Best Podcast in Baseball

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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