Best Podcast in Baseball
St. Louis Post-Dispatch lead baseball writer Derrick Goold and guests discuss the Cardinals, MLB and anything related to the national pastime and the city that adores it.
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A conversation with NLBM president Bob Kendrick: Storytelling's power to inspire baseball with its past
One of the first true baseball dynasties in St. Louis history was the St. Louis Stars, who had the talent to back up the name.
And, at their centrally located ballpark, the Stars and greats like Cool Papa Bell played such an entertaining, exciting brand of baseball that it not only enriched the game's popularity in St. Louis but also informed the style of play fans have expected and celebrated for generations since.
Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, joins the Best Podcast in Baseball for a wide-ranging conversation with baseball writer and host Derrick Goold.
They start with the Stars and the discussion grows from there to detail the NLBM's "Pitch for the Future" iniative to raise $50 million an expand the current footprint of the museum to a campus that will include more items to display, a hotel, and a larger research and academic space. The goal comes back to telling the story of the Negro Leagues and bringing those players and those games to the modern fan with such a strong connection that information becomes inspiration.
And that's where this new episode ultimately leads -- to a spot where legends of the past influence the present and bring the game of baseball to the next generation of players and fans.
More about the NLBM's "Pitch for the Future" can be found here.
In its 14th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.
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101 life lessons from the dugout and a few extra from the CBA negotiation room
It's become book week at the Best Podcast in Baseball.
Long time baseball writer and columnist and former president of the Baseball Writers' Association of America Ken Davidoff joins the podcast to discuss with host Derrick Goold his new book, "101 Lessons from the Dugout." The book, written for young adults, is a merger of baseball, parenting, and life lessons that use the dugout, batter's box, basepaths, and mound to map how baseball is a window into larger affirmations and experiences.
One chapter discusses baserunning on a sacrfice fly and amplifies tagging up to a larger idea of pausing, gathering one self, survey the situation, and then charge headlong toward your goal with knowledge and without hesitation.
"Your mound (is your) high ground," the book describes as an image for standing tall with an opinion at the center of everything.
Davidoff spent decades covering baseball for the New York Post and Newsday, and on his final day on the beat a small group of writers, including Goold, stayed late into the night to cover CBA negotiations between the players' union and owners at the Cardinals' complex in Jupiter, Florida. The negotiations blew right past one of the deadlines, leading to Davidoff staying on the beat a few hours longer.
There are lessons from those events too, and the two baseball writers dive into what could be lost with a missing season, what the owners aim to gain with the salary cap, and if any of the 101 lessons from the dugout apply to the situation.
The book, "101 Lessons from the Dugout," is available wherever you prefer to shop for books, including here.
In its 14th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.
The seams that bind St. Louis baseball and the history of the game itself: A Glove Story
What is it with St. Louis and fielding, what are the seams to tie the city, its fondness for baseball, and defense together?
That's the question that comes at the conclusion of a brand new episode of the Best Podcast in Baseball. Author and historian Ed Wheatley joins baseball writer and host Derrick Goold to discuss his new book, "The Finest in the Field: A History of Baseball Through 50 Iconic Gloves." The book uses art-worthy photos of famous gloves, from Bill Doak's that launched the modern glove to Bob Gibson's beloved glove without a logo, to tell the story about individual players, their gloves, and ultimately baseball history.
The game itself has changed because of the advances in gloves, from tossing pitches like horseshoes to firing 104-mph fastballs because the catcher's mitt can now handle that.
Well, mostly.
Most everyone remembers their first glove and their favorite glove, and some big leaguers go whole careers with only one glove, while others get a new glove every season.
When Masyn Winn finally got a grip on his first career Rawlings Gold Glove Award, he won the 100th in Cardinals history. The Cardinals are the first big-league club to reach 100 Gold Gloves, and the team just behind them is the Baltimore Orioles, who of course used to be the St. Louis Browns. Four of the finest fielding third baseman in baseball history have called St. Louis' hot corner home -- most recently Nolan Arenado and Scott Rolen -- but the all-time leader in Gold Glove Awards at the position played in Baltimore. The all-time leader at shorstop is a Cardinal, Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith, and Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina won three Platinum Glove Awards before anyone else won a second one. Stan Musial was the first to use a style of glove that he popularized and then, decades later, became even more popular for outfielders. Oh, and Rawlings is based in St. Louis.
And, heck, the play that launched the Cardinals' World Series history was a tag at second, not a hit.
And it was applied with a Bill Doak model glove made by Rawlings.
Wheatley, one of the biggest champions of Browns history and a keeper of the St. Louis Browns' flame, considers that question about St. Louis and the deep roots of defense and comes to a compelling conclusion why.
In its 14th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.
Ignition switch: From sparking lineups with 'Leadoff Man' author to thawing a chilly Hot Stove
A discussion the Cardinals and a chilly Hot Stove eventually ignites with this completely unrelated question: How far into your list of the best players in the history of Major League Baseball do you get before mentioning Rickey Henderson?
He's the all-time leader in runs, he's the greatest leadoff hitter in the game's history, and he almost lapped everyone but Lou Brock when it comes to career stolen bases.
The name of the game is scoring runs, and few (if any) did it better than Henderson.
That's part of the discussion with Matt Snyder, CBS sports writer and author of the new book, "The Leadoff Man: The history of, the evolution of, and fun with the greatest catalyst in sports." (The book is available here.) In his book, Snyder chronicles the changing nature of the leadoff spot, from the speedy contact hitters of yore to the bashers and mashers of the modern game, from the tradition of putting infielder there regardless of their ability to get on base to the analytics of prioritizing the most at-bats for the player who makes the fewest outs. Henderson leads the way with a style of play that was both ahead of his peers and ahead of its time.
At about the 23-minute mark, the conversation speeds from leading men to discussing the current offseason and the Cardinals' willingness to trade their leadoff man, Brendan Donovan. The Hot Stove has been sluggish, even stagnant. And that prompts an impromptu suggestion for how to spur deals during the winter meetings with tools already present in the current Collective Bargaining Agreement. No cap needed.
Although talk about a cap is going to dominate the next 11 months, and that is where the podcast hurries toward its conclusion by describing how it's not the tycoon-like Dodgers that signal the lack of competitive balance and economic concerns about the game. The Cardinals could be the canary.
To which, Snyder flips the question: How deep into a list of the most recognizable baseball teams does one get before naming the Cardinals?
In its 13th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.
Do Cardinals need MLB's economics to shift before they can contend again?
There is no bumper sticker, no buzzy campaign slogan that captures the challenge facing Major League Baseball and its 30 clubs as economic disparity grows and the expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement arrives.
A complex issue requires a complex solution.
Or does it?
A brief conversation about the Cardinals' spending strategy and past history with free agency, based on research done for The Write Fielder newsletter, spirals into a much larger debate between Best Podcast in Baseball host Derrick Goold and guest Kevin Wheeler, of KMOX/104.1 FM. After detailing how the Cardinals got into their current predicament, the questions that follow are two-fold: Do the Cardinals need to change their approach to free agency to return to contention, and does MLB need to change its economic structure for the Cardinals to have a new approach to free agency.
The debate ignites from there.
Wheeler makes a compelling case for how the Cardinals needed to "swim in deeper waters" for free agency and a more conservative approach caught up with them. He adds that a team now focused on development needs to produce its own stars. Goold counters by wondering what World Series contenders have developed their star and not had to outfit the roster with free-agent moves to complete the championship-caliber roster. The Yankees may have Aaron Judge, and they used prospects to trade for Juan Soto once, but they also signed Gerrit Cole. The Kansas City Royals have a homegrown, bona fide star in Bobby Witt Jr. But what's next?
That's where the economics of the game enter the conversation and Wheeler's stance that the "big boys" need to play ball for the betterment of the game, and if that means taking less or receiving a smaller cut to spur and require the spending of the smaller markets so be it. Goold makes a suggestion for pulling that off that Wheeler contends would be difficult to sell to fans who what the tangible bumper sticker, not the boring details of how it gets done.
Eventually they agree on one.
It's the TV deal.
Wheeler's arguments that hinge on a comparison to the NBA and its salary cap format require there to be a much larger national TV deal, one closer to what the NBA has. And that is the crux of this. Once that's in place then negotiations about a salarly floor, shared revenue, and an international draft to better balance talent coming from abroad are all more tangible because the largest issue -- the growing gulch between teams -- has been bridged.
In its 13th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.
A Midwest Quest: Searching for NL Central's next champion in MLB's tilting geography
Welcome to the great plains. When next Major League Baseball hosts a World Series it will have been a decade since any of thw 10 teams from the Midwest divisions have reached the Fall Classic. They've rarely had a club get as far as the championship series, and the National League Central hasn't won a game in the best-of-seven NLCS since 2018. Oh, and coming out of the pandemic the small-market teams that dot the NL and American League Central divisions have been rocked by revenue turbulence.
All while the games star free agents gather at the coasts.
With that as the background, Cincinnati Enquirer baseball writer Gordon Wittenmyer suggested to Post-Dispatch baseball writer and BPIB host Derrick Goold that they poll as many executives as possible at the General Manager Meetings to ask: Which team in the NL Central is most likely to be the next team to win a World Series? The answers were revealing -- not just for the task, but also for what executives view as the most likely traits a team needs to win.
The "most resources," came up often as the big-city Cubs received the most votes.
Here is the Post-Dispatch story that came from the poll.
And here is the podcast that expands upon the poll to discuss the factors that got the divisions here, how one or more can escape the bind, and whether Major League Baseball is just going to keep soaring above fly-over country until the economic structure of the game changes. The two baseball writers dissect how the Pirates could augment a talented team with a different payroll formula, how the Brewers may lose their edge, how the Cardinals made regain theirs, how the Reds could make a push to the top, how the Cubs could financially squash the competition, and why they don't.
In the end, one of the writers makes his prediction for the NL Central team that will next win a World Series title.
It's a team that just doesn't exist yet.
In its 13th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.
Previewing next top prospects for Cardinals by reviewing annual Post-Dispatch 12 rankings
Before plunging into the Hot Stove season and the arrival of the GM Meetings, a look at the performances this past season by the top 12 prospects in the Cardinals system, as ranked in the annual Post-Dispatch Dozen. For several years now, baseball writer Daniel Guerrero has ranked the top 12 prospects in the Cardinals organization, but what sets this ranking apart is the eligibility (players cannot have a moment in the majors) and rubric. Each players is considered through the four Ps of Prospects: proximity to majors, overall potential, how prominent and demanding is his position, and, of course, production or performance.
Guerrero joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to explain the process and discuss the 2025 PD 12.
Read even more on his rankings and updates on each player here.
Only one of the 12, catcher Jimmy Crooks, graduated to the majors, leaving 11 incumbents for the 2026 rankings, but there will be some changes to the rankings going into the coming season, as Guerrero and host Derrick Goold discuss. Just not at the No. 1 spot with ascending talent JJ Wetherholt. Though, No. 2 is up for grabs with recent first-round pick Liam Doyle set to throw his fastball into the mix. Also, Guerrero scoops the host on a strong sleeper pick for the 2026 PD 12.
In its 13th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.
31st on 31st: What tricks or treats await Cardinals as opening of free agent market looms?
Post-Dispatch podcasts page: https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43
Please consider subscribing: https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5
When the World Series ends, the roster work begins, and the Cardinals have new staff and new leadership in place -- so will it mean new direction?
On Oct. 31, the Best Podcast in Baseball drops, fittingly, the 31st episode of this season. And it's not meant to scare fans. Although, the two teams playing in the World Series might cause a shiver through Cardinals Nation about how far away the local club feels from the two tycoon clubs playing this Halloween for the championship.
Nathan Mills, an editor at the Post-Dispatch and co-host of the hockey podcast Net Front Presence, joins baseball writer Derrick Goold in a brand new BPIB to discuss how far away the Cardinals are from playing this late into October. Also discussed: What lessons can be taken from a World Series that features two of the top-five payrolls in the game, what pitchers fit the Cardinals needs, and what priorities the Cardinals should set for this winter when splurging and star-chasing seems unlikely.
The butterfly effect of new positions and new hires for the front office is detailed, as it whether such moves reinvigorate a fanbase.
Many words that begin with the prefix re- are used in the making of this podcast.
In its 13th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.
BPIB World Series preview: Can Toronto slow Dodgers' dominance as they fortify an NL dynasty?
More Post-Dispatch podcasts: https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43
Please consider subscribing: https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5
As Toronto prepares to host Game 1 of the 121st Fall Classic, Vanderbilt graduate Tyler Kepner joins Mizzou grad Derrick Goold preview the big game this weekend -- not not the one in Nashville. The one to the north. The World Series.
The two baseball writers discuss whether the Los Angeles Dodgers, who may not be ruining baseball, might just be ruining the National League. The Dodgers are playing for their ninth World Series championship -- a total that would tie them with the Boston Red Sox and Nomadic Athletics. It would also put them three titles shy of leapfrogging the Cardinals' historic trademark trait and overtaking them as the pre-eminent National League team when it comes to trophies.
Author of "The Grandest Stage: A History of the World Series," Kepner offers perspective on the Dodgers' chances while also detailing what this World Series means to Don Mattingly and how the Blue Jays can overtake the favorites from Hollywood.
There is a story about an autographed baseball, too.
To quote Kepner: "Cue that jaunty music."
Kepner joins the Best Podcast in Baseball from Toronto, where he's covering the World Series as a senior writer for The Athletic and baseball writer for the New York Times.
In its 13th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.
Best Podcast in Baseball returns to ask: Does closure help spur Cardinals' new beginning?
Post-Dispatch podcasts page: https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43
Please consider subscribing: https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5
It's been a minute since a brand-new Best Podcast in Baseball and there's a lot to catch up on. For the first time in 18 years, the Cardinals have a new president of baseball operations, and for the first time in even longer they're talking about a team-building plan that doesn't include promises of aiming to contend for a World Series championship. That will likely mean an active winter of trades. At the same time, two prominent former Cardinals, Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina, are throwing their names in the ring for manager vacancies elsewhere, with at least two teams (and likely a third soon) entertaining Pujols as a strong candidate for their open position. And, in the past week, a former Cardinals manager Mike Shildt retired from the position with San Diego, spurring conversation about why he left both jobs abruptly and resurfacing reasons reported in the Post-Dispatch and elsewhere after his sudden firing in 2021.
Former players and old conversations all swirl together to invite the question on whether to truly move in a fresh direction did the Cardinals need a stretch like this that brings closure to the past and signals the new era.
Kevin Wheeler, of KMOX/104.1 FM, joins Derrick Goold for a (long overdue) new episode of BPIB to discuss that and more.
The "just hanging on" kitten plays a prominent role in the conversation.
In its 13th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, 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.