Two St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporters take to the road (well, air, honestly) for the wild-card round of the 2020 postseason, and it's time for Ben Frederickson to confess his not-so-secret fondness for the San Diego Padres and their swagger, their power, their youth, and the buoyancy they've brought to baseball. But wait — doesn't this all seem so familiar? Back in 2005 and 2006, the Cardinals came to San Diego for the first round playoffs, and once year (2005) San Diego's best pitcher didn't throw a pitch in the series, and the next (2006) a limping, meandering, 83-win Cardinals team found its championship stride once it got rest, got healthy, and got a rookie closer in place. Deja vu. The threequel is bringing in all the elements of the previous two installations. Padres are without starters Dinelson Lamet and Mike Clevinger, and the Cardinals, winded but not undeterred by their daunting schedule, sure do seem to like Alex Reyes at closer. St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Frederickson joins baseball writer Derrick Goold for a brand new episode of BPIB, recorded at a socially acceptable distance in San Diego. The Best Podcast in Baseball, brought to you by Closets by Design, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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