Best Podcast in Baseball

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.