Best Podcast in Baseball

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.

With St. Louis still buzzing after a rousing weekend as host for the 100th PGA Championship, the Cardinals return home a far different team than the one that left. The bullpen is in sync, the offense has a knack for timing, and they have a foothold (finally) in the playoff race. Really. St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson and baseball writer Derrick Goold discuss the reasons behind the turnaround, with birds, helicopters, and police sirens as the calming soundtrack behind them. Has new manager Mike Shildt brought a different Zen to the clubhouse -- or is it something else? Something more positive? Patrick Wisdom's promotion, Tyson Ross' presence, and what it will take to remove the interim tag from Shildt's title are also discussed. The Best Podcast in Baseball is brought to you weekly by Lumberlend Co., available at Lumberlend.com.

Bring on the youngsters. With the trade deadline in the rear-view mirror and the Cardinals plotting a course for the future by keeping one eye trained on who can help for 2019, the Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Lumberlend Co., looks at the fallout from moves that brought in a bunch of young, minor-league players and shipped out players, like center fielder Tommy Pham. The Cardinals sold a bit, bought a bit, and continue to be a bit of a riddle. St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold and sports columnist Ben Frederickson discuss what's best for the outfield as Harrison Bader and Tyler O'Neill arrive, what's needed from the new-look bullpen, and whether this era of auditions -- and the adrenaline that invites -- has any staying power. The two writers also touch on the NFL, decorative sleeves, the run-prevention solution, and, eventually, Chris Archer making his Bucs debut. This podcast has a slow burn before the real debate begins. The BPIB is brought to you weekly from StlToday.com and by Lumberlend Co.

After spending a weekend at Wrigley Field crammed into the press box, St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Ben Frederickson and baseball writer Derrick Goold had to put some distance between themselves before they could actually host a podcast. With Goold in Cincinnati (and apparently underground) and Frederickson at the StlToday.com Podcast Studios in St. Louis, the hosts of a brand new Best Podcast in Baseball bury the lede. After talking about Daniel Poncedeleon's no-hit debut, Bud Norris & the bullpen's issues, and the trade deadline, the BPIB crew finally get to the biggest midseason story in years around the Cardinals: The firing of manager Mike Matheny and promotion of Mike Shildt into the role. Everything is on the table. Changes to tone, changes to strategy, and changes to the dynamic with the media -- all explored in the best podcast-way possible.

In this special edition of the Best Podcast in Baseball, brought to you weekly by Lumberlend, Co., St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold cobbles together two conversations had over the past week with other members of the traveling media party, Erica Weston of Fox Sports Midwest and Mark Saxon of The Athletic. Weston, new to St. Louis, discusses her role with the broadcasts, her early feel for the team, and what it has been like coming from a 30,000-foot view of all things Cardinals into the thick of it, especially as The Fowler Dilemma dominated conversation all week. Saxon, who has covered the team for several years and is a veteran of the baseball road, joins the second portion of the podcast to discuss solutions for the Cardinals and their veteran that they signed to be their leadoff hitter and center fielder, and now who is neither of those things. Is there a fix? Or is this headed for a separation? Seagulls make several appearances.

The Cardinals faced their nadir during a loss at Milwaukee, and it was their response to that "embarrassing" loss that may come to define the 2018 club and its aspirations as a contender. In a brand new Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Lumberlend,Co, St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson joins baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss the rapid turnaround the Cardinals made from a loss one day to a four-game, snappy winning streak that started two days later. Was it an indication of a surge ahead? Was it a blip? Who decides? The two writers discuss the oncoming innings concern, the trade deadline, and, yes, whether the Cardinals won their 10,000th game this past week or if one view of history gets i the way of the accepted view of history. Onward. Enjoy.

From the broadcast booth overlooking Miller Park, Fox Sports Midwest's Dan McLaughlin joins Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold for a brand new Best Podcast in Baseball, brought to you weekly by Lumberlend, Co., and they discuss just what happened to the Cardinals in the series opener against the Milwaukee Brewers. It was a mess. McLaughlin and Goold, who have attended and covered more than a 1,000 Cardinals games together, unravel a stunning loss for the local nine at a difficult time -- and what that could mean for the team as the trade deadline nears and whether it signals the possibility they will be a seller. McLaughlin talks about his new venture: Scoops with Danny Mac. The web site boasts several different forms of storytelling and is a clear and present threat to the BPIB. Bullpen use, lineup overhaul, and the bat the Cardinals need to transform the season is also discussed, as are some of the finest stories "Scoops" McLaughlin has had a chance to tell. The Best Podcast in Baseball, a weekly endeavor from the Cardinals beat, is a production of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch and StlToday.com.

It's become a traditional mile marker for the season -- at least when it comes to local St. Louis media. Flag Day. The first day of the baseball season when it's appropriate to check the standings. And that tradition started with one man. Mr. Flag Day. KMOX's Mike Claiborne. In a brand new Best Podcast in Baseball, brought to by Lumberlend Co., St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold visits with Claiborne -- and one squeaky ballpark door -- to get a state of the Cardinals union as Flag Day arrives. (This was almost, almost episode 6.14. Imagine that?) Claiborne has a one word description for what he expects to see when he checks out the standings on Flag Day -- and that's about the only easy answer when it comes to the Cardinals and their spot in the standings. The podcast ends with some Red Schoendienst stories as St. Louis prepares to memorialize "Mr. Cardinal."

In a special edition (read: we got carried away for 80 minutes) of the Best Podcast in Baseball, brought to you weekly by Lumberlend Co., 101.1 ESPN/WXOS host Kevin Wheeler joins St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss the biggest source of angst for Cardinals fans, the standards set by the organization, and the big difference between their two roles in the media landscape. Although often lumped together, the two members of the media have vastly different jobs. A boxing metaphor is used, and then later a bee metaphor is used. One gathers pollen. The other generates buzz. Wheeler's elfin cleats and career as a backup catcher at the University of Miami is also discussed because there are parallels between how we watch college sports -- and how we seem to view the Cardinals. The episode closes with a Red Schoendienst (1923-2018) story. Warning: There is a strong defense of beat writers and their role in the media ecosystem.

Within a span of 24 hours, Cardinals uber-prospect Alex Reyes made his first start in the majors in 20 months -- and then found himself back on the disabled list. A "significant" muscle strain near his shoulder will likely leave Reyes out of the rotation for several months, and that underscores the situation the Cardinals are in: With 11 different DL moves in May and more than 40 transactions in the month, they are not the team they intended to be, and now they don't have the rookie blowtorch they expected to throw at the National League Central. Do they need their better players back? Or, do they need to play better? In this brand new Best Podcast in Baseball, brought to you weekly by Lumberlend Co., St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold and columnist Benjamin Hochman review the news on Reyes and then plunge into a discussion on how much expectations should change because of an injury-riddled roster -- or if those expectations should at all. Coaches are discussed. The offense is questioned. And listeners are reminded that if worst come to worst they can always DFA the Wookiee. DFA the Wookiee.