' Apr 03, 2024

A World Series champion, a two-time NL pennant-winner, and a two-time All-Star, Lance Lynn has done a bit of everything as a Cardinal and since he was a Cardinal. But on April 4, 2024, the burly, right-handed starter will do something he never has. He will start the home opener at Busch Stadium for the Cardinals. And that might mean doing something else for the first time: Fight back the emotions of sentimentality. In the visitors' dugout at Petco Park on the eve of his opening day start and return to St. Louis as a member of the Cardinals, Lynn spoke with baseball writer and BPIB host Derrick Goold about the journey that took him away from the Cardinals and brought him back. Lynn discusses what he can tell young players about free agency, how he developed a confidence in his variety of fastballs, and what characteristic he shares with the Cardinals. They both had difficult seasons in 2023. They both have something to prove in 2024 that will shape what happens for them in 2025. Lynn says baseball has a sense of humor, and that's part of why he's back with the Cardinals on a one-year deal signed just before Thanksgiving. But he feels he's better suited to be the pitcher the Cardinals now need because he didn't stay with the team that drafted him, didn't become the heir apparent to the Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright lineage until he had gone elsewhere to learn more about himself. Known for his biting wit in interivews and and his volcanic vocabulary on the mound, Lynn gets candid in his answers about leaving the Cardinals, what he learned away from the Cardinals, and ultimately returning to the Cardinals. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

Welcome to the mosh pit of parity: Some team (by rule) must win the NL Central, so how? Mar 26, 2024

From the back fields and press box at Sloan Park, the spring training home of the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball Derrick Goold and Cincinnati Enquirer baseball writer Gordon Wittenmyer survey the National League Central and discuss ballpark factors, dead zones, and whether any of these teams is actually going to win the division, or will it be won by default?

A long-time baseball writer who has been on both the Cubs and Reds beat, Wittenmyer is skeptical of the Cardinals' pitching additions and the Cubs bringing back the same team, while he sees a wide bandwidth for possibilities with the upstart Reds.

The volatility of talented youth could mean anywhere from 75 wins to 95 wins. And just how many wins will it take to claim the National League Central? Could it be 84 or less? The two baseball writers discuss building a team based on the home ballpark -- something both the Reds and Cardinals are doing this season from opposite directions.

They also touch on the state of the game going into the 2024 season and if the quality of play has been enhanced by new rules. If the game is finally letting its talent play at full pace, is it possible that a division loaded with parity and no real big-spending juggernaut becomes ... dramatic.

Talk a plot twist. What if, while all of the attention is on the coasts and the titans, the worst division in the National League is actually the most entertaining division in the National League? Wouldn't be the first time for fly-over country.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, brought to you by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

What did Cardinals learn from disastrous '23 that they can already apply to early '24 challenges? Mar 23, 2024

The 2023 Cardinals, on their way to 91 losses and a last-place finish, diagnosed the rotation, an inconsistent outfield, and a difficult schedule at the start of the season as reasons for the fist last place finish in more than 30 years. Well, deja vu. The Cardinals near the start of the 2024 regular season with injuries in the rotation, uncertainty in the outfield, and a difficult schedule that begins Thursday at Dodger Stadium. So, did lessons learned from 2023 influence changes to the choise of 2023 or are the Cardinals poised to have the same slow start, the same, familiar failings? St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson joins the podcast to discuss what moves the Cardinals can make suggest that they learned from last years. One happened after the recording of this podcast as Sonny Gray, officially, began the season on the 15-day injured list and lefty Zack Thompson took his spot in the rotation. That was not clear at the time of the recording this episode, though what can be excpected of these players was definitely discussed. Frederickson also discusses why the Cardinal believe they are a "tougher" team and how how that might manifest in the decision they make this regular seaosn and the opening series they have at Dodger Stadium. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closet by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold. You can find the Best Podcast in Baseball at StlToday.com or anywhere you get your podcasts, iuncluding iTunes.

Cardinals near the breakpoint. How will mid-spring injuries strain roster, reveal new talents? Mar 09, 2024

Within the first 90 seconds of his camp-opening comments, Cardinals executive John Mozeliak said one of the "critical" questions of spring was whether the team could stay healthy. He noted that is something he has probably said in all 17 years of addressing the media on the first day of official workouts. Injuries, after all, are part of the game, and they're definitely a rite of spring. Consider the past week for the Cardinals. In order, the Cardinals had 30% of their planned opening day lineup deal with injuries that make them questionable or "doubtful" for March 28 at Dodger Stadium: Lars Nootbaar (fractured rib), Sonny Gray (hamstring), and Tommy Edman (wrist surgery). St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Lynn Worthy joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to discuss the news of the week and the openings those injuries create in the roster and the lineup. Worthy, while talking with BPIB host and baseball writer Derrick Goold, brings up a key question for the Cardinals: Will they stick to their defensive-oriented plans and side with the best gloves available for two potential openings in the outfield, or will the need for offense be so much that they have to abandon that defense-first goal before the season even starts? Worthy and Goold also detail what young outfielders Michael Siani and Victor Scott II have done to force their way into the conversation at midspring and whether either of them could emerge as a starter in that first game against Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers, which is on the horizon. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, and in its 12th year as one of the top-rated baseball and Cardinals podcasts is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

10 Cardinals prospects, 2 minutes each on how they're poised for a leap year in 2024 Feb 29, 2024

Ten prospects. Two minutes each. Start the clock. St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Daniel Guerrero, one of the few staff writers at a daily paper dedicated to covering minor-league affiliates of the city's major-league team, joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to discuss 10 prospects who are set to have a leap year in 2024. Building off of Guerrero's article in the Feb. 29, 2024, edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Guerrero adds to the four players mentioned in the article with others who will leap in sample size, leap to the majors, leap to contribute, or leap into the conversation surrounding the team. Some of the prospects discussed include Won-Bin Cho, Ian Bedell, Pedro Pages, Chase Davis, Josh Baez, Thomas Saggese, Victor Scott II, and Edwin Nunez. One or two might even leap into prominent role with the major-league club. BPIB host and Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold keeps the clock running and adds some addition background on each prospects and then, when time expires, runs a 2-minute drill on the prospect mostly likely to leap into being a factor for the big-league Cardinals by the end of 2024. Could a familiar history be about to repeat itself? The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

Seeking the 'Legend of Sonny Gray' and how spring can be the season of storytelling Feb 25, 2024

"See a Different Game" was the motto of The Sporting News for a long time, and for a long time The Sporting News was known as the Bible of Baseball. Like everything, The Sporting News has changed, baseball coverage has changed, but more and more the best coverage remains true to that directive, "See a Different Game." And the best season for telling those kind of stories? Well, it just might be spring training. Stan McNeal, veteran baseball writer and editor and a senior staff writer at Cardinals Magazine, joins St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold to talk storytelling in a brand new BPIB. McNeal details the process of seeking stories for the club's official publication. He discusses going to Stephen Piscotty's hometown to see another side of the former Cardinals outfielder, about getting Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt in a room and see how it goes if the interviewer just listens to two infielders, and, for this year, what it was like tracking down the legend of Sonny Gray, the Cardinals' new leader of the rotation. McNeal spent nearly a decade covering baseball at The Sporting News and years in San Diego as an editor and sportswriter. He has seen the industry shift, baseball writing change -- but for the better? The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

Hello, 2024. What way is the wind blowing as Cardinals open pivotal spring for top players, management? Feb 20, 2024

On a windy day on the back fields of Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Fla., Mike Claiborne, one of the radio voices of the Cardinals, joins baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss how maybe Flag Day is too late in the schedule to determine where the club is headed in 2024. So it's time for an earlier Claiborne appearnce.

It's a Leap Year. It's after a losing season. It's after a last-place season. That date will come much earlier. Claiborne, a regular on the Best Podcast in Baseball around Flag Day, the day he has annually suggested it's time to check the standing, agrees with the premise that it could be Memorial Day this season, or even May Day.

As spring training activities, Florida gusts, and one mower swirl around them, Claiborn and St. Louis Post-Dispatch staff writer Goold discuss pivotal years for Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt, and the Cardinals leadership.

They also discuss what a lineup could look like with the left-handed options or if it's someday built around young sluggers Nolan Gorman and Jordan Walker.

Goold asks Claiborne three questions to close out the episode: Can a player be a Cardinal great without playoff success? What tone has he seen set in spring training to match the importance of the season? And, finally, what's at stake for the Cardinals this season that moves up the Flag Day reality check?

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

What tone must Cardinals set during spring training? Follow the leaders Feb 02, 2024

As Cardinals prepare for the official opening of spring training, what tone must be set early and what lessons from last year's losing season and curious spring will inform this year's camp? St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson joins baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss how more than just the Cardinals' spring training facilities in Jupiter, Florida, need an overhaul. The roster received one. The club suggests the leadership in the clubhouse is next for a dash of retro restoration. In a brand new episode of the Best Podcast in Baseball, the two writers detail the new look of the bullpen and four of the team leaders who will help shape what the team looks like and achieves during spring training. Is the certainty of some positions a better place to start than the competition advertised a year ago? Why does the Cardinals approach with the bullpen seem so similar to how they viewed the rotation a year ago -- and is a similar outcome inevitable? (This podcast was recorded before the Cardinals reached an agreement pending physical with right-handed reliever Keynan Middleton.) The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

New Cardinals reliever Andrew Kittredge talks trade, slider, and his Huskies Jan 08, 2024

New Cardinals reliever Andrew Kittredge, less than 72 hours after the trade that brought him from Tampa Bay to St. Louis, talks with the Best Podcast in Baseball and host Derrick Goold about the move, and why it wasn't entirely unexpected. Kittredge also details the slider that got him to the majors, and how the Rays and their creative and collaborative pitching culture accelerated his career and gave him the opportunity to pitch in the majors, in high-leverage situations, in the playoffs, and in the All-Star Game. Kittredge details his approach to pitching and dives into some of the analytics behind his pitch use. During the podcast, the Cardinals readied to announce Chaim Bloom as a new advisor within the front office, and Kittredge discusses how Bloom played a big part in bringing him to the Rays. Kittredge joined the BPIB from Washington and while he did not sport the beard he often does on the mound, he did wear a Huskies cap as the NCAA national championship football game approached. So, of course, the hat and lack of a beard is discussed. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and baseball writer Derrick Goold.

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Comedian Greg Warren wrestles with Cardinals moves, MLB gifts (Part 2) Dec 19, 2023

It's the Best Podcast in Baseball Holiday Episode: Part 2. Comedian Greg Warren, an All-American wrestler at Mizzou, considers a question posed by Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson: What current Cardinal would make the best wrestler? The physical skills and mental strength necessary propels the discussion in this is second part of the holiday BPIB, recorded at Sunday Best, a restaurant in St. Louis' Central West End. BPIB host and baseball writer Derrick Goold poses the question about holiday shopping for Cardinals fans and whether the timing of the Cardinals' moves have as much to do with their criticism as the actual moves themselves. Warren's new special, The Salesman, is available on YouTube, and he will appear at the Funny Bone in St. Charles in April. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Comedian Greg Warren checks the sizzle and substance on Cardinals' Hot Stove (Part 1) Dec 19, 2023

It's the Best Podcast in Baseball Holiday Episode: Part 1. Comedian Greg Warren, a St. Louis native and devoted Cardinals fan, took over as entertainment for his friends at ballgames this past year when the results on the field were hardly a laughing matter. If that meant waving off the t-shirt slingshot or spiking his hat in frustration when the ball wasn't under the cap he guessed, then so be it. Warren, whose new special 'The Salesman' is available on YouTube, joins St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson and baseball writer Derrick Goold at Sunday Best, a restaurant in St. Louis' Central West End, to discuss his beloved Cardinals, what it's like being a fan this winter after a 91-loss season, and much much more, including the nightmare of seeing an actual can of corn hurtling toward you in right field. Part 2 of the discussion will appear shortly after this one drops. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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How Shohei Ohtani's unicorn contract stokes Dodgers' threat to Cardinals' historic NL reign Dec 14, 2023

The Cardinals have 11 World Series titles, most in the National League. Just ask them. But the Dodgers are coming for that crown the Cardinals cling to -- only four behind with 10 years of Shohei Ohtani ahead. "That's the mission statement," says Los Angeles Times baseball writer Bill Shaikin as he joins the Best Podcast in Baseball from the epicenter of Major League Baseball's biggest news of the offseason. Ohtani, the best player in baseball and a two-way superstar unlike any before him, agreed to a radical, record-setting contract that both made him the highest-paid professional athlete ever and also deferred so much money that he will be one of the lowest-paid players on the Dodgers. How is this possible? When is $700 million not really $700 million? Shaikin, who covers the business of baseball for the LA Times and has covered MLB for decades, discusses this with BPIB host and St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to the Sonny side of the Cardinals' winter spruce-up Nov 30, 2023

The Cardinals entered the offseason with optimism they could make American League Cy Young Award runnerup Sonny Gray a compelling offer to come to St. Louis and lead, from the mound and clubhouse, a revamped rotation. In the span of 3 minutes, 9 seconds -- which you'll hear in this brand new episode of the Best Podcast in Baseball -- Gray revealed what the Cardinals saw in him and what he saw in the Cardinals that forged a three-year, $75-million guarantee that gives the veteran right-hander a chance to become the team's first $100-million free agent pitcher. KMOX/1120 AM's Kevin Wheeler pinch-hits as the host for this episode and joins St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss whether Gray is an ace, whether Gray is enough, and whether the Cardinals have earned a sunnier outlook already for 2024. Also discussed: The need for two relievers to really retool the pitching staff and the art of one-knee-down catching. It radically changed a young prospects place within the Cardinals' organization and put him on the brink of the majors. What does that mean for the defensive ability of the three catchers -- starter Willson Contreras, backup Ivan Herrera, and prospect Pedro Pages -- currently on the Cardinals' 40-man roster after Andrew Knizner was permitted to become a free agent. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Crank up the volume! Cardinals need to deal in bulk for pitching Nov 17, 2023

When it comes to the Cardinals' needs for pitching, this is not the offseason to fixate on one name or one solutions, argues St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson. This is the winter to deal in volume -- most Costco, less Hublot. Frederickson takes over hosting duties for a brand new BPIB featuring Derrick Goold, the usual host and usual Post-Dispatch baseball writer.

The two writers discuss the pitching options for the Cardinals, the pitching approaches, and just what Cardinals officials mean when they talk about adding "2 1/2 pitchers." What's a half pitcher? Why is it taking so long for the market to move?

Goold offers the view of the Cardinals from the GM Meetings, where the industry noted how motivated the Cardinals and executive John Mozeliak appear to be and how the Cardinals and ownership must still prove they're willing to back that motivation with the finances necessary to be a player in the free-agent marketplace for pitchers.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold, who is gradually getting his voice back.

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New rules the World Series: What's now for Rangers & Diamondbacks? What's next for Astros? Oct 25, 2023

What has to happen for the 2023 World Series to put an exclamation point on a remarkable year for Major League Baseball and its new rules to invigorate (and shorten!) the game? Well, it starts with Arizona. Texas Monthly contributor and longtime baseball writer Richard Justice joins the Best Podcast in Baseball and St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss the two teams headed to face each other in the World Series: Does the Texas Rangers and their mighty (expensive) lineup have staying power? Are the surprise Arizona Diamondbacks the produce of the new rules? Justice details how D-Backs rookie Corbin Carroll has the ability to become a World Series star due to his knack for disrupting teams -- and, yes, MLB's new rules make that more possible than in recent Octobers. Justice and Goold also discuss two of the oldest pitching coaches in the game leading their staffs to pennants and what that says about the importance of trust in an industry driven by cold, hard analytics. And, speaking of trust, has the vibrancy of the game and enjoyable postseason meant Commission Rob Manfred, who championed and orchestrated the new rules, has earned some? Or, are Arizona and Texas still just playing for a "piece of metal." The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of StlToday.com, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and Derrick Goold.

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What can Cardinals take from Phillies' ongoing, outgoing October vibes? Oct 20, 2023

Bryce Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies are putting the PH in fun once again this October, right down to his Phanatic cleats, a teammate's foul mouth, and a fun-filled, phenomenal atmosphere at home games.

If more players in 2024 don't use walk-up songs that invite crowd participation, that's not A-Oh, A-OK. How can the Cardinals capture what the Phillies have on the field -- and is there something they can take away from another October run by the Phillies?

Even literally? New York Times bestselling author Tyler Kepner, now a national baseball writer for The Athletic, rejoins the podcast to discuss his recent article that is an appreciation of Phillies' right-hander Aaron Nola, a free-agent this winter.

Kepner and BPIB host Derrick Goold also discuss a trend in pitching and whether or not it should be concerning, and just how far the Cardinals must go to close the gap on NL standouts.

Kepner makes the point that the Cardinals may be squandering the peaks of two all-time greats in the same way some haloed American League club did.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, brought to you by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of StlToday.com, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and baseball writer Derrick Goold.

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With Cardinals' winter off and running, Post-Dispatch's baseball writers set the pace Oct 12, 2023

News team, assemble! The Post-Dispatch's baseball writing team gathers to discuss what moves the Cardinals can make quickly and need to make assuredly to race away from the results of 2023 and toward a better 2024.

Lynn Worthy explores his first year on the baseball beat at StlToday.com and the Post-Dispatch, and Daniel Guerrero relies on his expertise about the minor-league system to first detail a statistics change and then map where prospects can help, and how soon.

Worthy and Guerrero gathered with colleague and baseball writer Derrick Goold, host of the Best Podcast in Baseball, to discuss how the Cardinals got stuck in the muck of a 91-loss season, but more importantly -- how and how quickly they can move out of it once the offseason begins.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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After being lapped, how can Cardinals catch up in MLB's arms race? Oct 06, 2023

Entering September, the Cardinals had an offense that ranked in the top eight in the majors, was producing runs 7% better than the average lineup, and that was with two of its centerpieces struggling. They had the bats to carry a contender. Their arms let them down. The solution is obvious, to quote an executive: "Pitching. Pitching. Pitching." That does not make easy. Frequent contributor Kevin Wheeler, part of the The Dave Glover Show on KMOX/1120 AM, joins the BPIB to discuss the fallout from the 2023 season and the pitching plans that will create a quick turnaround for 2024. He also discusses the defensive spectrum and tries to stay one step ahead of BPIB host, St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold. Welcome to the offseason.

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Catching up on Cardinals' minor-league 'leapers' with StlToday.com's Daniel Guerrero Sep 15, 2023

As the minor-league season nears its end -- some Cardinals affiliates are in the postseason, others are completing their schedule -- a brand new Best Podcast in Baseball discusses the performances at every level and "leapers" who have bounded into the conversation for top-prospect rankings with their production in 2023. Daniel Guerrero, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer and beat writer for the minor-league system, details what players have made an impression on him and where significant strides must still be made within the system. Prospects discussed include Thomas Saggese, Victor Scott II, Tekoah Roby, Ian Bedell, Chase Davis, Won-Bin Cho, Edwin Nunez, Gordon Graceffo, and several more. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Lous Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and its host, Derrick Goold.

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How quickly can Cardinals close NL Central gap? How much will it cost? Sep 12, 2023

As they meander to their first losing season since 2007, the Cardinals have identified a shopping list for the 2023-24 offseason. To quote the executive who will lead the spree: "Pitching. Pitching. Pitching." John Mozeliak said it thrice on purpose. They intend to add three pitchers from the outside. Will that be enough? Who better to ask than Gordon Wittenmyer, the longtime baseball writer and first-year Reds beat writer for the Cincinnati Enquirer. He covered the Cubs at the start of the season and now is on the daily beat as the Reds make a push for a playoff berth. Both teams are ahead of the Cardinals in the standings. Is there one move that the Cardinals can make to retake control of the NL Central, and what is the move that could give the other teams, like Milwaukee, a longer rain. Is the answer for each team the same -- pitching, pitching, pitching? A brand new Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is produced by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Talking Cardinals prospects, deadline adds with 'Smart, Wrong and Lucky' author Aug 25, 2023

So, how did the Cardinals do at the deadline with their acquisition of handfuls of minor-league pitchers? Smart, wrong, or lucky? Maybe a bit of all three.

MLB Pipeline prospect guru Jonathan Mayo joins a brand new Best Podcast in Baseball to discuss the Cardinals new additions and his new book, 'Smart, Wrong, and Lucky: The Origin Stories of Baseball's Unexpected Stars.' He details which one the Cardinals were when they selected Albert Pujols in the 13th round.

Mayo shares stories about teams scouting Pujols as a Missouri high schooler and for a Kansas City-area junior college, and how at least one team forever changed how it runs a draft because it missed on Pujols.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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As summer heats up, Cardinals turn dog days into extended spring training Aug 20, 2023

What happens when a team that prides itself on always been a contender turns the final two months of the regular season into extended spring training? That's what the Cardinals are going to find out. After the Cardinals' latest drubbing by the New York Mets at Busch Stadium, St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson takes over a brand new BPIB and talks with host and baseball writer Derrick Goold about the trouble with trying to have it both ways -- keeping the sense of urgency to win while also auditioning young players for future roles and accepting their growing pains. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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What can Cardinals learn, borrow, take from Tampa Bay's pitching approach? Aug 11, 2023

On the same night Matthew Liberatore makes his first start against Tampa Bay, the team that identified his talent and drafted him 16th overall in the 2018 draft, the Best Podcast in Baseball visits with Tampa Bay Times' baseball writer Marc Topkin, the longtime baseball writer who covered big-league baseball in this area before there was a big-league team. With BPIB host Derrick Goold, Topkin details how the Rays have rebuilt, replenished, and retooled a pitching staff each year to contend in the robust American League East. Can the Cardinals as they revamp their rotation learn anything from the Rays' commitment to pitching and willingness to experiment? The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Sept. 12, 1974: The Cardinals get the longest win in National League history Jul 26, 2023

In this bonus episode of the Best Podcast in Baseball, we bring you PlayBacks, an audio series that brings to life the archives of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

In a game that started on Sept. 11, 1974, the Cardinals beat the Mets 4-3 in the longest non-tie game in Major League history. Here is our original report from that game.

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A glimpse into Cardinals' future through present prospects, past drafts Jul 04, 2023

The Futures Game is approaching and with it the 2023 MLB Draft -- which gives BPIB an excuse to discuss if any talent is racing the Cardinals way and whether it's possible they run the table on their 2020 draft picks. (They won't.)

It also is a chance for the Best Podcast in Baseball to introduce a new, regular feature for the podcast: Expanded coverage of the Cardinals minor-league system with St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Daniel Guerrero, co-host of the former BPIB spin-off shot, Best Podcast in the Minors. Guerrero joins St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss Tink Hence and Victor Scott II representing the Cardinals at the 2023 Futures Game in Seattle, and revisit some past draft selections, including how bountiful the 2020 draft could be.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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A baseball writer in King Arthur's Court Jun 20, 2023

From Mondo Beer + Pizza on the southbank of the Thames, a 5-minute walk from Shakespeare's Globe Theater on one side and London Bridge on the other, the Best Podcast in Baseball visits with Cardinals and baseball fans in London to discuss how they became Cardinals fans and how they chase the game with the time zones against them. You'll hear from, in order, Scott Seamons, Matt Benson, and Russell Eassom, one of the hosts of the podcast Bat Flips & Nerds, a UK-based baseball podcast. It's not Mark Twain, an Missouri innocent abroad, but there is witty banter. Promise. They talk with BPIB host and baseball writer Derrick Goold over pints about what the London Series could mean for baseball's profile in Britain. We also learn some new words. The podcast was organized with the help of the founders of Mondo Brewing in London. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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How 'small things' add up to big problems for Cardinals Jun 13, 2023

What begins with KMOX/1120AM broadcaster Kevin Wheeler's disclosure that he's fascinated by aliens and perhaps Bigfoot turns into a discussion about something that is just as elusive to see at this point: The Cardinals' chances of contending in 2023. Wheeler joins Best Podcast in Baseball host and baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss areas where the Cardinals have seen erosion, from defense to development, and whether there is enough time left on the schedule, talent in the system, and depth on the roster to pull off one of the biggest turnarounds ever by a Cardinals team. And who has to lead it. Sasquatch isn't walking through the door. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Can Elly De La Cruz raise Reds vs. Cardinals, vulnerable NL Central Jun 09, 2023

Cincinnati Reds rookie Elly De La Cruz, less than a week into his big-league career and already a certified sensation, makes his first visit to St. Louis for his first series against an NL Central rival. And he just might tilt the race in a division where no team has stood out, and the favorite to win, the Cardinals, has been down at the bottom. The Athletic baseball writer C. Trent Rosecrans rejoins BPIB to discuss the Cruz Factor, the awe other big-leaguers have in the 6-foot-5 shortstop who is hitting cleanup for the Reds, and whether a weekend series at Busch Stadium comes at a time when Cincinnati is heading up in the division race and the Cardinals are trying to stop sinking from contention. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closet by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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'The Time has Come' author Will Leitch talks Cardinals, writing, and the dean of Cardinals writers May 24, 2023

Note: The planned Best Podcast in Baseball episode with author Will Leitch, of New York Magazine and MLB.com, begins at 18:20. While recording a conversation with Leitch about his new novel, the cameo in it by the Cardinals, and his beginnings as a sportswriter, Best Podcast in Baseball host Derrick Goold had to step aside to write a tribute and obituary for Hall of Fame journalist and longtime St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Rick Hummel. This episode begins with a memorial of Hummel from two people have shared a page in the newspaper with him -- one for a brief wonderful time as a Cardinals fan and forever reader of the Post-Dispatch and the other for 20 years as a colleague and sidekick at the ballpark. The previously recorded episode about Leitch's new novel, how sports writing influences his storytelling, and his view of the 2023 Cardinals, Willson Contreras, and if the recent upswing in their success is real -- or, like any novel, a red herring. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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It all started at a bicycle race. Let Post-Dispatch great Rick Hummel tell you a story May 23, 2023

Sit back and let Rick Hummel spin a yarn. In 2021, as Rick Hummel celebrated his 50th year at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and neared what would be the 41st of 42 consecutive Major League Baseball All-Star Games, the giant of baseball journalism was a guest on the Best Podcast in Baseball. Few writers appeared as often or were quoted as much on the podcast through its first decade, and it is an honor to represent this episode.

From earlier: What started at a bicycle race and put him on the road with the Cardinals and in an elevator with the champ continues today in a press box carrying his name: Rick Hummel. The Hall of Fame baseball writer and member of just about every Hall of Fame for sports and sportswriting in the greater St. Louis area, Hummel began his career at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch 50 years ago this July 3. And he hasn't stopped. He'll cover his 41st Major League Baseball All-Star Game that same month and be back on the road to Pittsburgh soon after that. In a brand new edition of the Best Podcast in Baseball, recorded in the Bob Broeg/Rick Hummel press box at Busch Stadium, baseball writer Derrick Goold talks to his longtime colleague about his favorite stories, how his writing as changed, and just what changes the 2021 Cardinals need to break loose from the middle of the standings and .500.

The Best Podcast Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Answering reader questions on pitching, the Cardinals way and salary caps May 19, 2023

In a first for the Best Podcast in Baseball, digital baseball producer Carter Chapley joins the show to introduce a new format. Chapley takes reader questions from the STLToday.com Monday live chats and asks lead baseball writer Derrick Goold. This week, the questions highlight the Cardinals' need to sign a pitcher, the Cardinals way and the future of business in baseball.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design, is a production of StlToday.com, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Derrick Goold.

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Cardinals catching heat for Willson Contreras decision, a Cubs view May 11, 2023

Where better to go for background and informed viewpoints on the Cardinals decision to reduce All-Star catcher Willson Contreras' time behind the plate than to two of the people who covered him the longest as the man behind the mask for the World Series champion Cubs? Patrick Mooney, baseball writer at The Athletic, and Gordon Wittenmyer, longtime Cubs beat writer for the Chicago Sun-Times and elsewhere, join the Best Podcast in Baseball, hosted by St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold, to discuss the Cardinals' choice, how the Cubs developed and managed Contreras at catcher, and how this while kerfuffle feels familiar around Wrigley Field, like a Cubby Occurrence. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design, is a production of StlToday.com, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and Derrick Goold.

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Potholes on the expressway of pitching development: Best Podcast in Baseball Apr 19, 2023

About to start a long road trip out west, the Cardinals have already encountered some jarring potholes at the beginning of their season, from a split series vs. Pittsburgh to a botched series opener vs. Arizona. Pitching is the leading culprit. The rotation's contribution of two quality starts in the first 17 games has compromised a bullpen. The recent handling of Jordan Hicks spotlights another question: How and why have the Cardinals struggled recently to develop pitching, particularly power pitching? Alex Reyes is gone having never reached his potential. Dakota Hudson is in Class AAA looking for his. Hicks is in a mopup spot. And now Andre Pallante is optioned. With highway traffic as both a soundtrack and a metaphor, St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to discuss the speed bumps behind and the road ahead. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Opening acts: Tyler O'Neill's bind, Jordan Walker's debut, and pitching glitches Apr 05, 2023

The season-opening home stand ended with sweep by Atlanta and the first true stress tests of the Cardinals -- one long predicted and the other completely unexpected. Once the cars had been returned to their sales lots and the Clydesdales to their stable, the Cardinals flashed a deep, persistent offense, as advertised. Jordan Walker, the 20-year-old rookie, punctuated his strong debut with his first career MLB homer. The Cardinals also had abbreviated, choppy, and messy starts from the rotation. The Cardinals leave for their first road trip of the season with rotation ERA higher than 7.00. They allowed 42 hits, and that includes five no-hit innings from Jack Flaherty. And that's not the only question lurking. Manager Oliver Marmol questioned Tyler O'Neill's effort on a pivotal play that yielded an out at the plate, and O'Neill was not in the lineup for the series finale vs. Atlanta. O'Neill defended himself, insisting it was not a lack of hustle, and he's eager to prove differently. It's not the first time Marmol has questioned a player's effort publicly, but it is the first time this season and it's earlier than ever, leading to a two-pronged test of the Cardinals: Who will lead the rotation through turbulence, and how will the clubhouse react to the O'Neill decision? St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson joins baseball writer Derrick Goold at Busch Stadium to discuss. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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On the clock with former Cardinals pitcher Brad Thompson Mar 18, 2023

The pitch clock introduced this year by Major League Baseball has the potential to radically change the pace of games, the pulse of pitchers, and even how games are covered by broadcasters. Who better to talk about it than a former pitcher who is now a broadcaster -- and never had an issue working fast? Brad Thompson, Bally Sports Midwest color commentator and a regularly contributor to 101.1 FM/WXOS in St. Louis, joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to talk about the rule changes from a pitcher's perspective and how the countdown might stress relievers and alter the effectiveness of pitches. Thompson also discusses his own spring training experience as an example of how a player can make an impression on the back fields and ride that to the majors. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of StlToday.com, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and its host, baseball writer Derrick Goold.

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Spring showcases Cardinals' future. But what about the present? Mar 15, 2023

Jordan Walker and Masyn Winn have been standouts of the Cardinals' spring training, and there have been other young players who have impressed. But if spring training has been a showcase for the future of the Cardinals, what about the present and the pressure to compete for a World Series championship now? Tom Ackerman, sports director at KMOX/1120 AM, joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to discuss what he's seen so far in spring training from the young players and what that means for the window to contend with a powerful nucleus of Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt. Is this collection of standout players in jeopardy of falling short what other strong cores have accomplished in St. Louis? The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.com, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Cardinals promise competition this spring (again). Enter Jordan Walker. Mar 03, 2023

Entering spring training, the Cardinals promised competition. No really this time. Seriously. And maybe top prospect Jordan Walker is an example why. Manager Oliver Marmol and John Mozeliak, president of baseball operations, acknowledged that in past springs they've said there is competition but they start February with an idea of the roster. Actions are going to have to say otherwise this spring. St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports Ben Frederickson makes the case that there is competition this spring, while baseball writer Derrick Goold suggests it's the same verse, different spring. They've had competition in the spring before and yet find themselves circling back to the same situation. They perpetually open up ways for young players in the outfield, and annually look to the next generation to seize the job the previous players with opportunity did not. Walker could flip the script, and he is off to a powerful start. And he's not alone. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Author Evan Drellich on Houston's sign stealing & Cardinals connections Feb 20, 2023

In his new book 'Winning Fixes Everything,' author Evan Drellich details the corporate culture that led to the Houston Astros sign-stealing quagmire and probes how many of the leading executives got their start in baseball with the Cardinals. Drellich joins St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss new insight into the hacking scandal that will forever bind the Astros and Cardinals, the baseball operations approach that former Cardinals exec Jeff Luhnow created in Houston, and how organizational arrogance may have led to negligence. Drellich, a senior writer at The Athletic who along with Ken Rosenthal broke the story on Houston's trashcan caper during the 2017 season, explores the reporting on that story and the fallout from it, including how baseball clubs are reluctant to talk about their "trade secrets" and why that's bad for the game, bad for storytelling, and yet ignored because without the sign-stealing the Astros' winning would have lacquered over everything. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Cardinals Hall of Famer Tim McCarver and the power of storytelling Feb 16, 2023

One of the game's greatest bards and gentleman, Tim McCarver made his big-league debut at 17, played for the Cardinals, won with the Cardinals, and in his final tour as a Hall of Fame broadcaster returned to the Cardinals to call games. McCarver died Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023. He was 81. Back in May 2016, while on a road trip to Washington, McCarver sat in the stands with St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold to talk about his return, the role John Mozeliak played in it, and why there is still power in storytelling in baseball, even in a world accelerated by Twitter. This is a special rebroadcast of that episode that first aired May 31, 2016. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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BPIB's 11th season starts with 10 questions challenging Cardinals Feb 12, 2023

Recorded in Jupiter, Fla., on the eve of the Cardinals' opening their 2023 spring training with the first official workouts, the 11th season of the Best Podcast in Baseball begins as it traditionally does: with 10 (or so) questions facing the Cardinals as spring blooms. St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold and sports columnist Benjamin Hochman go question by question in a preview of the decisions and dilemmas welcoming the Cardinals to Florida, from who plays center field to who wins lefty relief roles in the bullpen, who can make the most of the World Baseball Classic opportunity to what to make of prospect Jordan Walker's chances. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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June 16, 1964: Boyer hits for the cycle, but Brock steals the show Feb 07, 2023

In this bonus episode of the Best Podcast in Baseball, we bring you PlayBacks, an audio series that brings to life the archives of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

When Lou Brock first came to the Cardinals in 1964, a lot of St. Louis fans were unsure about the trade. But he made a splash in his first game with the Cardinals. Today we go to June 16, 1964, when Brock made a great first impression, and Ken Boyer hit for the cycle.

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How baseball fans watch games is changing. Bet on it. Jan 27, 2023

After a discussion of Scott Rolen's election to the Hall of Fame and the coming parade of third basemen to Cooperstown, the Best Podcast in Baseball dives into a topic looming (huge) on the horizon. As spring training nears, one of the biggest storylines in Major League Baseball is how the game will be played. The bigger story may be how the game is watched. There are rising issues with the current broadcast model. Streaming has to modernize. And the gambling industry is becoming a major presence in professional sports -- and could be at any point for the teams in Missouri. That means betting, even micro-betting on individual pitch outcomes, could be part of the near future. There's a lot of money at stake. To make sense of this, Mark Saxon, baseball writer and former Cardinals beat writer and now reporter at Better Collectiv, joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to discuss how the increasing presence of the gaming industry at games and on broadcasts of games will shape how fans watch games and how reporters cover the games. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Small Hall, but big ballot? Discussing, disclosing 2023 votes for Cooperstown Jan 21, 2023

Another year, another Hall of Fame debate. Each winter, the Hot Stove gives way to the Hall of Fame, and while there is a limited number of voters, there are numerous opinions for how they should vote. Continuing an annual episode here at Best Podcast in Baseball, host and baseball writer Derrick Goold discusses his ballot for the 2023 National Baseball Hall of Fame inductions -- the votes, the close calls, the concerns, and hopefully the consistently. Kevin Wheeler, host of drive time at KMOX/1120 AM, joins to share the ballot he put together for MLB Network Radio and quiz Goold on his choices with both questions and criticisms. A crux of the conversation is what to do with great players who were suspended for positive PED tests and whether it's possible to be a fan of a small Hall but a voter with a big ballot. Closing out its 10th year, the Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of StlToday.com, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and Derrick Goold.

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June 10, 1944: The day the Cardinals beat up on a 15-year-old pitcher Jan 17, 2023

In this bonus episode of the Best Podcast in Baseball, we bring you PlayBacks, an audio series that brings to life the archives of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

On June 10, 1944, 15-year-old Joe Nuxhall became the youngest person ever to play Major League Baseball when he pitched in a game for the Cincinnati Reds. The Cardinals pounded out 21 hits and walked 14 times in the 18-0 victory, including five runs off Nuxhall.

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Catching up with new Post-Dispatch baseball writer Lynn Worthy Jan 06, 2023

The New Year begins on the baseball beat at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch with a major acquisition -- Lynn Worthy, the former Royals beat writer for the Kansas City Star and a veteran baseball writer with years of experience covering minor-league ball, joins the Post-Dispatch and StlToday.com constant Cardinals coverage at the beginning of the 2023 season. In St. Louis to meet with other baseball writers (and scout out a place to live), Worthy joins baseball writer Derrick Goold on the Best Podcast in Baseball to talk about how he became a baseball fan, how he became a fan of baseball writer, his time playing football in college, and what appeals to him about coming to St. Louis and plunging into the Cardinals beat. Alas, the days of long debates about double switches in the Busch Stadium press box are over. But there is something that St. Louis assures that Worthy is eager to see. Oh, and there's talk about St. Louis pizza. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StLToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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New Year, Big Question: Can Cardinals compete in a Steve Cohen National League? Dec 21, 2022

Looking ahead to 2023 with Kevin Wheeler, of KMOX/1120 AM, and how what must happen for the Cardinals to challenge for a championship in the next year has its roots in one of the most remarkable things to happen in the past year. The biggest story of 2022 for the St. Louis Cardinals was an obvious one: Albert Pujols' homecoming and successful quest for 700 home runs. So captivating was Pujols' second half production that it surpassed an MVP season from Paul Goldschmidt and a division title as the leading highlight of 2022, but it leaves the Cardinals with a strikingly familiar offseason question: How do they fill Pujols production? It's 2011 all over again. Except it's not. It's 2022, and this is Steve Cohen's National League. The Mets' owner stunned Major League Baseball by continuing his free-spending and reportedly signing Carlos Correa to a massive, $300-million deal shortly after a massive, $300-million deal with San Francisco Giants dissolved due to the physical. This podcast was recorded before that news. But the comments and evaluations still apply. Just change the teams. And heighten the description of the Mets' spending. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Getting a grip on Cardinals' pitching with MLB Network's Keith Costas Dec 17, 2022

Keith Costas, a senior researcher at MLB Network and part of the network's weekday morning 'Hot Stove' show, visits the South Grand neighborhood in St. Louis for a slice of pizza, a cup of coffee, and a conversation about the Cardinals' pitching and their place in the National League. Costas, a St. Louis native, joins St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold to also talk about their first visits to ballparks, their fascination with robust spending by National League pennant favorites, and how fans can tell the difference between offseason speculation and entertainment for what teams should or could do and reporting on what teams will do. Costas also introduces the podcast to the term "aircraft carriers" and it will be used regularly henceforth. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Can a new man behind the mask, Willson Contreras, change the face of Cardinals? Dec 09, 2022

Willson Contreras, a three-time All-Star and long-time Chicago Cub, joins the Cardinals, ready, he says, the takeover for Yadier Molina at catcher and possibly hit fifth, where Albert Pujols last did. No pressure, right? How the Cardinals went from exploring trades to committing nearly $100 million to Contreras at catcher is the subject of a brand new Best Podcast in Baseball, featuring St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson and baseball writer Derrick Goold. The two discuss the ways Contreras impressed the Cardinals, the first impression he made at his press conference, and how he changes the look of the team, from behind the plate as well as at the plate. There is also a brief tangent on how pitch-framing isn't going anywhere in baseball, even with an automated strike zone. What the signing means for the Cardinals and what the Cardinals must do next is also covered. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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May 2, 1954: The day Stan Musial hit five home runs Dec 08, 2022

In this bonus episode of the Best Podcast in Baseball, we bring you PlayBacks, an audio series that brings to life the archives of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

On May 2, 1954, baseball's "Perfect Knight" sent three baseballs over the wall at Busch Stadium in the first game of a doubleheader against the New York Giants. Stan Musial munched on a sandwich between games, washed it down with a glass of milk, then went out and hit two more in the nightcap.

Never considered a prototypical slugger, Musial became the first player in major-league history to club five homers in a doubleheader. Modest to a fault, Musial said afteward: "I still can't believe it. You mean real sluggers like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Ralph Kiner — men like them — never hit five homers in a doubleheader?" Nope.

Eighteen years later, San Diego's Nate Colbert duplicated the feat with five homers in a twin bill in Atlanta on Aug. 1, 1972. Here's the rest of the story: Colbert, a St. Louis native and Sumner High graduate, was in the stands as an eight-year-old that day in 1954 when Musial hit his five at Busch.

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October 26, 1985: Jesse James Rides Again Nov 29, 2022

In this bonus episode of the Best Podcast in Baseball, we bring you PlayBacks, an audio series that brings to life the archives of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Don Denkinger didn’t have the cushion of an instant-replay review on that October night when the Cardinals took a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning at Royals Stadium, just three outs away from the championship.

Pinch-hitter Jorge Orta led off with a slow bouncer to the right side. First baseman Jack Clark ranged wide to field the ball and flipped a high throw to reliever Todd Worrell covering the bag.

Orta was still in the air on his final stride when the ball beat him by a half-step. Denkinger recounted he was standing too close to the play — by the time he saw Worrell catch the ball and looked down, Orta’s foot was on the base. Denkinger ruled him safe.

“I wish I would’ve gotten it right,” he said. “But I didn’t.”

The rest, as Denkinger said, is part of baseball lore.

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Major topics with Best Podcast in the Minors, a Post-Dispatch baseball crossover Nov 21, 2022

The Best Podcast in the Minors, the weekly show produced for StlPinchHits.com, invited Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold to talk about the minors, review the season, and discuss development within the Cardinals system. In other words: Crossover podcast! BPIB is proud to give its listeners a peek at its cousin podcast, available at StlToday.com's StlPinchHits, and the conversations co-hosts Daniel Guerrero and Carter Chapley have weekly. In 30 episodes this past summer, they've had on coaches and prospects and given updates on top performers throughout the Cardinals' organization. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Dominant Astros are World Series champs. But are they Fall Classics like great Cardinals clubs? Nov 16, 2022

What does it take to turn a World Series or a World Series champion into a Fall Classic? Well, Lance Berkman sure helps. New York Times national baseball columnist and New York Times bestselling author Tyler Kepner joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to discuss his new book, "The Grandest Stage: A History of the World Series." In it, Kepner plunges into the stories generated by World Series, revealing the history of Major League Baseball's championship through themes and personalities, not a linear retracing of box scores. With Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold, Kepner discusses the Cardinals prominent place in World Series history, how this year's Astros fit with the all-time World Series teams and tales, and what to make of Jeff Luhnow's influence over their run of pennants under the shadow of a sign-stealing scandal. Oh, and Berkman's role in the 2011 World Series is not to be overlooked. Plus, stay to hear Kepner capture the risk the Cardinals run of not responding to fan pressure and then wow with one of his talents -- instant recall of the final outs of World Series. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Catching up on Cardinals best bets before leaving Las Vegas Nov 11, 2022

Should the Cardinals roll the dice on Willson Contreras? Should they hold to their defensive wishes at catcher? NBC Sports Chicago baseball writer Gordon Wittenmyer joins St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss the direction the Cardinals could go at catcher, including the former Cubs backstop. Plus, a discussion on NL Central competition and rising payrolls, and how the Cardinals can aim higher than a division chocked with rebuilding teams. They can play at the $25 tables. Oh, and Wittenmyer plays the slots. Whether it was the setting (Las Vegas), the proximity to the World Series, or the firsrt chance for executives and agents to meet after the cancellation of the 2021 MLB Winter Meetings, this year's GM Meetings had a different vibe. It was active. Or, at least, it felt like a prelude to action. The Cardinals went looking for options at catcher, and came away with a better sense of the trade market and a conversation with at least the representatives for free-agent Christian Vazquez. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Sept. 20, 1946: When Stan Musial became 'The Man' Nov 07, 2022

In this bonus episode of the Best Podcast in Baseball, we bring you PlayBacks, an audio series that brings to life the archives of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

It was at Ebbets Field and with begrudging respect that Brooklyn Dodgers fans began referring to Musial as "The Man."

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Can Cardinals change their 'narrative' with another 'shirsey worthy' addition? Oct 27, 2022

When asked at the end-of-season preview/review press conference whether he had any frustration with the Cardinals lack of wins and appearances in the National League Championship Series since 2014, John Mozeliak pushed back: "That's your narrative," the president of the baseball operations told St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Benjamin Hochman. So, let's discuss narrative. In a brand new edition of the Best Podcast in Baseball, Hochman joins baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss the facts behind his "narrative" and what Mozeliak's comments about adding a catcher, adding a bat, and adding payroll say about the Cardinals' willingness to augment their time-tested strategy in order to hang with the high-spending contenders in the National League. One answer? Add a "shirsey-seller," says Hochman. That is a player who will sell merchandise the day after he joins the team. Is there a "shirsey worthy" player out there? BPIB takes a look before concluding with a conversation about the coming changes at coaches and whether it's a trend that should alarm the Cardinals. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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How Major League Baseball's new rules avoid addressing same old issue Oct 20, 2022

What begins as an analogy for how a new rule punishes a team and players who use data, savvy, and athleticism to find an edge jumps into a much larger discussion on how a game guided by huge sample sizes tries to entertain on the small scale. Kevin Wheeler, co-host of The Show midday on KMOX/1120 AM, joins the Best Podcast in Baseball and baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss the new rules that Major League Baseball will have for 2023. Which one is substantive? Which one is creative? Which one is cosmetic, at best? And what rule would make more of an impact. Also discussed is the beauty of baseball's "sustained tension" and how anecdotal style -- what a fan sees that one game they attend or 20 games they watch on TV -- maybe more valuable for selling the game than what two lifelong baseball think when focusing on the larger season. A new way to sell the game is also discussed, but is it snappy enough? The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Magic season. More of the same postseason. How can Cardinals change trend? Oct 13, 2022

A season that contained such wonder (Albert Pujols' 700th home run) and such unexpected storylines (Albert Pujols' 700th home run) finished where so many seasons have recently for the Cardinals -- flat. Swept out of the postseason by the lower-seeded Philadelphia Phillies, at home, the Cardinals have an early start on the postseason. But will it be any different? Must it be? The retirement of Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols leave the Cardinals with significant holes to fill -- on the field, in the clubhouse, and as part of the offense. St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson joins a brand new Best Podcast in Baseball to discuss with baseball writer and host Derrick Goold what went awry in the National League Wild Card series, what separates the 100-win behemoths in the National League from the Cardinals, and what to do next, other than just wait and "hope-cast." The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Playoff Preview: Cardinals' quest through stacked NL begins with Phillies Oct 05, 2022

"And there isn't a Chris Carpenter walking through the door." A playoff preview with KMOX/1120 AM host Kevin Wheeler and St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold. After 11 years, the Philadelphia Phillies are back in the playoffs and awaiting them -- why it's the same team that eliminated them in 2011 and changed the course of that franchise. The Cardinals welcome the Phillies for a best-of-three wild-card series all played at Busch Stadium in the first weekend of Major League Baseball's expanded postseason. Wheeler and Goold discuss the top-end pitching edge the Phillies have with tandem right-handed aces and whether the Cardinals can counter with pitching depth. What are the matchups to watch? And what brutal rounds await the team that advances with Atlanta and the Los Angeles Dodgers looming as some of the best teams the NL has seen since, well, that 2011 Phillies team was really good, too. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Print the legend: A tribute to Cardinals greats Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols Oct 01, 2022

As a companion to the Post-Dispatch's Oct. 2 special commemorative edition celebrating the careers of Cardinals greats Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina, the Best Podcast in Baseball gathers several of the writers who contributed to that keepsake publication to discuss the Hall of Fame careers. St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold hosts the two conversations. First, from the seats at Busch Stadium outside the press box named for him, Hall of Fame writer Rick Hummel talks about Molina and Pujols at the beginning of their Cardinals' careers and all the way to the end, when Hummel argues Pujols stands on the pedestal beside The Man, Stan Musial. In the second part of the podcast, columnists Ben Frederickson and Benjamin Hochman join to discuss their stories in the special section, their experience covering Molina and Pujols, and how they've changed what it means to be a Cardinal and what's expected of the Cardinals. The Best Podcast in Baseball, after a brief unscheduled hiatus, will return with alacrity for the postseason. BPIB, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Oct. 10, 1926: An unlikely star saves the day against the mighty Yankees | Bonus episode Sep 29, 2022

In this bonus episode of the Best Podcast in Baseball, we bring you PlayBacks, an audio series that brings to life the archives of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

This episode looks at the Cardinals' Game 7 victory over the New York Yankees for their first World Series title.

You can read more about about the game through with these related articles:

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What does the Cardinals' red-hot August say about a Red October? Sep 03, 2022

Two teams, two of the sharpest teams in baseball, both leading their division, made trades at the deadline that slowed their season, and in one cause capsized their hold on first place. The Cardinals, meanwhile, took flight. Don't dismiss the old school nuances in the Cardinals' new-school look, says St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson. At the same time, they revitalized the pitching staff, the Cardinals recast their lineup around matchups and ignited one of the best offenses in the game, buoyed by the trio of Nolan Arenado, Albert Pujols, and Paul Goldschmidt. What does their August tell us about their chances in October? Frederickson joins Best Podcast in Baseball host Derrick Goold, baseball writer at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, to discuss yet another second-half surge with the Cardinals and what, if anything, makes this different than a year ago. Also discussed is how Jake Woodford personifies the improvements the Cardinals made and the blunt explanations first-year manager Oliver Marmol has given. There is also a long discussion on his approach, how he's brought ball talk back to the ballpark, and what really connects with St. Louis. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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With fewer games, what's the future of Cardinals-Cubs rivalry? Aug 26, 2022

There's more than hopping the pond for a series in London to the Cardinals-Cubs meetings in 2023. Start with this: There are few of them. Six games from one of the game's oldest rivalries have been shaved off the schedule as part of Major League Baseball's balanced scheduled. What does that mean? ESPN baseball reporter Jesse Rogers suggests it could bring even more intensity to the rivalry. Rogers, who will be part of the network's Sunday Night Baseball coverage from Busch Stadium on Sunday, joins St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss the changes to the 2023 season and when to expect the Cubs to be contenders again. Could be sooner than anyone thinks, argues Rogers. And they're going to start spending, too. Maybe the fewer games will benefit the Cardinals after all. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Cardinals GM Michael Girsch talks trades, challenges, championships expectations with BPIB Aug 17, 2022

"Our fans want to win today. But our fans want to win every year," says Cardinals vice president/general manager Michael Girsch as he joins the Best Podcast in Baseball for the first time to discuss his rise to becoming the 13th GM in organization history and the expectations ownership sets for the club. Girsch, a native of Chicago, joined the Cardinals before the 2006 World Series championship season, worked his way up through the baseball operations structure, and became general manager in June 2017. He's had the position since. With St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer and BPIB host Derrick Goold, Girsch offers insight into how trades are made at the deadline, how the Cardinals' pitching depth has come up lacking two years in a row, and how there's been a Hall of Famer on the field for every generation, and that's something ownership expects. Girsch also discusses his entry into baseball, finding a door that opened in the wake of Moneyball, and the surprises he found once inside the room where things really happen, and not observing from the spreadsheet of an consultant. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design, is a weekly production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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What Cardinals gold glover Nolan Arenado is still trying to catch Aug 12, 2022

Two longtime Colorado baseball writers, MLB.com's Thomas Harding and The Denver Post's Patrick Saunders, join St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss the brilliance of Nolan Arenado at third base and what, despite all the Gold Glove awards, he's yet to catch. And can he find that with the Cardinals? The three baseball writers recall Arenado's finest plays in the field, the legacy he left behind in Colorado, how he forced the Rockies to consider their direction and whether that will have a lasting influence on the organization. Plus, the two Denver baseball writers answer a question key to St. Louis: What does Nolan Arenado want in an organization, and is there a chance he opts-out of his contract with the Cardinals to seek it somewhere else? The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday,com, and Derrick Goold.

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Did Cardinals do enough at deadline to 'get hot' or just warmer? Aug 05, 2022

Against National League rivals that got better at the deadline, the Cardinals will need to have the best bullpen in Octobers, argues Hall of Fame baseball writer Rick Hummel. Did they do enough at the deadline to assure that? That's the theme of a brand new Best Podcast in Baseball, featuring Hummel and his St. Louis Post-Dispatch colleague Derrick Goold, a baseball writer and host of BPIB. The Cardinals added two lefty starters at the deadline and a right-handed reliever. They did not make the huge splash of San Diego (Juan Soto, Josh Bell), the name-brand move of Philadelphia (Noan Syndergaard, David Robertson), or even the familiar savvy move of Atlanta Braves (Jake Odorizzi). What they did do is invite questions about a front office eager to expect the best from its roster, betting on it to maximize its ability and "get hot," while being more conservative when it comes to helping. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goodl.

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What Cardinals can learn from Blue Jays about bashing baseballs Jul 28, 2022

Within this brand new BPIB there are discussions about developing hitters, surviving the AL East, an AL view of the Cardinals, and how Stubby Clapp and Tyler O'Neill have come to represent Canada baseball. First, there is a discussion about the travel restrictions at the border that limit entry to Canada and the U.S. for visitors who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19. While so much attention is on the players visitors are missing, the Blue Jays are at a competitive disadvantage due to fewer players available and roster management. Are they galvanized by this disadvantage? Fast forward 5 minutes if you want to get straight to the talk about offense. The Toronto Blue Jays have another young group of power-packed hitters leading baseball's hottest lineup. It's a homegrown, augmented lineup the likes of which the Cardinals have long wanted to create, but lacked the same ability to develop and debut impact young hitters. So how do the Jays do it? Is there a Jays' Way? Shi Davidi, senior baseball columnist for Sportsnet and Sportsnet.Ca, joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to discuss offense and how to thrive in the AL East a team better 'bang.' The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Do Cardinals brass have moxie to make midseason moves to be great? Jul 14, 2022

"The season of the front office." That's what St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson called the 2022 season as it began, and more than 90 games in -- it still is. Frederickson joins St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer and BPIB host Derrick Goold to discuss the Cardinals at the All-Star break. They're a good team, a team with a winning record, and a team in need of a significant pitching upgrade to remain in the hunt to be a playoff team, let alone a great team. That puts them in a pinch. The front office has proven it can rebuild a bullpen during a season, but to do so this season might mean adding a frontline starter, which they've been reluctant to do in the past, let alone at the trade deadline. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Stltoday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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How a team aimless in July can become champion by October Jul 07, 2022

A year ago, the Atlanta Braves had yet to see .500 and were scrambling to acquire outfielders in the same way the Cardinals tried to find starting pitchers. Through a series of shrewd moves, the Braves rebuilt their lineup at the trade deadline and everything clicked -- at the best possible time. As one executive said during the confetti-splashed celebration of the Braves' 2021 World Series championship: That is why you play to get in the playoffs and just see what happens. Dave O'Brien, the longtime Braves beat writer now at The Athletic, joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to discuss how a team struggling in July can become a champion by October. And, if Atlanta is now the team they imagined having -- and even better than they were before. The Cardinals troubles with the NL East are explored, and so is the skills of a manager rewarded for his devotion to the organization. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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The constant Cardinals conversation: A 10-year BPIB reunion with Bernie Miklasz Jun 30, 2022

Ten years ago, in the attic of a home in St. Louis, two St. Louis Post-Dispatch sportswriters had a great name for a podcast -- thanks to a reader! -- but little idea how to actually put one together, let alone run the tech necessary. And thus the Best Podcast in Baseball began, but needed time to live up to its name. Co-creators of the BPIB, columnist Bernie Miklasz and baseball beat writer Derrick Goold, hold a reunion for the 10th episode of Season 10 and discuss all things about the 2022 St. Louis Cardinals: What rookies have staying power for years to come? What is the Cardinals' greatest need to go from good to great this season? Is the offense really as good as the numbers suggest, and how did it get there? What's up with the 2-6 record in games with a chance to sweep a series? In the 10 years since the beginning of BPIB, what are some of the discouraging trends in baseball -- and encouraging trends, too -- and if the Cardinals' winning record has only been the constant, has that invited complacency? All of that and more discussed with Miklasz, former Post-Dispatch sports columnist and now host of The Bernie Show (590 AM). The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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A two-team tussle straight out of Central casting Jun 23, 2022

Jeff Levering, broadcaster for the Milwaukee Brewers on both radio and television, joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to discuss this "Golden Age of Brewers baseball" and a four-game series between the Cardinals and Milwaukee in June that has a distinct September, maybe even October, feel. With St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold, Levering discusses the Brewers' quest for a fifth consecutive playoff appearance and whether past falls have heightened the pressure on this year's team to do more than reach the postseason. Isn't it time to win? Is the clock ticking on how long the Brewers can remain the class of the National League Central? The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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The Sweet Smell of a Successful Baseball Club (with a Whiff of History) Jun 15, 2022

The New York Times national baseball writer James Wagner joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to discuss what happens when the writer tasked with covering the biggest story in baseball has the biggest story in baseball in his backyard. The New York Yankees and New York Mets have the best records in baseball -- and the Yankees are on a historic pace -- so can they keep that up, and have they shifted the balance of power in the majors away from Houston and Los Angeles? Wagner talks with St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold about the art of covering history, developing a nose for a good story (especially the most aromatic of stories), and what the view of the Cardinals is from the current center of the baseball universe. Are the Cardinals part of the industry elite, or have they been nudged to the periphery? The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Best Podcast in Baseball 10.07: Ben Verlander on the resilient joy of baseball, Cardinals, and 'Flippin' Bats' Jun 08, 2022

Ben Verlander, FOXSports.com baseball analyst and host of FOX Sports' award-winning podcast 'Flippin' Bats,' joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to discuss how joy and personality are ways to promote the game of baseball, not grumbling and nostalgia. Nominated for two Hashtag Sports Award for his coverage of the 2021 World Series, Verlander also discusses his minor-league career, the imposing Ty Cobb picture in Lakeland, Fla., a change in June urgency in the 2022 season, and what it was like watching his brother, Justin, face the Cardinals during the 2006 World Series. He also recalls the scouting report he saw on Alex Reyes when the two played against each other in the Florida State League. Verlander, a top-rated player for MLB The Show, can be found on Twitch, Twitter (@BenVerlander), and his podcast (@FllippinBatsPod) is available where you found this podcast, plus it has a spot in YouTube. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Best Podcast in Baseball 10.06: Are Cardinals risking a June swoon repeat? Jun 01, 2022

A year after their pitching staff came apart with two injuries and one abbreviated outing at Dodger Stadium to plunge into an innings crisis and June swoon, the Cardinals find themselves ... right back where they were? St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson joins baseball writer Derrick Goold to answer that question and explore history repeating itself at Busch Stadium in a brand new episode of the Best Podcast in Baseball. As June arrives, the Cardinals are again searching for innings from their rotation to avoid a threadbare bullpen, a cascade of troubles, and a swoon that cost them the division a year ago. Have they learned from last year's slow move to address a need? Or, are they putting a lot of stock in the returns of lefty Steven Matz (in June) and Jack Flaherty (by July?). There are options out there. There is even an in-house option or two that the Cardinals continue to find reasons to avoid. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Best Podcast in Baseball 10.05: 'Best Team on Paper in Brewers History' May 26, 2022

Before plunging into his collection of classic Mimsbandz and his search for a Vince Coleman pair, Todd Rosiak, senior baseball writer at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, discusses how he describes this year's Milwaukee club as "the best team on paper in Brewers history." It's all about the pitching. So what is Derrick Goold missing about this Brewers club? The host of Best Podcast in Baseball and St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer did not pick the Brewers to win the division because he felt the roster lacked the pitching depth to pull off an encore of what it did last year with three All-Star starters, two Cy Young Award contenders, one winner, and arguably the best left-right relief combo in baseball. Rosiak explains his premise, discusses the injuries facing the Brewers, and how they've become the model franchise in the division. And, then there are the sweatbands. Yes, the art and treasure of Mimsbandz is explored. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Best Podcast in Baseball 10.04: Second Chances May 02, 2022

When the Cardinals arrived at the ballpark Sunday for the series finale against Arizona and an attempt to split a series with the Diamondbacks, the lineup, as a collective, had hit 14 home runs. Nolan Gorman, down with Class AAA Memphis, had 11. The Cardinals' top power prospect and closest prospect to the majors is off to a raucous start with the most homers in the organization, 16-game hitting streak, and growing demands from the fan base for his promotion. So what gives? Offense continues to be the question and what the Cardinals are willing to give to get some more consistently. St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson joins baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss how long the Cardinals can wait for their offense to stir when it seems so similar to the year before (and the year before that, and the year before that), and what reasoning the team has for not bringing up Gorman as the left-handed, power presence they've been looking for. It's not service time, if that's what you're thinking. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold

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Best Podcast in Baseball 10.03: On the Road Again Apr 22, 2022

The press scrum surrounding Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols on Tuesday in Miami was crowded, and to help Pujols not only held the Post-Dispatch reporter's recorder but also offered to ask questions, too. That's where the first on-the-road Best Podcast in Baseball of 2022 begins -- with that clip and then with a conversation between two reporters used to asking a lot of the questions on the road. Bally Sports Midwest reporter/host Jim Hayes joins St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss the early performance of the Cardinals, the return of Pujols to his first team, and the role Hayes plays in introducing the personalities of the players to fans. Hayes also tells the behind-the-scenes story on the day Nelly met Joe Kelly. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold. It is available anywhere you find podcasts and on the new Post-Dispatch app, STL Pinch Hits.

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Best Podcast in Baseball 10.02: On Pujols and Prospects for Cardinals' Future Apr 13, 2022

Introducing STL Pinch Hits -- a brand new way to get BPIB and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball coverage and expanded coverage, including a brand new beat at the newspaper, Cardinals minor-league writer. Daniel Guerrero, the new addition to the Post-Dispatch team, will be covering all of the Cardinals' top prospects and minor-league affiliates, bringing exclusive coverage to the new STL Pinch Hits app, including a podcast, video reporters, and almost daily updates on the performances from the minor-league levels. Guerrero grew up in Anaheim, Calif., and that's where this brand new BPIB begins: What it was like being a young baseball fan when Albert Pujols left St. Louis to be an Angel, and now being a reporter in St. Louis as Pujols makes his return at designated hitter. With baseball writer Derrick Goold, Guerrero discusses early performances of note in the minors and the Post-Dispatch Dozen, a ranking of the top 12 prospects in the Cardinals' system who have yet to appear in the majors. Plus, Guerrero drops a scoop at the end of the podcast. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Best Podcast in Baseball 10.01: For openers, a 10th season of BPIB Apr 06, 2022

The return several months in the making of a podcast now 10 years in the talking. The Best Podcast in Baseball previews opening day of the 2022 Cardinals season with Hall of Fame baseball writer Rick Hummel. He talks about his surprises of camp (Albert Pujols' return?), the issues unaddressed by the team (fifth starter), and what he thought about the first year of Camp Oli. Hummel joins St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer and BPIB host Derrick Goold to discuss whether the Cardinals are a good team relative to the rest of the National League Central, or a good team within the National League. Answers may vary. The Best Podcast in Baseball, which can be found on the new app STL Pinch Hits, is sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, and it is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold. Look for it weekly during the regular season.

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Best Podcast in Baseball 9.33: The Frustration Before the Frenzy Feb 19, 2022

In a predictable but poetic twist, the best way to recapture the enthusiasm of a fanbase after the ice-chill of a work stoppage for the Cardinals, that old-school National League ball club, may be through an American League gizmo. Is the DH the Cardinals way to create excitement coming out of a lockout? That question forms the backbone of a conversation between St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson and baseball writer Derrick Goold during a brand new Best Podcast in Baseball. The lengthy delays between negotiations and attempt to create urgency is discussed in the first 25 minutes before Frederickson and Goold explore how the Cardinals specifically can energize a frustrated fanbase. There will be a frenzy of transactions once the lockout ends, but is that enough? There will be questions about the Cardinals' offense, so is answering them with a name-brand DH enough? The Cardinals are keen on their prospects, but is selling the future any way to regain the fans' interest in the present? In its 10th year, the Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, remains a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Best Podcast in Baseball 9.32: Waiting for the Behemoth's Next Move Feb 09, 2022

Mike Ferrin, MLB Network Radio host extraordinaire, joins the Best Podcast in Baseball and St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss the ongoing lockout, the ramifications of extending winter for the fans, and how close the Cardinals are to being a favorite for the pennant -- if only they'd make that one last move they just haven't. In this brand new episode and extended conversation, recorded right before the inevitable delay of spring training, Ferrin and Goold discuss whether the National League is more vulnerable or just more volatile given all the moves yet to be made once MLB's lockout ends. Home decor is also detailed. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Best Podcast in Baseball 9.31: Hall of Fame Fallout with Jay Jaffe Jan 28, 2022

With another year of Hall of Fame voting and angst over, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens ushered off the ballot, and David Ortiz welcomed into Cooperstown, Jay Jaffe, senior writer at FanGraphs.com and Hall of Fame aficionado, joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to discuss what it all means. Does Ortiz's first-ballot induction set the stage for a new precedent when it comes to specialists like relievers or players with ties to performance-enhancing drugs, however vague or intangible? Does Scott Rolen's second significant jump in as many years put him on deck for induction in 2023, and does that mean Cooperstown is starting to feel the glove? If so, Yadier Molina -- first ballot? Jaffe, author of The Cooperstown Casebook and essential reading every Hall of Fame season at FanGraphs, joins St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss their ballots, the trends, the frustrations, and where several prominent current and former Cardinals fit on the road to bronze at the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Best Podcast in Baseball 9.30: Covering the Globe with Jesse Sanchez Jan 18, 2022

The annual opening of the international signing period has been nicknamed "Jesse Sanchez Day" because of the attention, care, insight and depth of coverage MLB.com baseball writer Jesse Sanchez has brought to that market and the talents it introduces to baseball and baseball fans. In a brand new Best Podcast in Baseball, recorded a few days after the Jan. 15 opening of the international market, Sanchez talks with St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold about the challenges that faced players and scouts alike as they negotiated deals and identified players during a global pandemic. More than just the calendar shifted. Sanchez also offers a scouting report on the prized signing by the Cardinals -- switch-hitting shortstop Jonathan Mejia, a 16-year-old from the Dominican Republic. Plus, the two writers detail how the Cardinals scouted and ultimately signed Won-Bin Cho, the teenage slugger from South Korea who is also the first amateur player from Asia to sign with the Cardinals. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Best Podcast in Baseball 9.29: Making a List, Checking it Twice Jan 07, 2022

The Best Podcast in Baseball begins its 10th year with a brand new and extended episode and a discussion about baseball's past and the Cardinals' future. St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold faces questions from Kevin Wheeler (KMOX/1120 AM) about the 2022 National Baseball Hall of Fame ballot and the players he voted for this year. Lists are the theme, after all. Goold brought his list of 10 players who appeared on his ballot, and Wheeler discussed his list of Top 20 prospects in the Cardinals' system. The podcast explores the nature of ranking players for what they could do in the game, and then years later having to research and assess what players did in their careers and whether that merits Cooperstown. Warning: There is a rant about how underappreciated third basemen are, historically. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Best Podcast in Baseball 9.28: New Year's Revolution Dec 22, 2021

When baseball emerges from its long, cold, inactive winter, and players take the field again in spring, what should the game look like? Start with more improvisation of talent, less calculation of risks. That was the answer given by Kevin Wheeler, broadcaster at KMOX/1120 AM. He tackled the on-field product first, saving the off-field economics for another conversation. As baseball has shifted from probability management to risk management, the product and entertainment value on the field has shifted. Do good teams draw fans, or do teams also have to play an appealing style of baseball, and if every team is drawing from the same numbers does that mean they all play the same? Dullsville. In the final BPIB of 2021, Wheeler and host Derrick Goold, baseball writer at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, talk about the changing dynamics of baseball on the field, from youth to majors, from development to debut, and how when the lockout ends and play resumes some changes (including one simple tweak that would address tanking, too) will give the team a jolt. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold. Have a happy, healthy holiday season. BPIB will return in 2022.

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Best Podcast in Baseball 9.27: Big Stories of 2021, Bigger Storylines for 2022 Dec 18, 2021

Should St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson be able to decorate a window at his house with a "major award"? He turns this question -- which definitely has legs -- over to the listeners of the Best Podcast in Baseball. And that's just the beginning. As BPIB nears its 10th year in the podcast game, Frederickson joins St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss the biggest stories of the past year for the St. Louis Cardinals. The acquisition of Nolan Arenado, a record 17-game winning streak, and the abrupt, confusing firing of the manager -- any of those would have been the biggest story of a non-championship season. And they all happened in 2021. The answer on what was the biggest shapes how the Cardinals should be viewed in 2022, and the podcast explores the rising expectations, the storylines, and who specifically is in the spotlight as the Cardinals also reach a decade milestone. That is, a decade without a title. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Best Podcast in Baseball9.26: The Artist Behind the Logo You'll Never Forget Dec 14, 2021

Todd Radom is the artist whose work you know and whose name you should. You probably have one of his designs on a t-shirt or a hat, on a sticker or a pennant or a flag or bobblehead or beer stein. You might even have it as a tattoo. As I type this, I can see at least a half dozen items in my offense -- from patches to baseballs -- that have one of the logos he created. Radom, an author and graphic designer, is the hand behind Busch Stadium II's final year logo, Busch Stadium III's first year logo, and so many others, from the Washington Nationals' logo and look to the Colorado Rockies, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, and other teams' anniversary logos. He designed the patches for the final year of old Yankee Stadium and the first year of current Yankee Stadium, and the Wichita Wind Surge -- yeah, that's his work, too. Radom joins St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss the history of logos, the history he invests into his logos, and along the way the two add a few stitches of trivia. The Birds on the Bat are about to celebrate their 100th anniversary, and their place in logo legend is discussed. Plus, Radom offers his definitive opinion on whether the Cardinals should wear blue caps on the road. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Best Podcast in Baseball 9.25: The Game's Caretakers Must Take Care Dec 10, 2021

Fans want baseball's caretakes to take care of the game they love, argues The Sporting News baseball writer Ryan Fagan, a stack of baseball cards nearby and a work stoppage all around. With Major League Baseball's lockout entering its second weekend, two baseball writers meet at a local St. Louis comic book shop to open some baseball cards and talk about the precarious spot the game and the card industry find themselves in, both on the brink on significant change, and possibly not for the better. Fagan joins St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer and Best Podcast in Baseball host Derrick Goold to talk about the goals of the owners and players in the stalled negotiations for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The two writers discuss changes to the draft, to the on-field rules, and to the economy of baseball that could rise from a new CBA. They also discuss baseball cards -- best designs, favorite individual cards -- and the similarity between the game on the field and what's happening with wax packs as Topps, after 70 years of making cards, is on the verge of being replaced by Fanatics. This episode was recorded on location at Apotheosis Comics on Grand Boulevard in St. Louis. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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A Special Best Podcast in Baseball: Sports on Tap with Post-Dispatch Scribes Nov 23, 2021

What happens when the tables turn on seven deadline writers and people get to ask them questions? Sports on Tap does. The Best Podcast in Baseball brings you the 2021 St. Louis Post-Dispatch Sports on Tap event as hosted by sports columnist Ben Frederickson. On Nov. 18, 2021, seven members of the Post-Dispatch sports staff fielded questions from readers at Ballpark Village. Frederickson was joined by Blues beat writer Jim Thomas, Mizzou beat writer Dave Matter, Hall of Fame baseball writer Rick Hummel, and sports columnists Jeff Gordon and Benjamin Hochman. BPIB host and baseball writer Derrick Goold also participated. The topics were not limited to baseball, but the Cardinals and baseball were a significant part of the conversation, from free agents chased to managers changed and even a question comparing the ownership of the Blues with the ownership of the Cardinals.

Look for more Sports on Tap events in the near future. Tickets will be available at StlToday.com. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Best Podcast in Baseball 9.23: Hot Stove Cooking with Dan McLaughlin Nov 23, 2021

In a BPIB crossover event hosted by Scoops with Danny Mac's Dan McLaughlin, the television voice of the Cardinals, St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold talks about the Cardinals' search for a free-agent pitcher, the availability of St. Louis-area native and future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer, and the sudden, shocking manager change the Cardinals made this offseason. McLaughlin and Goold also discuss the oncoming expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and how precarious baseball, a sport defined by its daily presence, rests on the minds of its fans, especially if the holidays are littered with squabbling between owners and the players' union and spring arrives without baseball in it.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Best Podcast in Baseball 9.22: Down to a Two Team Race (for 2022) Nov 11, 2021

So what's better -- the adrenaline rush that comes from tanking a few years to try and peak with a great team in a few years, or the steady drumbeat of contention without the flare of high picks and lofty free-agent pursuits? A strange thing has happened in the National League Central within the first few weeks of the season: The next season appears to be over for three teams. With the Cubs ejecting their core, the Reds dropping salary, and the Pirates in another year of their multi-year rebuilding project, the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers are left with what appears, today, like a two-team race for the division crown. Oh, and the Brewers are pondering a trade of their best reliever, All-Star Josh Hader. This must be what Scott Boras meant about the 'race to the bottom.' Gordon Wittenmyer, baseball writer and Cubs beat reporter for NBCSports Chicago, joins St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick for a Best Podcast in Baseball episode to discuss the division race, tanking, and whether the Cubs are any better than when they started almost a decade ago -- or are they worse? The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closest by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Best Podcast in Baseball 9.21: Joe Posnanski & his new classic, 'The Baseball 100' Oct 14, 2021

A colossal feat of baseball reporting and baseball writing, Joe Posnanski's 'The Baseball 100', a New York Times bestseller, hits the desk with a thump to announce its gravity but lifts the heart as a joy to read. It's more than a ranking of the greatest 100 players in baseball history -- ranging from Willie Mays (No. 1) to Stan Musial (No. 9) and out to Ol' Pete Alexander, Bob Gibson, Steve Carlton, Max Scherzer, and Ichiro -- it's a bound volume of 100 of the greatest stories in baseball. Posnanski joins St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss the challenge of telling these stories, ranking the great players, what he found during his quest, and what he tried to capture about the highest-rated active player, former Cardinals MVP Albert Pujols. Posnanski, an award-winning sports columnist, is also the author of 'The Soul of Baseball' as well as JoeBlogs, and he's the host of the Podcast.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Best Podcast in Baseball 9.20: Cardinals go on the offensive Sep 28, 2021

The St. Louis Cardinals, one win away from securing a wild-card berth in the postseason, return to Busch Stadium riding the longest winning streak in club history and one of the longest of all time in the closing month of a season. The Cardinals have won 16 consecutive games, bested teams from New York to Wisconsin, and are coming off of a four-game sweep of the Cubs at Wrigley Field. They even survived the infield-fly rule. So, what spurred this radical rewrite of a disappointing season? KMOX/1120 AM host Kevin Wheeler rejoins the Best Podcast in Baseball and Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss two pivotal elements of the revival: an offense hitting its stride and a defense that is by far the best, most aggressive, and most creative in baseball.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Best Podcast in Baseball 9.19: A Wild, Wild Card Winning Streak Sep 23, 2021

So, what we were talking about again? Washington Post national baseball writer Chelsea Janes joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to make sense of a season no longer on the brink because the Cardinals are now the hottest team in baseball. In the span of two weeks -- roughly the time it took to put together a new episode of the BPIB (and scrap one, too) -- the Cardinals have gone from trailing by four games in the race for the National League's second wild card to leading it and being the favorite to land it. The Cardinals have gained eight games in the standings with the longest winning by the club in 20 years and only the 13th time in the team's 130-year history that they've won more than 10 consecutive games. To make sense of how far the Cardinals have come and the unexpected way they're winning, BPIB host and St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold talks to Janes for a national perspective and how the Cardinals could become America's darlings of October if they dispatch that team from Tinseltown. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of Derrick Goold, StlToday.com, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

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Best Podcast in Baseball 9.18: The Cardinals' Fantasyland for 2022 Aug 27, 2021

The morning after a historically ugly loss in Pittsburgh for the Cardinals of 2021, Drew Silva, senior Major League Baseball writer at NBC Sports Edge and self-described "pessimistic" Cardinals fan, grabs a cold coffee and joins Best Podcast in Baseball host and baseball writer Derrick Goold to talk about the moves the club could make to reignite excitement by the start of the 2022 season. Silva, who last joined the podcast at Urban Chestnut in St. Louis, home of the Fantasyland IPA, writes about fantasy baseball and has a biting presence on Twitter when it comes the Cardinals. He explains how he became a fan of the team, how their notable successes came notable times in his life, and how this year's team got to where it is -- drifting from the playoff race, if only the other teams would let them. In addition to writing for NBC Sports Edge, Silva also hosts the podcast Circling the Bases. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Best Podcast in Baseball 9.17: Milwaukee's Best Aug 19, 2021

The Milwaukee Brewers and their ever-widening lead in the National League Central visited Busch Stadium with, as infielder Kolten Wong said, "a point to make." Consider it made. Brewers broadcaster Jeff Levering, who spent time as a prospect in the Cardinals' organization too while calling games for Class AA Springfield during Mike Shildt's tenure there, joins the Best Podcast in Baseball from the visitors' radio booth at Busch Stadium to talk about Milwaukee's ascension as the best team -- best organization? -- in the National League Central. With two wins in the first two games of the series, the first-place Brewers have widened their lead over the third-place Cardinals to 12 games with 11 head-to-head games remaining. Milwaukee has had the season the Cardinals imagined -- one hinged around an exceptional, deep pitching staff and infused with an aggressive move as a booster rocket up the standings. Levering talks with Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold about watching Shildt's work in Springfield, Mo., and how that plays in the big leagues, and there's also a Bob Uecker story, or two. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Best Podcast in Baseball 9.16: Just Getting Through the Trade Deadline Aug 06, 2021

A "second reckoning" is upon the Cardinals less than a week after baseball's one and only trade deadline for the 2021 season. There were frenetic trades, an MVP and a Cy Young Award winner with St. Louis ties, and a lot of energy and excitement everywhere around the Major League Baseball trade deadline -- except locally. The Cardinals added two established, veteran lefties and spoke about their goal of "getting through" the 2021 season. That's several notches below contending, let alone striving for a championship. They spoke of surviving, not thriving. St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson joins Derrick Goold, baseball writer at the Post-Dispatch, to discuss the Cardinals increasingly conservative approach to moves, whether injuries are indeed a valid explanation for their trouble breaking loose from .500, and if KC's visit with reinvented manager Mike Matheny is an example of how continuity might just breed complacency without the ranks of the Cardinals. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Best Podcast in Baseball 9.15: Apprise of the Guardians Jul 28, 2021

Whether it's a Spiders roster transplanted to St. Louis and a nickname abandoned or how they're perched together in the middling middle of the majors, Cleveland and the Cardinals have an intertwined baseball history (and present) beyond their rare series against each other. Anthony Castrovince, MLB.com national baseball columnist and MLB Network contributor, joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to discuss the most significant and inevitable news in his hometown of Cleveland: The ball club has a new name. The Cleveland Guardians will debut in 2022. Castrovince talks with St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold about Cleveland's name change, about his advocacy of the Spiders, about the modern Cardinals getting their start when the Spiders moved to St. Louis (kind of), and how much the Cardinals and future Guardians have in common -- from an ability to develop pitching to a need to develop a hitter to that dangerous, uncomfortable limbo teams find themselves in these days when they win just enough to be good but never enough to be great. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Best Podcast in Baseball 9.14: The Giants in Our Midst Jul 10, 2021

San Francisco Chronicle baseball writer Susan Slusser joins the Best Podcast in Baseball host Derrick Goold, of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, for a conversation at Oracle Park about the surprise time in the National League -- the Giants. This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the team that has to contend with the glitzy Dodgers and rising Padres, and instead it's the Giants who neared the All-Star break in first place with the best record in the National League. Slusser, a former president of the BBWAA, won California's sportswriter of the year award for her coverage of the Athletics, and for 2021, in a significant offseason move, relocated across the Bay to a new beat covering a new team in a new league. That's a good launch point for a discussion about how the Giants were built, their giant coaching staff, and, of course, what happens when a catching Giant hangs up his gear for the last time after defining an era for a championship team. It could happen in two NL cities soon. The Best Podcast in Baseball is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Best Podcast in Baseball 9.13: Gibson, Simmons & Muhammad Ali -- 50 years of writing by Rick Hummel Jul 01, 2021

What started at a bicycle race and put him on the road with the Cardinals and in an elevator with the champ continues today in a press box carrying his name: Rick Hummel. The Hall of Fame baseball writer and member of just about every Hall of Fame for sports and sportswriting in the greater St. Louis area, Hummel began his career at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch 50 years ago this July 3. And he hasn't stopped. He'll cover his 41st Major League Baseball All-Star Game that same month and be back on the road to Pittsburgh soon after that. In a brand new edition of the Best Podcast in Baseball, recorded in the Bob Broeg/Rick Hummel press box at Busch Stadium, baseball writer Derrick Goold talks to his longtime colleague about his favorite stories, how his writing as changed, and just what changes the 2021 Cardinals need to break loose from the middle of the standings and .500. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Best Podcast in Baseball 9.12: Get a Grip, MLB Jun 24, 2021

Major League Baseball's crack down on the sticky stuff being used to enhance pitches has begun, and who better to talk about the pursuit and policing of the game's best pitches than the reporter who wrote the book on pitches: Tyler Kepner, New York Times national baseball writer and author of "K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches." Kepner joins St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss how far the game has veered toward a pitching-dominated game and whether baseball's nature is always to favor the pitcher. They explore are how the targets of criticism -- coaches, managers, front office, media -- compare when the Yankees are struggled to when the Cardinals are struggling. And, also asked is whether Kepner, one of the most highly respected and read baseball writers in country, has concerns for the game as it wrestles with a lack of action while on the precipice of a labor tussle. The Best Podcast Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Best Podcast in Baseball 9.11: Trade Talking Jun 19, 2021

The trade winds are already blowing, and the St. Louis Cardinals have needs after almost six years of not being an active participant -- buyer or seller -- at the deadline. St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson rejoins the podcast to discuss options for the Cardinals and what move or moves would stabilize a team listing through June. The available starting pitchers, such as former Mizzou greats Max Scherzer and Kyle Gibson are discussed, as well as an outfielder that would reshape the look of the Cardinals' lineup and possibly give the National League Central a compelling subplot for years to come. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, stltoday.com, and Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold.

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Best Podcast in Baseball 9.10: A 'Die-Hard' Cardinals fan's epic tale of Paige, Doby, Feller & Cleveland's '48 Champs Jun 09, 2021

'Our Team: The Epic Story of Four Men and the World Series that Changed Baseball', by author Luke Epplin, is a captivating read that weaves the origins, backgrounds, motivations, and legends of Larry Doby, Satchel Paige, Bob Feller, and Bill Veeck together just as they unify to carry Cleveland to the 1948 World Series title. It's the last World Series championship Cleveland has won. It's also one that captivated the country and signaled a history shift for Major League Baseball. Epplin grew up in Illinois, about an hour outside of St. Louis, on tales of the St. Louis Browns, and he became a "die-hard Cardinals fan," his words, watching Ozzie Smith & Co. flip through the league in the 1980s. Epplin joins BPIB host and Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss his book, the route that took him from St. Louis fan to Cleveland chronicler, and how the story of the '48 team reconnected him with baseball and resonates with the situation the game is in today. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Best Podcast in Baseball 9.09: The Cincinnati Flex Jun 04, 2021

Whatever happened to Cincinnattitude? First there was a moment that ignited Nicholas Castellanos and the Reds. Then it was a T-shirt. Now it's a huge, looming poster at Great American Ball Park, just as Castellanos was a huge, looming presence when he looked down on a Cardinals rookie pitcher at home plate and flexed. But what if that striking image of the Reds season is the high point of the season -- and there's no substance, no strength behind the flex. Cincinnati Enquirer baseball writer Bobby Nightengale joins the Best Podcast in Baseball and St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss the Reds, their peripheral contention in the NL Central, and the division at large. Is there a trade that would radically reshape the division race and catapult Cincinnati into the swaggering, bat-flipping, flexing team they say they want to be? The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Best Podcast in Baseball 9.08: Power, Personality & Positively Game Changers May 29, 2021

Before closing with a fantastic David Peralta story, Mike Ferrin, MLB Network Radio host and Diamondbacks broadcaster, joins the Best Podcast in Baseball for a conversation about what's changing within baseball -- for the better. With the Nolan Arenado Show and the Cardinals' victory in the second game of a series against Arizona as the backbone of a wide-ranging discussion, Ferrin and St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold mention rule changes, foreign substance crackdown, and strike zone shifts that could improve play. But they also explore how younger fans connect with the game through on-demand highlights and how emotions that are celebrated in October are finding their way into a series in May -- and it's time to embrace that. Baseball has become a power game, for hitters and for pitchers, and now the power of some personalities are taking over, for the better. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of StlToday.com, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and Derrick Goold.

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Best Podcast in Baseball 9.07: Tony's Adventures in Second (Guessing) City May 20, 2021

Tony La Russa's return to the dugout has not been a breeze in the Windy City, but he's definitely part of the buzz for baseball on the South Side, while the North Side wonders what might have been. David Haugh, longtime Chicago Tribune columnist and now morning co-host at 670 AM The Score, joins the St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold on a brand new Best Podcast in Baseball to discuss all things Chicago baseball. La Russa made headlines this week by positioning himself as the arbiter of the unwritten rules of the game when he expressed frustration with his own player for hitting a 3-0 pitch for a home run in a rout of Minnesota. Was he behind the times -- or ahead of the strategy? The Cubs make their first visit to St. Louis' Busch Stadium since 2019, and they are a team at the fulcrum between maintaining their core players, some of whom won a championship in 2016, and moving on without the dynasty imagined. Haugh mentions the Cardinals' role in causing a pivot in the run of championships that wasn't. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Best Podcast in Baseball 9.06: Stars are out in Slam Diego May 14, 2021

San Diego has built a contender out of big contracts, star power, and one of the most charismatic young players in baseball -- offering a stark contrast to how another mid-sized market runs their roster, or did. For the Padres, it better work, and soon. As the St. Louis Cardinals visit San Diego for the first time since losing a playoff series, the Padres' roster has been diluted by several positive COVID-19 tests and as many as five regulars will miss the three-game series at Petco Park. A full-strength rematch will have to wait. But depth will be on display. San Diego Union-Tribune baseball writer Kevin Acee joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to discuss with St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold the Padres, their big-spending ways, their big moves, and whether they're big enough to overcome the behemoth of the National League, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Best Podcast in Baseball 9.05: Pujols 'magic,' pitching inside, and more with former Cardinals reliever Brad Thompson May 07, 2021

Former Cardinals reliever and current broadcaster Brad Thompson joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to talk about what he was thinking on the mound in 2009 as he faced the New York Mets captain David Wright after two of his teammates had been hit with pitches. The art of pitching inside and the gray area of sending a message is where this brand new episode of the Best Podcast in Baseball begins. Thompson and St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold also discuss some reasons for all of the bruises in baseball this season, and of course they touch on whether Albert Pujols, about to be released by the Angels, is fit for a reunion with the Cardinals. Thompson tells tales of being on the team when Pujols as at his peak. The 2021 Cardinals finding their footing and what they're missing is also explored. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Best Podcast in Baseball 9.04: 'Crushed' and Reckoning with 1998's Brawny Home Run Race Apr 28, 2021

What are baseball fans, their interest set ablaze by Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa and the brawny dizzying home run race of 1998, supposed to think about a summer that was so electric at the time -- and so inauthentic in hindsight? That was a question sportswriter Joan Niesen, a St. Louis native who spent years writing for Sports Illustrated, set out to ask in her podcast 'Crushed.' What she found was how baseball players on the brink of the majors faced a similar, uncertain and nebulous question, and that Steroid Era's scar on the game is more complex than a few stars dragged before Congress. Niesen joins the Best Podcast in Baseball host and St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss the genesis of her podcast, the revelations from a former Cardinals farmhand who faced a common fork in his career -- to use PEDs, or not -- and her own personal reckoning with the summer that captivated her imagination as a baseball fan. 'Crushed' is a seven-part series produced by Religion of Sports and PRX and it is available wherever you find podcasts. So is BPIB. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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