Podcasts about louis post dispatch

If you listen to the podcast, you know a thing or two about crime. You may like the following questions: Why did they do it? How did they do it? Why this victim and not someone else? No matter why you listen, I bet you can remember a case from childhood that left a mark, changed how you looked at humanity, or made you lose your innocence. For me, this is that story. I had just turned 11 years old and I still remember the look of shock on my mother's face when she was talking about this. The call came through just before dawn on Thursday, October 23, 1980. A dispatcher's voice crackled over the radio, summoning officers and an ambulance to Pope's Cafeteria at 12450 Manchester Road, inside West County Center in Des Peres, Missouri. If you are local, you may call it the White Dove, at least we did growing up. When officers arrived, they were met with a small crowd of employees, still in their uniforms, visibly shaken. Some clung to each other for support, their faces pale with shock as they pointed officers toward the inside of the restaurant. Whatever had happened, it was bad.Join Jen and Cam of Our True Crime Podcast on this episode, “Pope's Cafeteria Massacre.”Listener discretion by @octoberpodVHSMusic by  @theinkypawprintSources:Murder At Pope's Cafeteria by Ronald Martin. https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch-thomas-selvey-an/21186652/https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch-byrd-guilty-of-f/16608221/https://www.newspapers.com/article/springfield-leader-and-press-byrd/80560580/https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch-byrd-1/80560921/https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch-dairy-queen-murd/17396419/https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch/48854693/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-springfield-news-leader-maurice-osca/16349748/https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch-oscelious-green/20674092/"Byrd". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. August 23, 1991 – via newspapers.com."Verdict". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. August 15, 1982 – via newspapers.com.https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch-shootings-recall/19116456/ "Suspect's wife tells of money at murder trial". The Springfield News-Leader. August 12, 1982 – via newspapers.com.http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/missouri-1https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/12/08/Convicted-murderer-Maurice-Oscar-Byrd-has-been-sentenced-to/2762408171600/ "Defendant Said To Boast Of Killings". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. August 12, 1982 – via newspapers.com.https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch-shootings-recall/19116456/

Post-Dispatch podcasts page: https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43 Please consider subscribing: https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5 In the wake of three managerial firings before Memorial Day, author and longtime baseball writer Scott Miller joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to discuss his new book, "Skipper: Why Baseball Managers Matter (and Always Will)". In his deeply reported work, Miller talks with managers, both current and past, to map the changing landscape of the role as front offices and analytics become more dominant and a perception grips the game that, as Miller writes it so well, lineups are being written for the manager not by the manager. With BPIB host and baseball writer Derrick Goold, Miller discusses the evolution of managers in the game from Sparky to Tony to Bochy, the traits that make a successful manager, and also how those traits have changed and adapted to a game driven more and more by data and run like the big business it is. The two baseball writers also explore what happens to game if, as one executive told Miller in his book, the hiring practices and analytics used in the game leave the majors "with a very homogenous group of managers." The managerial aspirations of Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina, and others are explored as a way to avoid that. Miller has covered baseball for the New York Times, Bleacher Report, and many other outlets, and his book shows the depth of his understanding in the game and access to some of the great managers. He watches a Yankee game at the Boone house as Aaron manages; he spends time with Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts on the job and with Hall of Fame-bound manager Dusty Baker at the vineyard. Miller also talks with former Cardinals manager Mike Matheny and gains welcome perspective on his tenure during a changing time for the role. Miller's book is available now. On Amazon. At a local independent bookstore like St. Louis' Left Bank Books. 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.

As a Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist for the last 25 years at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, David Carson knows what makes an excellent photograph. But so does AI. Carson is on leave from the paper as a 2025 John S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University, and he's spent much of the past year studying the collision of AI and photojournalism. Carson shares his insights on the challenges, complications and possible solutions for a world where, increasingly, what you see is different from what you get – and why he sees purported AI "learning" as just another word for theft.

  Near the visitors' dugout at Coors Field in September 2024, Cardinals veteran Matt Carpenter found a relatively quiet spot to discuss his career, his future plans, and the dramatic shifts he's seen in the game since his arrival in 2011 with the Best Podcast in Baseball.  Carpenter announced his retirement this past week after 14 seasons in the majors, and included a six-year run as one of the top leadoff hitters in the game to go with three All-Star appearances and a Silver Slugger Award at second base. This is a BPIB replay of the full episode that first dropped on Sept. 28, 2024. From the original launch of this episode: Toward the end of his first professional season, not too long after he told a roommate Oliver Marmol about his personal and accelerated timetable to reach the majors, Matt Carpenter got a phone call that could have forever changed his career in baseball. He was approached about being a coach, and he was tempted to take it. The next summer his playing career took off. There are baseball cards galore and probably a Cardinals Hall of Fame red jacket in his future that tell how that story ended, but Carpenter shares with the Best Podcast in Baseball how close he came to moving to a role in the game that he might eventually also have. A three-time All-Star who returned to the Cardinals for the 2024 season, Carpenter joins the Best Podcast in Baseball and baseball writer Derrick Goold for a conversation many months in the making. The two spoke this past week near the batting cage at Coors Field, just ahead of the Cardinals' season finale in San Francisco. From his early days with the Cardinals as a spring-training standout and favorite of manager Tony La Russa, Carpenter's career had to constantly evolve. He became a second baseman. He became a leadoff hitter. He broke a doubles record long held by Stan Musial, and then his changed his swing and late in one season led the National League in homers and slugging on his way to MVP considerations. And through it all, a coach's kid out of Texas who judged his production by how high above .300 his average was had to learn in real time as the game shifted to take that away from him, quite literally. He had to embrace slugging. He had to reinvent his swing. He had to reclaim his career. And over the course of this season, Goold asked Carpenter if he would talke about all he learned about Major League Baseball's modern offense and how difficult it has become to be a hitter in a game when failure, already abundant, is increasing. Consider the math. As batting average has grown less important, hitters are being told they can do more with a .270 average and slugging than singling their way to a .330 average, and still that difference is six outs, six fewer times succeeding. Carpenter has some thoughts and offers lots of insight. This brand-new BPIB begins as all good stories do on a road trip with Matt Holliday and Carpenter and the trouble they encountered somewhere between Stillwater, Oklahoma, and Memphis, Tennessee. The conversation also touches on what went sideways for the Cardinals' offense during a season that will finish with a winning record but nowhere close to the team's stated goal of contending for the NL Central title and returning to the playoffs. Carpenter also discusses his immediate and longterm future, which brings up the story about the phone call he received while playing Class A baseball for the Cardinals with an offer he wasn't sure he could refuse. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design, is a 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 “Change the atmosphere at the ballpark and start to mirror the scrappiness and the feistiness and that vibe that you talk about of this team. It is very interesting that for the last few years they’ve had a very stoic team and a very stoic ballpark. This is not a stoic team. This is a kinetic team. It’s time to have a kinetic ballpark.” PHILADELPHIA -- The wake of the Cardinals roll to a series win at the rocking Citizens Bank Park against the Phillies, Post-Dispatch sports writers Jeff Gordon and Derrick Goold discuss if expectations should change for the 2025 Cardinals after they won nine consecutive games and 10 of 11. The Cardinals' stated goal in this "transition" year is to be better in May than they were in April and better in June than they were in May. A brand new Best Podcast in Baseball explores this question: When they have a May that puts them within one game of the National League Central lead and earns them the longest winning streak of the month in the National League, then haven't they rewritten what it means to be better in June? Gordon, a sports columnist, and BPIB host Goold, a baseball writer, note how the Cardinals clearly have buy-in from the players, and next would be buy-in from fans before the ultimate test. Does this team get buy-in from ownership to add what it needs for a legit run toward October? Gordon suggests that the style of baseball and success of May should lead to more fans at the ballpark, and that prompts a bit of a rant from Goold about the atmosphere at Busch Stadium. The Phillies drew 40,000 to a Monday game in South Philly, and they had pulsating, jamming crowds for a doubleheader despite poor weather. The Cardinals need to borrow from some of their rivals, and that starts with having a player choose a singalong walk-up song (ala Bryson Stott) that gets the whole crowd involved and part of the experience and then finally identifying and adopting a victory song for all the fans to sing at the end of home wins.  The Cardinals have had a businesslike and stoic team for years and the ballpark reflected that often. This is no longer that team. The team should embrace that, own that, and make that part of the ballpark experience. 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.

Robert Cohen recently retired after a 38-year career, the last 25 years spent at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Cohen was part of a team of Post photographers who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2015 for their work covering the Ferguson protests. Cohen reflects on his famous photo of Edward ‘Skeeda' Crawford throwing a tear gas canister during the protests, and other moments from his career in journalism.

Post-Dispatch podcasts page: https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43 Please consider subscribing: https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5 "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.

Linda Lockhart, a longtime St. Louis journalist, with a more than 40-year career died Sunday. She was 72. Lockhart worked at several St. Louis journalism outlets including the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and St. Louis Public Radio. In this episode, we listen back to an interview she did on this show in 2019 reflecting on her career. We also hear from others including her daughter, Rachel Seward, and STLPR afternoon newscaster Marissanne Lewis-Thompson.

Post-Dispatch podcasts page: https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43 Please consider subscribing: https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5 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.

Cardinals and Reds tonight have been postponed, and that means we have a full Sports Open Line with Matt Pauley! In the first hour, more Cardinals talk, and we continue that with Lynn Worthy, columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, joins Matt Pauley to talk Cardinals baseball, as well as the Blues winning both games vs the Winnipeg Jets at home, and tying up the series at 2 a piece.

Cardinals and Reds tonight have been postponed, and that means we have a full Sports Open Line with Matt Pauley! In the first hour, more Cardinals talk, and we continue that with Lynn Worthy, columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, joins Matt Pauley to talk Cardinals baseball, as well as the Blues winning both games vs the Winnipeg Jets at home, and tying up the series at 2 a piece. In the second hour of the show, we take your calls and texts! Hear from a variety of Cardinals fans give their opinions on the ballclub so far in 2025, and Matt gives his reactions. Then, Joe Roderick of Sports Hub STL joins the show as well to talk about the Cardinals' young players and how they are doing relative to expectations.

Lynn Worthy, columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, joins Matt Pauley to talk Cardinals baseball, as well as the Blues winning both games vs the Winnipeg Jets at home, and tying up the series at 2 a piece.

Post-Dispatch podcasts page: https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43 Please consider subscribing: https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5 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.

Mizzou basketball is following a recent trend in college sports as the look to hire a general manager for the program. Eli Hoff of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch joined the Big Show on Wednesday to talk about what the position could mean for Mizzou hoops, the assistant coach openings, and the start of transfer portal season for Mizzou football.

Andy and Brenden react to the Cardinals recent victory over the Astros. The guys talk to Eli Hoff of the St. Louis Post Dispatch about Mizzou football and basketball's activity in the transfer portal.

Post-Dispatch podcasts page: https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43 Please consider subscribing: https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5 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.

Ten years ago, an intrepid restaurant critic at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch decided to put a hefty meal on his food-writing plate: Listing, and ranking, the top 100 restaurants in St. Louis. That effort is still running a decade later. Food critic Ian Froeb discusses this year's picks and shares his insight and reflections on the St. Louis food and restaurant industry in 2025.

In the winter of 1973, director William Friedkin released his iconic horror classic The Exorcist, a film that has shocked and terrified audiences for more than fifty years. Based on William Peter Blatty's novel of the same name, The Exorcist tells the story of a young girl who becomes possessed by a demonic entity, and the two Catholic priests who attempt to exorcise the demon. Even more terrifying than the content of the film, however, was the fact that The Exorcist was supposedly based on a true story. William Peter Blatty had always stated The Exorcist was based on a supposedly true story he'd heard while at Georgetown University. According to Blatty, a Maryland boy, known as “Roland Doe,” had become possessed by a demonic entity and, among other things, underwent a negative personality change and began exhibiting impossible abilities including an ability to speak Latin. It was only through the dedication of one Jesuit priest that the boy was eventually freed of his possession and went on to live a normal life.Since the release of both the novel and the film in the 1970s, a great deal more has been learned about “Roland Doe” and the supposedly true story that inspired The Exorcist, raising many questions about the veracity of the original claims. Who was “Roland Doe,” and was he truly possessed by a demon, or just the intense emotions of an adolescent boy?Thank you to the Incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research and Writing support!ReferencesAllen, Thomas. 1993. Possessed: The True Story of the Most Famous Exorcism of Modern Time. New York, NY: Doubleday.Associated Press. 1949. "'Evil spirit' cast out of 14-yearf-old." The Bee (Danville, Virginia), August 10: 8.McGuire, John M. 2005. "Priest was last of three who did 1949 exorcism." St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 3: A1.News and Observer. 1964. "Tar Heel develops space ceramics." News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), September 3: 27.Nickell, Joe. 2001. "Exorcism!: Driving Out the Nonsense." Skeptical Inquirer 20-24.Opsasnick, Mark. 1999. "The haunted boy of Cottage City, the cold hard facts behind the story that Inspired The Exorcist." Strange Magazine. Young, Maya. 2010. Boy whose case inspired The Exorcist is named by US magazine. December 20. Accessed March 17, 2025. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/20/the-exorcist-boy-named-magazine.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In the second hour of the show, we take your calls, texts, and comments on the Cardinals' heartbreaking loss today in Pittsburgh. We are then joined by Matthew DeFranks, Blues beat writer for the St. Louis Post Dispatch, to preview tonight's Blues game up in Edmonton!

In this edition of Sports Open Line with Matt Pauley, there's a lot to talk about after the Redbirds lose to the Pirates in 13 innings. Matt covers Erick Fedde being pulled after 6 no-hit innings, balancing keeping your starters healthy while also not burning your bullpen, and the Cardinals' tough day at the plate. Bernie Miklasz joins us to touch on these questions, and then hear from Mark Emmert from Cardinals Magazine! In the second hour of the show, we take your calls, texts, and comments on the Cardinals' heartbreaking loss today in Pittsburgh. We are then joined by Matthew DeFranks, Blues beat writer for the St. Louis Post Dispatch, to preview tonight's Blues game up in Edmonton!

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.

The fifth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1941 features our documentary pick, Harry Watt's Target for Tonight. Written and directed by Harry Watt and starring members of the Royal Air Force, Target for Tonight was the first documentary feature to be awarded an Oscar.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Variety, the Monthly Film Bulletin (http://www.screenonline.org.uk/media/mfb/997449/index.html), and Colvin McPherson in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.Check out more info and the entire archive of past episodes at https://www.awesomemovieyear.com and visit us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/awesomemovieyear You can find Jason on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/JHarrisComedy/, on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/jasonharriscomedy/ and on Letterboxd at https://letterboxd.com/goforjason/You can find Josh online at http://joshbellhateseverything.com/, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/joshbellhateseverything/, on Bluesky at signalbleed.bsky.social and on Letterboxd at https://letterboxd.com/signalbleed/If you're a Letterboxd user and you watch any of the movies we talk about on the show, tag your review “Awesome Movie Year” to share your thoughts.You can find our producer David Rosen and his Piecing It Together Podcast at https://www.piecingpod.com, on Twitter at @piecingpod, on Bluesky at piecingpod.bsky.social and on Letterboxd at https://letterboxd.com/bydavidrosen/ Join the Popcorn & Puzzle Pieces Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/piecingpod for more movie discussion and our Awesome Movie Year audience choice polls.All of the music in the episode is by David Rosen. Find more of his music at https://www.bydavidrosen.comSubscribe on Patreon to support the show and get access to exclusive content from Awesome Movie Year and Piecing It Together, plus music by David...

St. Louis Post Dispatch endorses Donna Baringer: McGraw Show 4-3-25 by

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/0hfn43Please consider subscribing: https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5 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.

Post-Dispatch podcasts page: https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43 Please consider subscribing: https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5 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.

Post-Dispatch podcasts page: https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43 Please consider subscribing: https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5   JUPITER, Fla. -- Cardinals broadcaster Chip Caray lobbed a compelling question into the conversation he and other members of the media had this past week with Tony Clark, chief executive of the Major League Baseball Players' Association.   Caray, a longtime presence on baseball broadcasts and third-generation Caray in that role, wondered what it would look like if Major League Baseball ditched geographic divisions and reimagined itself along economic lines. The divisions would be organized by market size, not region. Tampa Bay would be free from competing against the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox for a division playoff spot. The Colorado Rockies wouldn't have to keep pace with the wallets in the National League West, if they were in the Plaines Division with Kansas City.   It's one way to open up more spots in the postseason for markets that are increasingly seeing those routes erased.   Expansion is going to make such tinkering possible.   Intrigued, Best Podcast in Baseball host and St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold asked Caray to expand on his question in this brand new episode -- and much much much more.   This is the 80th year of a Caray calling baseball, and that puts their family up there with some of the longest tenured in the history of the game in any role, any level, or any capacity. And there is a fourth generation on the way. FanDuel Sports Network picked up the Cardinals' Spring Breakout game on March 14 for prospects, but the prospects won't only be on the field. Chip's son, Stefan, will join him in the booth to call the game and offer thoughts on many of the players he's seen before from calling minor-league games.   Prospects for the future of baseball, prospects for the future of playing baseball, and prospects for the future of calling baseball -- all in one 30 minute conversation under the son at the Cardinals player development complex in Jupiter.   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.

Find more podcasts from the Post-Dispatch. Subscribe to the Post-Dispatch. JUPITER, Fla. -- With three weeks of spring training remaining before opening day at Busch Stadium and three weeks to make decisions on the bullpen, three weeks to explore any last-minute trades, three weeks to stir the offense, and three weeks to make that first free-agent move of the offseason, the Best Podcast in Baseball considers camp with a pair of threes. Three up. Three down. Post-Dispatch sports columnist and instant offense for StlToday.com Jeff Gordon joins baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss three ups of spring (players who have stood out) and three downs (trends of note), and all of that leads to the one major lineup dilemma looming over the team. Manager Oliver Marmol likes to say it will take a larger room to come to a conclusion on some of the defining decisions of March. This is a look at how those talks could go. Gordon joins the podcast from St. Louis, while Goold is in Jupiter covering spring training for the Post-Dispatch's constant Cardinals coverage. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is in its 13th season. It is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

March has been Women's History Month for decades! But this year, some government agencies and corporations have thrown its existence into doubt. Today's episode is a break from my usual. It's an opinion-editorial on why I think we still need women's history. Badly. This originally appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on March 1, 2025. To celebrate Women's History Month, please support the show on my Patreon page (https://bit.ly/4iqyLKv) for bonus episodes, polls, and my undying gratitude. Or make a one-time donation on Buy Me a Coffee (https://bit.ly/4krigzK). If you do any of the above before the end of March 31, 2025, you'll be entered into a drawing for a $30 gift certificate to the Her Half of History Store. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. Join Into History for a community of ad-free history podcasts plus bonus content. Visit Evergreen Podcasts to listen to more great shows. Follow me on Threads or Instagram as Her Half of History. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a packed second hour of the show, Matt Pauley brings you insider info from Cardinals Spring Training! Two of our three guests this hour come from the St. Louis Post Dispatch, Lynn Worthy and Daniel Guerrero. They make their takeaways from Grapefruit League play so far, and on prospects we've seen in camp. Also, you hear him on the Countdown to Opening Day Show with Matt, but you get to hear a little bit more from Mike Claiborne at the end of the show as well!

Join us for a full Sports Open Line with Matt Pauley in his last show from Jupiter, Florida! Sonny Gray made his first start of the Spring today, an update on Jordan Walker's injury, and many more Cardinals storylines are covered in today's show. We are then joined by legendary Spanish soccer broadcaster Sammy Sadovnik, now of MLS Season Pass, on City SC's first two games, along with a look ahead to a showdown with LA Galaxy on Sunday. Our weekly Bernie Miklasz also report wraps up the first hour! In a packed second hour of the show, Matt Pauley brings you insider info from Cardinals Spring Training! Two of our three guests this hour come from the St. Louis Post Dispatch, Lynn Worthy and Daniel Guerrero. They make their takeaways from Grapefruit League play so far, and on prospects we've seen in camp. Also, you hear him on the Countdown to Opening Day Show with Matt, but you get to hear a little bit more from Mike Claiborne at the end of the show as well!

It's a shortened Sports Open Line with Matt Pauley, due to the Billikens Coaches Show. In this edition of SOL from Jupiter, Florida, Matt brings you Cardinals coverage on the Redbirds' first off day of the spring so far. Hear audio from Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol, and then Matt talks some Blues hockey with Matthew DeFranks, Blues beat writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, as they get closer to the playoff picture.

JUPITER, Fla. -- Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado created buzz within the Yankees' social media greenhouse for driving to visit a couple of close friends and, oh, playing six or so innings in an exhibition baseball game. That is where the discussion begins in a brand new Best Podcast in Baseball featuring host and baseball writer Derrick Goold along with Post-Dispatch sports columnist Jeff Gordon. The downstream impact of Arenado remaining in Cardinals camp and starting at third base for the Cardinals is a major factor in their spring training, but it doesn't disrupt the priority playing time as much as it might seem. Nolan Gorman will still be able to receive ample at-bats, just at a new position. Brendan Donovan won't be budged from the lineup, just to the outfield. And so on, all the way to center field,. That is where this podcast goes. Looking at center field, the big-league bench, the rotation, and the bullpen, Gordon and Goold explore the decisions the Cardinals must make with young players that will reveal how committed they are to the future -- and how the now still shapes their choices. The players discussed include Michael McGreevy, Zack Thompson, Matthew Liberatore, Michael Siani, Thomas Saggese, and center fielder Victor Scott II, who is off to a blazing start to spring training. Gordon joins the podcast from St. Louis, while Goold is in Jupiter covering spring training for the Post-Dispatch's constant Cardinals coverage. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is in its 13th season. It is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

In the first hour of the show tonight with Matt Pauley, we are joined by Lloyd Sam, of MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, ahead of City's first regular season game of the 2025 MLS Season tomorrow night at Energizer Park. Then, down in Jupiter, on the eve of the first Cardinals Spring Training game, Benjamin Hochman of the St. Louis Post Dispatch joins the show to talk some Cardinals baseball in preparation for baseball to be played! In the second hour of the show, Kevin Wheeler hops on to chat some more Cardinals, including lineup configuration, the future, and what to make out of Spring Training games. Then, hear some audio from manager Oliver Marmol. We finish the show with thoughts from last night's USA-Canada hockey game and the 4 Nations Face-Off.

In the first hour of the show tonight with Matt Pauley, we are joined by Lloyd Sam, of MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, ahead of City's first regular season game of the 2025 MLS Season tomorrow night at Energizer Park. Then, down in Jupiter, on the eve of the first Cardinals Spring Training game, Benjamin Hochman of the St. Louis Post Dispatch joins the show to talk some Cardinals baseball in preparation for baseball to be played!

Down in Jupiter, on the eve of the first Cardinals Spring Training game, Benjamin Hochman of the St. Louis Post Dispatch joins the show to talk some Cardinals baseball in preparation for baseball to be played!

JUPITER, Fla. -- There is a sense around the Cardinals that one of the reasons for reducing expectations, seesawing between the words "reset" and "transition" but never once using the world "rebuild," is that the club is trying to create a valve to release some of the pressure that greats young players when they arrive in the greenhouse of October demands. It's as if the Cardinals front office is trying to take the team out of the Jiffy-Pop tin of its usual brand and try something new, trying to see what grows when that greenhouse is a little cooler. Former Cardinals pitcher, current Cardinals broadcaster, and winner of the 2025 St. Louis Baseball Writers' of America Chapter's 'Good Guy Award,' Ricky Horton joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to discuss that release of pressure and what it means for the Cardinals. Horton, who appears on the KMOX/1120 AM and Cardinals Radio Network broadcasts,  discusses with BPIB host Derrick Goold what he'll be watching as spring games begin. The two also talk about what lens to use when evaluating the Cardinals given the youth movement, and finally they explore whether the Dodgers' spending and acquisition of talent is creating a juggernaut unlike any baseball has seen. The Dodgers are likened to the Death Star. There is a stretch of the podcast where the most cynical of Cardinals fans might need earmuffs as Horton and Goold discuss whether a trade not made this winter means a red jacket that must be made in the future. And Horton describes how Whitey Herzog approached pressure and whether there is a lesson from the 1985 Cardinals for the 2025 Cardinals on the power of adopting a style of baseball. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is brought to listeners weekly in its 13th season. The podcast is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold. 

What impact could be felt from Mizzou's latest victory over Alabama? Eli Hoff of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch joined the Big Show on Thursday to talk about the Tigers high-flying offensive night against the Tide, and how they can continue to elevate down the stretch of the season.

Eli Hoff with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch stopped by 3 Man Front to preview Alabama vs Mizzou tomorrow, how the Tigers and Coach Dennis Gates have turned the program around, and how many SEC teams could we see in the Big Dance? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With Allen (@amedlock1) closing in on the start of baseball season, Daniel (@C70) is joined by St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Lynn Worthy for a chat. They talk about Lynn's background and how being a columnist will differ from being a beat writer, then get into the state of the Cardinals. How is the return of Arenado going to affect things? Is there conflict between "runway" and having veterans in the rotation? How will the roster change throughout the season? All that and more, so come give it a listen! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

JUPITER, Fla. -- The 13th season of the Best Podcast in Baseball begins as it traditionally does with a gathering of the Post-Dispatch writers covering the Cardinals spring training and an answering of the 10 questions facing the club as it begins a new season. And what a new season. For the first time in the span of the podcast, the Cardinals have dropped the pretense of contending for a World Series championship and attempted to lean into a new message, a new direction, a new emphasis on youth and prospects and player development just before a new front office takes over at the end of the 2025 regular season. That has prompted a lot of questions. Ten to be precise. The Post-Dispatch's annual look at the 10 questions facing the Cardinals is once again the backbone of a podcast that aims to answer them. BPIB host Derrick Goold welcomes Post-Dispatch writers Benjamin Hochman and Daniel Guerrero to the table at their shared rented condo in Jupiter to explore the answers to these 10 questions: What's the fallout from the Nolan Arenado trade talks? When's the ETA on Generation Bloom? Will defense be a deciding factor? Can a new coach perk up the pedestrian offense? Any room for youth in a seasoned rotation? Will Cardinals really rev up the running game? Any room for surprises? What's the setup for the closer? How will fans react? Can Cardinals being their way back? In conclusion, Goold offers something to look for during spring training workouts as an answer to the 10th question. Watch for a frenetic camp. Measure the Cardinals' strides by the movement seen in spring training. The Cardinals have expanded the workforce for the coaching staff, and that should lead to a lot of instruction and action in spring training, just because they can, and when there aren't standings to monitor or wins and losses to track, consider looking at the pace of camp as a glimpse into progress and development. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a weekly podcast that is produced by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold. It is part of the newspaper's Constant Cardinals Coverage, and it will be an element of the coverage from Cardinals spring training in Jupiter.

H. H. Holmes was known for robbing graves, stealing horses, insurance fraud, and... murder. The United States' first serial killer allegedly had up to 200 victims fall prey to the soundproof rooms, secret passages, trapdoors, acid vats, pits of quicklime, gas chambers, and crematorium in his 'Murder Castle'.   Twitter and Instagram - @biarpodcast Facebook - Bug in a Rug Email us your ideas at biarpodcast@gmail.com   Sources: Did Serial Killer H.H. Holmes Really Build a ‘Murder Castle'? | HISTORY The Enduring Mystery of H.H. Holmes, America's 'First' Serial Killer | Smithsonian Exhumation confirms gravesite of notorious Chicago serial killer H.H. Holmes - Chicago Tribune H.H. Holmes: Biography, Serial Killer, Murderer H.H. Holmes - Crime Museum H. H. Holmes - Wikipedia Mass murderer Dr H H Holmes: The story of the Chicago Murder Castle, plus Benjamin Pitezel & his other victims - Click Americana Michigan Today » A double dose of the macabre Murder Castle ‑ H.H. Holmes, Chicago World's Fair & Layout | HISTORY New Master List of HH Holmes Victims – Mysterious Chicago St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Holmes selling Mortgaged Goods - Newspapers.com™ The Trial of Herman W. Mudgett Alias H.H. Holmes for the Murder of Benjamin ... - Herman W. Mudgett - Google Books  

On the eve of his first major-league spring training with the St. Louis Cardinals, top prospect JJ Wetherholt joins the Best Podcast in Baseball for a discussion about his preparation, his health, his strides as a pro, his goals at shortstop, and his of a new technology to learn more about reaction time. He also details the trouble with the water temp in Florida. Wetherholt is a "brand ambassador" for Pison, a Boston-based biotech company that is launching a new product and expanded studies in baseball to help with reaction-time measurements and decision-making development. Wetherholt spoke about Pison and much more with St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold for an article and this companion podcast.  The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is available weekly wherever you find your podcasts and its a fixture of the constant Cardinals coverage at StlToday.com. A production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and host Derrick Goold, BPIB is approaching its 13th year as the leading podcast about baseball in St. Louis and the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Hot Stove needs a spark, and the Best Podcast in Baseball has flint ready to strike steel. The forecast calls for a flurry of moves in Major League Baseball before next month's arrival of spring training, and big reason for that isn't market cooling. After the brief, jubilant sparks of signings around the annual winter meetings, the free-agent market has gone cold, and the Cardinals have had difficult finding a trade partner for Nolan Arenado as a result. Does Major League Baseball need a winter deadline for transactions to spur moves, to grab the headlines? St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold and sports columnist Jeff Gordon discuss how creating a signing deadline in the offseason would change the pace of free agency and possibly benefit. The two writers discuss the history of baseball's deadline-less offseason, compare to other leagues with their frenzy of signings in a allowed window, and explore when and how a deadline would work for a sport that has long defined itself by just always being there, even if being there means being in the background. Goold wonders if a winter deadline might shake owners from their methodical, ruminating, risk-adverse approaches by limiting the time they have to marinate over moves and talks themselves out of it. The podcast explores the Chicago Cubs moves and how the Wrigley Astros will tilt the NL Central, Major League Baseball's most forgiving division. The discussion touches on whether the Cardinals would be the division favorite if they made the moves for outfielder Kyle Tucker and reliever Ryan Pressly that the Cubs did. And finally, the podcast concludes with a suggestion -- really, a solution -- that blends all of the topics about deadlines and doldrums into a proposal that's three words long: Luxury tax amnesty. 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. BPIB is available weekly wherever you find your podcasts. Please rate and review the podcast because it is feedback from the community of listeners that has shaped BPIB as it nears its 13th year.

The Billikens look for revenge against VCU at Chaifetz tonight, and due to that, we have a shortened show. Matt Pauley previews the game with Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post Dispatch. Then, we hear and react to audio from Blues GM Doug Armstrong.

Fresh off the ice after covering the St. Louis Blues for a few days, St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Jeff Gordon is greeted with this question to begin his weekly appearance on the Best Podcast in Baseball: Which was chillier -- the Blues game, the frigid temperatures in St. Louis, or the reception the Cardinals got at their annual Winter Warm-Up? While the Los Angeles Dodgers continued to collect a galaxy of stars, the Cardinals delivered their clearest messages yet about the direction they're headed for 2024. They're reducing payroll and prioritizing player development so that they can reconstruct a contender in this rapidly changing baseball economy. BPIB host and baseball writer Derrick Goold asked Cardinals ownership if the endgame of their "reset" -- their word for it -- will require a salary cap introduced to Major League Baseball as it has been in other professional sports leagues. The short answer from ownership was no. The long answer is that there are many ways to curtail spending and penalize overspending than a salary cap or a salary floor. Drawing on Gordon's background in CBA negotiations, the two writers explore what mechanisms those could be, and in the meantime how the Cardinals will turn to Gen-Z -- relying on a group of twentysomethings to return thme to October because in today's game the thirtysomethings are finding riches in the major markets. 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. BPIB is available weekly wherever you find your podcasts. Please rate and review the podcast because it is feedback from the community of listeners that has shaped BPIB as it nears its 13th year.

Is it easier to get 400 baseball writers to all agree on who is a Hall of Famer or 30 Major League Baseball owners to agree on ways to address skyrocketing payroll disparity? That's the question that begins a brand new episode of the Best Podcast in Baseball. Esteemed baseball writer Tyler Kepner, of The Athletic and formerly with the New York Times, joins host Derrick Goold to discuss Ichiro Suzuki and his peers in the National Baseball Hall of Fame's Class of 2025. It's a robust class that includes a top left-handed starter CC Sabathia who got elected on his first ballot and a top left-handed reliever Billy Wagner who got elected on his final ballot. The class also includes Dick Allen and Dave Parker to further reveal the many numerous routes available to players to reach induction in Cooperstown. There is the expressway that Suzuki takes with near unanimous support. There is the state two-lane highway that will likely welcome switc-hitter Carlos Beltran to Cooperstown in 2026, and then there's the country roads that Wagner had to drive to ultimately reach immortality. All of which brings us to the crossroads currently facing baseball. With the Dodgers spending freely and collecting all of the talent, is the only way deep into October through Los Angeles? The two baseball writers discuss the widening gap in the game and explore one reason for the dramatic change (hint: shrinking small- and mid-market television revenues) -- and whether there will be a correction in a few years. 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 appears weekly wherever you subscribe or listen to podcasts and is part of the newspaper's Constant Cardinals Coverage.

At the end of year press conference where the Cardinals announced a pivot toward youth and debuted their buzzword "reset" to describe a reduction in payroll and commitment to development, St. Louis' veteran sportscaster Randy Karraker asked what has changed for the club. It was just six years ago that ownership said a .500 team was acceptable in other markets, but just a winning record wasn't enough in St. Louis, where division titles were the goal and National League pennants fly high. Karraker's question prompted a discussion on whether the Cardinals are changing expectations and their brand. That is the launching point for a brand new Best Podcast in Baseball as host and baseball writer Derrick Goold asks Karraker what questions fans should ask at the team's annual "kickoff" to the season. The 28th annual Cardinals Care Winter Warm-up will be over the holiday weekend at Ballpark Village and Busch Stadium, and three times fans will have a chance to ask Cardinals leadership directly about this shift in direction and stagnant winter. Karraker and Goold outline the questions that could be asked, the answers they're likely to get, and what all of this means is at stake for the year ahead. Karraker put it bluntly: The current Cardinals leadership hatched the Golden Goose, nurtured and benefited from it for at least two decades, and now run the risk of losing it. 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 appears weekly wherever you subscribe or listen to podcasts and is part of the newspaper's Constant Cardinals Coverage. 

"Empty seats are empty seats; no-shows are no-shows," says St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Jeff Gordon. "When you’re just accepting reduced attendance and you’re pointing to that for reduced payroll, now you’re setting yourself up for a spiral." Yet to spend a cent this offseason on a major-league free agent, the Cardinals are banking big on breakthrough seasons from their young players and betting there will be buy-in -- literally -- from fans. The payoff could be sparking interest and ticket sales from fans interested in a new direction, but the risk is significant as the Cardinals could spin into a financial whirlpool that leads to more severe cuts or a complete overhaul once new leadership is in place. In a brand new Best Podcast in Baseball, host Derrick Goold is joined by Gordon to discuss what the Cardinals' actions tell us about their situation and their motives. The Cardinals went 3-for-6 on finalizing deals with arbitration-eligible players, leaving salaries for Lars Nootbaar, Brendan Donovan, and Andre Pallante undetermined for the coming season. They could go to hearings unless there is traction for a multi-year extension. But what does it say if the Cardinals don't pursue any of those? What if this spring is the first spring in awhile without an extension? Could that all be a setup to give Chaim Bloom maximum payroll flexibility when he takes over as president of baseball operations and move on from this roster and even its "next core" players to a deeper rebuild? 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. Now entering its 13th year, find BPIB weekly throughout the 2025 season wherever you get your podcasts.

The 13th year of the Best Podcast in Baseball begins with a conversation about something new for the Cardinals and their fan base, something that hasn't been discussed around Busch Stadium in decades, and something some might argue was overdue. "For the first time in forever, (they're) trying to sell hope," says Post-Dispatch sports columnist Jeff Gordon. The first BPIB episode of 2025 welcomes Gordon, longtime author of Tipsheet at StlToday.com, as a regular contributor to the weekly baseball podcast and puts him right to work on cross-examination. Continuing what's become an annual feature on the podcast, host and baseball writer Derrick Goold reveals his ballot for the upcoming class of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Ichiro Suzuki is eligible for the first time and brings more than 3,000 hits in the majors and 4,200 hits as a professional to his bid to become the first unanimously selected position player.  Ichiro, five holdovers from last year's ballot, and four newcomers, all pitchers, appear on Goold's 10-full ballot. Gordon and Goold discuss the layup decisions and the other choices that forced a look at how the modern game uses starting pitchers and, thus, how voters should consider that when looking at this generation of starters for the Hall of Fame. After the Cooperstown conversation, the two Post-Dispatch staff writers discuss new year's resolution for the 2025 Cardinals, and that brings the discussion around to the team's messaging. How do they sell a fan base and tickets to that fan base without the stars that fan base is used to seeing, without the contending club the fan base is accustomed to the team promising? Gordon has some thoughts on who should deliver that message and soon. That brings the podcast around to its conclusion -- and a potential historic end for a Cardinals' continuity. For more than 100 years, the Cardinals have had an eventual Hall of Famer in uniform. From Roger Bresnahan to Stan Musial, Dizzy Dean to Bob Gibson, Lou Brock to Ozzie Gibson, and certainly through 2011 when Albert Pujols went west until returning in 2022. Carlos Beltran is currently on the ballot and is a candidate to extend that streak through 2012 and 2013, and Yadier Molina has a claim to take it all the way through 2022, when then Adam Wainwright, Paul Goldschmidt, and Nolan Arenado are potential Cooperstown inductees to keep it going. Wainwright is now retired. Goldschmidt is now a Yankee. And the Cardinals actively exploring trade talks for Arenado. If all three are gone, is that streak? 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. Find it weekly wherever you get your podcasts.