Best Podcast in Baseball

In 2015, Major League Baseball dispatched a group of players and officials to Cuba to host a series of clinics for young ballplayers and test the waters for some "baseball diplomacy." The Post-Dispatch's Derrick Goold, co-host of the Best Podcast in Baseball, was one of the few reporters to travel with the tour, and while waiting through a delay at Havana's airport had a chance to catch up with ESPN's Pedro Gomez about what they just experienced. This podcast in re-presented as it originally appeared in December 2005. From the original: At the end of Major League Baseball's goodwill tour to Cuba, Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold and ESPN reporter Pedro Gomez, two of the 13 U.S. journalists who traveled to Havana to cover the event, discuss what changes the visit could prompt. Gomez is the son of two Cubans who left the island shortly before he was born, and in return visits -- four total, starting with one in 1999 to see Major League Baseball's previous trip here -- he has seen the country evolve and senses the biggest change is yet to come. In this special BPIB short (the first international BPIB), Goold interviews Gomez in the cafe at Havana's airport while they wait on their delayed flight.

Revisiting a few favorite BPIB episodes this week, starting with that one time Randy and Jason Sklar met Benjamin Hochman and Derrick Goold for pizza at Pi in the Central West End. A podcast ensued. Originally aired on Oct. 18, 2015. From the archives: Randy and Jason Sklar, the world-famous Sklar Brothers and hosts of Sklarbro Country, grab lunch at Pi in Central West End with St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Benjamin Hochman and baseball writer Derrick Goold. The two St. Louis natives, former hosts of Cheap Seats and current contributors at NFL Now on the NFL app and The Trendzone, wax nostalgic about the 1980s Cardinals and discuss whether the 2010s Cardinals have the same verve. There is also a detailed comparison between the Lawless bat flip and Bautista's show, a flashback to the Peking Inn (try the crab rangoon!), and some thoughts, four years later, on what Albert Pujols missed by not staying in St. Louis. Like the deep dish Maplewood pizza at Pi, for example.

The biggest takeaway from the Cardinals' season-wrap press conference -- an hourlong chat with the St. Louis-area media hosted by John Mozeliak, president of baseball operations -- was how this is an offseason of action, not quotes and comments and talk. Action. That's the agreement that the Cardinals should enter into with the fans, and that is the accord that that media should use to evaluate the winter. St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Ben Frederickson joins baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss the Cardinals opening statements of the offseason -- and what they say about the actions ahead. The two writers from StlToday.com and BPIB co-hosts also explain how a player cannot hide his personality from the postseason. October will find you. Frederickson also reveals his sticky past as a competitive-eating prospect in the wilds of biscuits and gravy and hot wings. The Best Podcast in Baseball is a St. Louis Post-Dispatch production, and it's brought to you throughout the offseason. All of the Cardinals coverage from the Post-Dispatch is available at StlToday.com.

Like that one time The Critic met The Simpsons or when Arrested Development stumbled into Law & Order, the Cardinals offseason starts with a crossover you didn't know you wanted and many years in the making: The Cat Chat, featuring the award-winning Jim Hayes, of Fox Sports Midwest fame, and the Best Podcast in Baseball join forces. In the same studio. No script. No limits. Plenty of regional cable excellence. St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold, host of the Best Podcast in Baseball, visits the Cat Chat recording studios to discuss what's ahead for the Cardinals in 2019, Harrison Bader, Dexter Fowler, Bryce Harper, the entirety of the rotation, and much more. Two of the reporters who travel everywhere the Cardinals go -- one on the charter, the other connecting through O'Hare -- discuss how their jobs have changed and what's around the corner as the team creates its own media imprint. The Best Podcast in Baseball is a production of StlToday.com and The Post-Dispatch, and it's brought to you each week by Lumberlend Co, home of the original bat mug.

From downtown Chicago and at the finish line of the regular season, the Best Podcast in Baseball, brought to you weekly by Lumberlend Co., finds the Cardinals on the periphery of the wild-card race and in need of a Miracle at Wrigley Field to reach October. St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold and sports columnist Benjamin Hochman convene to revisit the sweep by the Brewers, preview the series against the Cubs, and discuss whether Tuesday offers a litmus test for the Cardinals: If they're in the postseason, the season is a success. If they miss the playoffs for the third consecutive year, then it's a miss -- and a big one. Three Days in September could determine the forever view of this season, and in some ways this era. The mention of empty seats at Busch Stadium sends the conversation spinning in a completely new direction. All setting the stage for what could be the final games of 2019. If not, BPIB will be back with a postseason preview. If so, BPIB will be back with an offseason preview. Even if the season doesn't, BPIB persists.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson officially surrenders and joins the Christian Yelich Appreciation Society -- but remains unconvinced that the Cardinals would be any different had they been able to trade for the lefthanded hitting, MVP-ready outfielder for the Milwaukee Brewers. With a possible Brewers-Cardinals/Ozuna-Yelich showdown on the horizon in the National League wild-card game, a brand-new Best Podcast in Baseball takes a look at the gamble the Cardinals would have had to make to acquire Yelich -- and whether or not a fish in hand was worth the risk of a fish never getting caught at all. Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold and Frederickson explore the different directions three former Marlins outfielders have gone since their offseason trades and how all three are likely to end up in the same place, a place they have never been: October. So was Giancarlo Stanton right when he dissed the Cardinals' future? Or were the Brewers right for waiting to nab Yelich? Frederickson takes these questions and asks an even better one, one that will shape the Cardinals' winter -- or should. The Best Podcast in Baseball is brought to you weekly by Lumberlend Co. and is a production of StlToday.com and its Constant Cardinals Coverage.

"They seem like a real annoying team to play against." So says Los Angeles Times baseball writer Andy McCullough of the Cardinals. McCullough joins St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold on the newest Best Podcast in Baseball, brought to you weekly at StlToday.com by Lumberlend.com. The two writers met in the back room of the Busch Stadium press box during the Dodgers' four-game visit to Busch Stadium and a pivotal moment in LA's and STL's seasons. The Dodgers are a pricey team that made all the headlines at the trade deadline. The Cardinals are the surprise contender after what they did at the All-Star break and didn't at the deadline. Between them is probably one playoff team -- and a horse race for the National League's second wild card. The conversation is both narrative (for St. Louis) and cinematic (for Hollywood). McCullough's decorated time as a baseball writer in Missouri and ongoing streak as the Show-Me State's favorite seam-scribe is also discussed, and eventually the film "A Few Good Men" is referenced. You can handle the truth. The Best Podcast in Baseball is part of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's galaxy of podcasts, all of which can be found at StlToday.com along with the newspaper's Constant Cardinals Coverage.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson joins baseball writer Derrick Goold for a brand-new Best Podcast in Baseball, brought to you weekly by Lumberlend Co. The Cardinals converged on the nation's capital during a bizarre, exhausting week in politics and had some consternation all their own: Who shall handle the ninth? In the three games against Washington at Nationals Park, the Cardinals used three different pitchers to try and hold a lead in the ninth inning and end the game. Bud Norris struggled, and rookie Jordan Hicks and veteran Carlos Martinez had their cracks at closer, all while the veteran who was supposed to be the Cardinals' closer -- $14 million says so -- Greg Holland looked on, from the opposing team's bullpen. Frederickson and Goold run through the Cardinals options and how similar this situation is to past teams. Adam Wainwright's return to the rotation, the politics of low attendance, and the first annual BPIB NFL picks are also discussed. Frederickson takes a stand on the ongoing Ozuna-Yelich debate. The Best Podcast in Baseball is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and it can be found along with all of the Constant Cardinals Coverage on StlToday.com.

Annually, they are the lions of February -- the team stacked with stars in all the right places at all the right ages with all the right awards -- and yet here the Washington Nationals are, again, on the brink of disappointment. To understand the culture of the club, its ability to generate excitement and headlines but not championships, Washington Post baseball writer Chelsea Janes joins the Best Podcast in Baseball for a discussion with host Derrick Goold, of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Nationals hover around .500 and must now think about life after Bryce Harper and the possibility they've missed capitalizing -- ahem -- on the best years of Max Scherzer's career. Also discussed is what it's like to cover sports for a newspaper alive and electrified by political coverage and if that means there are certain verbs that cannot be used in sports stories. The Best Podcast in Baseball, an StLToday.com venture, is brought to you weekly by Lumberlend, Co.

An object in motion tends to stay in motion and the St. Louis Cardinals, after four months of idling and wandering, are in motion. Hours before Mike Shildt's club completed a sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium, St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold, host of the Best Podcast in Baseball, spoke with Cardinals broadcaster Ricky Horton in the Dodger Stadium press box. The two talk about the similarities between the culture of the Dodgers and Cardinals and contrast the directions the two clubs seemed to be headed in the series. The Best Podcast in Baseball is brought to you weekly by Lumberlend, Co. The BPIB is not at rest, even when acted upon by an outside force.