Best Podcast in Baseball

Buster Olney is a fixture of ESPN's baseball coverage, from the blog he keeps at ESPN.com to the appearances he makes on 'Baseball Tonight' to the articles he pens for ESPN The Magazine. As part of the network's barnstorming trip to spring training sites, Olney visited the Cardinals camp and spent some time talking with St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold. The two explore the new spice to an old Cubs-Cardinals rivarly, what made this offseason so unusual for the Cardinals, whether they are still the team to beat or if we're watching the last nights of the Cardinals dynasty. Later in the podcast a Mutual Appreciation Society is convened.

From Planet Barry to Scherzer County, the Best Podcast in Baseball traverses the state of Florida. But first thing's first: first base. There hasn't been a swing taken yet in a game, and already Post-Dispatch sports columnist Benjamin Hochman is predicting that Brandon Moss will leave spring training as the Cardinals' starting first baseman. In the latest edition of the Best Podcast in Baseball, co-host Derrick Goold flips the question to find out what Matt Adams has to do to win the job he once had back. There is also singing. You've been warned.

Few pitchers in the Cardinals' system asserted themselves more as a prospect in the second half of 2015 as righthander Luke Weaver. The Florida State product and 27th overall pick in the 2014 draft, Weaver went 8-5 with a 1.62 ERA at High-A Palm Beach. He turned that into a chance to pitch in the Arizona Fall League and invitation to major-league spring training. The lithe, long-limbed starter has more power than his frame reveals, and during a conversation outside the batting cage at Roger Dean Stadium he and Post-Dispatch baseball Derrick Goold discuss his season, his size, and the stuff he intends to take from spring. This BPIB short is a companion piece to a story that ran Feb. 22 at StlToday.com.

The fourth season of the Best Podcast in Baseball opens with a report from Cardinals spring training on the eve of the first official workout for pitchers and catchers. BPIB co-hosts Derrick Goold and Benjamin Hochman, of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, discuss the 10 questions that confront the Cardinals as they arrive in Jupiter, Fla. Who hits first? Who plays first? What to expect at second? Where's the power. And that's just the beginning. There is also a discussion about an unfortunate wait at Outback steakhouse and a listener challenge for the best burger in baseball (#BBIB). Also, Hochman frets about his quasi-haircut.

In the Season 3 finale of the Best Podcast in Baseball, co-hosts Derrick Goold and Benjamin Hochman plot their course for spring training -- what to watch for and how to watch for it. The two sportswriters for The St. Louis Post-Dispatch explore the similarities between Mike Leake and John Lackey and whether 'Ace Ventura: Pet Detective' has aged as well as sinkerballers. Hochman, about to embark on his first spring training, asks for tips from Goold, who is covering his 13th. There is also a listener challenge and a sendoff to Season 3, the season when BPIB was revived and reanimated and will resume in mid-Feb.

With spring training rapidly approaching, St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold catches up with longtime friend Will Leitch as he darts from one circus to another -- covering the caucuses of Iowa to the Super Bowl 50 of San Francisco. Leitch is an author, culture writer, film critic, sportswriter, founder, book reviewer, and most of all a Cardinals fan. He offers his thoughts on the current zeitgeist of Cardinals Nation and offers a compelling theory for the winter of discontent. That is, he does between long riffs on politics, sports, 'Hail, Caesar!' and how two careers that had starts at the PD went wildly different to arrive at similar places. In short, this podcast has some 'indulgent doodles.' Hope you enjoy.

As part of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Kirkwood High speakers series on journalism, sportswriter and online sports columnist Ben Frederickson joined co-host and baseball writer Derrick Goold to field questions from students about the current state of baseball writing and the 2016 St. Louis Cardinals. The event was organized by Post-Dispatch assistant managing editor Bob Rose and Kirkwood teach Mitch Eden, and with the help of video director Gary Hairlson the whole thing recorded for a special edition of the BPIB that explores this golden age of baseball coverage as well as the choices behind and challenges ahead for the Cardinals. The Cubs were also mentioned. You've been warned.

In the penultimate episode of the third season of BPIB, co-hosts Benjamin Hochman and Derrick Goold, of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, recap the 20th annual Winter Warm-Up and the declarations of intent made by several Cardinals. Second baseman Kolten Wong wants to bat lead off. Brandon Moss wants to be the power bat desired. And manager Mike Matheny suggests his team already has an edge. Do you sense it?