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"The discussion around the Cardinals will be similar to one you and I are having right now," says Rich Waltz, broadcaster for Apple TV+'s Friday Night Baseball. "Who are these guys and where are they headed? Are the pieces they've got good enough?"

The Cardinals reach the nation's capital riding a five-game winning streak, back at .500 for the first time in three weeks, and about to embark on what could be a defining three-city road trip. There to great them is a national broadcast as the Cardinals appear for the first time this season on Apple TV+'s Friday Night Baseball. Waltz will be at Nationals Park with Ryan Spillborghs and Tricia Whitaker to call the game. As he prepared for it, Waltz joined St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold for a brand new Best Podcast in Baseball recorded in Washington.

The discuss the Cardinals' winning streak coming out of a strong home stand and the curse of being stuck in the middle, which one baseball executive once called "quicksand."

Waltz also describes how broadcasting baseball is evolving, not just with the new rules but with new views -- some of which only baseball, of the major professional sports, can provide the viewer.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, brought to you weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is in its 13th season as one of the leading baseball podcasts and among the top-rated for Cardinals conversation. It is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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If we can all agree that teams in the National League Central cycle in and then out of a window contention, then let's begin the discussion there as a brand new Best Podcast in Baseball does with a look at all five division rivals and where they are in their timeline to contend. Longtime Cincinnati baseball writer and Reds beat writer C. Trent Rosecrans, who is now with The Athletic and The New York Times, joins Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold during a rain delay at Great American Ball Park to look out the windows and see what teams are in a downcycle from contending, what team is square in an urgent window to do so, and where the Reds and Cardinals fit on the spectrum.

The comparison between the Reds and Cardinals gets some added gravity when considering how the Reds have a young nucleus of players -- and arguably the most-talented position player (Elly De La Cruz) and most-talented starter (Hunter Greene) in the division -- and yet they're not considered a favorite, some pundits don't see them as a contender, and it's not the first itme they've had a core built to contend that doesn't. That's a lesson for the Cardinals who want to build a core as well and expect to contend -- but there's no guarantee.

An X-factor for the Reds is manager Terry Francona, who came out of retirement to lead the Cincinnati youth and possible galvanize them for a division run they've not been able to make due to inconsistency.

Francona's arrival in the NL Central comes 14 years after the Cardinals interviewd him for their manager vacancy.

Rosecrans and Goold, two writers who covered the late Walt Jocketty when he was leading the Reds or Cardinals front office, respectively, also discuss the popular baseball exec's impact on both franchises and especially what he brought back to Cincinnati that the Reds are out to restore even today.

Star Wars Day is also discussed.

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. In its 13th season, BPIB can be found wherever you get your podcasts. It is likely in need of a new theme song after all these years.

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The Cardinals' recent road swing through New York and Atlanta revealed a team playing compelling baseball but vulnerable to late-game ruptures in the bullpen that led to a 1-6 record. That prompts the question to launches a brand new episode of the Best Podcast in Baseball: If the Cardinals are focused on development in 2025 and aim to develop winners for beyond 2025, should they have outfited the most volatile area of the roster -- the bullpen -- with more certainty to avoid losses like on the road trip?

KMOX/1120 AM's Kevin Wheeler rejoins the podcast to discuss that concept and what role the results of games actually play in the development of young players.

Along with Post-Dispatch baseball writer and BPIB host Derrick Goold, there are some hearty debates about the importance of fundamentals and style of play as a force multiplier not a counterpunch for superstar talent and about how fissures in a bullpen can crack other facets of a baseball team, especially one that already needs a lot to go right to win. Goold and Wheeler arrive at the crux of the Cardinals' season -- how much time is enough for young players to work through their improvements and how much time is too much time to wait for improvements that aren't happening as talent stagnates. It's that last part that the Cardinals don't want to face at the end of 2025.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a weekly production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

Post-Dispatch podcasts page: https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43

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Welcome to a brand-new Best Podcast in Baseball. St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer and host Derrick Goold is joined this week by colleague, sports columnist, and instant offense Jeff Gordon. They discuss the Cardinals’ “relentless bunch” – their league-leading on-base machine lineup and their leader, hitting coach Brant Brown. There’s even a quiz on his catchphrases. The two writers look at the Cardinals shift to a six-man rotation for the coming week. And then they dive into the numbers on attendance in the early series of the season, ticket sales, and whether the dip in attendance reflects exactly the drop in payroll. Will the assertive start by the lineup and this team’s style of play be enough to bring fans to Busch Stadium, or Goold asks, is there something else afoot hear? The Cardinals have advertised a “transition” year, so is coming to the ballpark early in the season less fun because the team is more likely to change? Being there to watch a team in April that will be dismantled by August can be a hard sell.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a weekly production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

Post-Dispatch podcasts page: https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43

Please consider subscribing: https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5

There is a decades-old comic book from Japan that freelance journalist and baseball writer Brad Lefton carries with him and has promised to share when next at the Busch Stadium press box. It features a heroic baseball player, Kyojin no Hoshi, and, in one issue, Red Schoendienst and the Cardinals appear. A fictional character in the comic wears the Birds on the Bat as he becomes a rival to the comic's protagonist. So it was for the Cardinals for years -- two Cardinals teams, one led by Stan Musial and another by Bob Gibson, visited Japan on tours. The Cardinals were one of the first teams in Major League Baseball to sign a position from Japan when So Taguchi arrived in the early 2000s. He would go on to start in the World Series, win in a World Series championship, and be a key part of a pennant winner for the Cardinals. When he met Schoendienst he marveled that he was the same person he knew from the Kyojin no Hoshi comic.

But Taguchi was also the last Japan-born player the Cardinals signed.

They have been unsuccessful or absent in the pursuit of players from Japan since.

To discuss why and how the Cardinals can become relevant for fans and players in Japan, the Best Podcast in Baseball welcomes a longtime baseball writer who grew up in St. Louis and now covers baseball for and in Japan.

Lefton, a St. Louis-based freelance journalist, writes about baseball for a variety of outlets, including NHK and Number in Japan. He writes in Japanese and English about the game, and his work has also appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and the Cardinals' magazine. In the coming weeks, he'll visit Cooperstown, New York, where he's working as a consultant withe National Baseball Hall of Fame on an exhibition about baseball and Japan, and that exhibit will certainly include the Cardinals' tours and other ties to baseball in Japan.

Lefton recently completed reporting on an article about former Cardinals pitcher Drew VerHagen's return to pitch in Japan, and in the coming months, Lefton will write a lot about the oncoming Hall of Fame induction of Ichiro Suzuki.

Lefton joins St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss Ichiro's arrival the majors, his "laser beam" throw, his fondness for the game, and his influence in the huge presence Japan has in the modern game, and not just on the Dodgers' roster. The two baseball writers also discuss how the Cardinals attempted to increase their presence in Japan and whether geography has become to high a hurdle for them to clear.

Lefton also describes how growing up in St. Louis, where he also was an intern at KMOX/1120 AM, informs his baseball writing and his interest in Japan and its love of the game.

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. In its 13th year, BPIB drops weekly and is eager to hear from listeners about what it does well and what it can do better.

Post-Dispatch podcasts page: https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43

Please consider subscribing: https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5

It would be difficult for the Cardinals to script a better opening weekend for their "transition" year that an emphatic sweep of the visiting Minnesota Twins. The Cardinals got sturdy performances from the starters, stellar play from the defense, and 19 runs in three days from the offsenese. Lars Nootbaar ignited the weekend with a run scored in three of the Cardinals' first four games, and Victor Scott personified the three-game series sweep of the Twins with a dynamic catch in the opener, two stolen bases in the middle game, and the decisive three-run homer in the series finale.

The Cardinals put on a show.

And some of the smallest crowds in Busch Stadium history were there to see it.

How can the Cardinals grow a team and regrow the crowds? Will one assure the other, or are the Cardinals entering more than a "transition" year in the front office and actually embarking on a whole new product to sell fans?

Maybe reset wasn't the word after all. This is a rebranding.

Post-Dispatch sports columnist Jeff Gordon joins Best Podcast in Baseball host Derrick Goold to discuss the first four games of the Cardinals season and how they came a late-game bullpen leak away from starting 4-0. The Cardinals established their identity early, and the question becomes whether they can maintain it to be competitive in the National League Central. But that isn't the only question. Competitive is quaint. Competitive is the expectation. Moving merch is essential. Will a style of play be enough? Will winning be enough? After several years of selling nostalgia to fans, the Cardinals need more than a clear message about the future.

They need a brand new way to market the team.

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. In its 13th year, BPIB drops weekly and is eager to hear from listeners about what it does well and what it can do better. Yes, we're especially talking to you -- the listener we have in Ireland.

Post-Dispatch podcasts page: https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43
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When the rain clears on opening day, the Cyldesdales, red jackets, and 2025 Cardinals will take center stage in St. Louis for what's become a civic holiday. And yet, outside of the pomp of the opener, the real circumstance facing the Cardinals entering the regular season is how they've faded from relevance in the National League and NL Central.

ESPN baseball writer Jesse Rogers, in town to cover the Cardinals' opener against the Minnesota Twins, joins the Best Podcast in Baseball and host Derrick Goold to discuss a national perspective on the Cardinals and the curious case of their "transition." For a youth movement, the Cardinals don't have a rookie on their opening roster for the first time since 2007. For a "reset," the roster is more of a copy -- with 25 of the 26 players on the active roster returning from 2024.

The duality of the Cardinals' dilemma is as clear as the rain delaying the opener.

Rogers also discusses what it will take for the Cardinals to elbow their way into the NL Central race. The two writers pick their division champ for the NL Central. And Roger gets a peek into how rivals see Cardinals executive John Mozeliak as he arrives at his final opening day in charge of baseball operations in St. Louis.

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. The podcast is in its 13th season and welcomes feedback on why you listen and what you'd like to hear next.

While typing the introduction to a brand new episode of Best Podcast in Baseball, I'm sitting in the press box at Clover Park in Port St. Lucie, Florida, having just watched rookie Michael McGreevy carve through the Mets lineup, pitch around two errors, and finish his impressive spring trianing with five scoreless innings.

Meanwhile, down in Jupiter, Florida, Victor Scott II has homered. Again.

McGreevy and Scott personify the decision the Cardinals are going to have to make weighing whether it is better for their future to have a deserving player sitting in St. Louis or playing in Memphis. That's the crux of quesitons facing the Cardinals as they crystallize their roster before leaving Florida for the start of the regular season and opening day Thursday against Minnesota at Busch Stadium.

The final Best Podcast in Baseball from Florida centers on that choice -- sitting in the majors, playing in the minors -- and what is best for the players, what is best for the team, and what is a true reflection of the promised "transition" and youth movement?

How they act upon the strong springs by McGreevy and Scott will say more than any quote from the Cardinals.

Post-Dispatch sports writers Derrick Goold and Jeff Gordon explore the final Cardinals' roster choices and much more much in the sixth episode of the 13th season of the Best Podcast in Baseball.

Gordon also provides a forecast for the reception the Cardinals will receive upon returning to St. Louis.

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. It's available weekly throughout the season. Please consider subscribing to the Post-Dispatch at the above link and support local journalism and the constant Cardinals coverage you've come to expect from the only outlet that dedicates multiple reporters to every day of Cardinals spring training and has for decades.