KANSAS CITY -- When it comes to the fragile, fleeting nature of contention, is a bird in hand worth two birds on a bat?

That's the question that baseball writer Derrick Goold asks in a brand new Best Podcast in Baseball.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch editor and frequent podcast contributor Nathan Mills joins the podcast to discuss which direction the Cardinals are going with their pitching, their offense, and their plans for the upcoming trade deadline. Goold has traveled west to Kansas City, where the World Cup has come for some of its games and the Cardinals have arrived for the conclusion of the I-70 Series.

The Cardinals revitalized their lineup with recent moves. The bullpen is undergoing renovation. And all of that happens with the August trade deadline as a backdrop. The Cardinals have close to 40 games remaining before having to make a call on whether they'll be buyers, sellers, or neither at the deadline. A lot as it stake with their decision. A seller keeps them true their plan to accumulate young talent to contend at a later date. Neither chooses not commit. And both directions could lead to fan frustration as the club is trying to lure them back to the ballpark and get them to buy into a refreshed franchise.

The podcast closes with a cautionary tale about contention, the potential of which played out for the Royals in the first game of this series and is another in a series of reminders for the Cardinals from their recent opponents -- all of whom have talked about identifying a window to contend, a window to spend to contend, a window when the talent would all come together for an extended run of success. And all of whom have had those plans derailed, unable to take a spark of contention and turn it into a campfire all because they were so convinced the could become a blowtorch able to light at will.

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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.

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.

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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.

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.

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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.

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.

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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.

As the longtime archrivals clash for the first time in 2026 with a weekend series at Busch Stadium, here is what the scuffling Cardinals and struggling Cubs share in common.

They both got to this point thanks to the Brewers.

The Cubs arrive in St. Louis fresh off ending a 10-game losing streak that yanked them from first place in the National League Central to last place, and the Cardinals slide home after being swept in Milwaukee. They've lost six of their past eight games against division foes. With both teams separated percentage points going into their first series of the season, this is a pivotal weekend for at least one of them.

Patrick Mooney, longtime Cubs beat writer and senior writer at The Athletic, joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to discuss how the Cubs could go from the high highs of two 10-game winning streaks this season to the current questions at the end of a 10-game plummet. Along with BPIB host Derrick Goold, Monney discusses the Cubs' pitching injuries and limited depth, their center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, and the manager Craig Counsell and his sense of humor behind some stoic answers.

For the Cardinals, this series is their first time back since "tarps off" and a chance to play in front of huge, lively crowds -- and sell them on returning.

The writers also discuss what these longtime rivals, the Cubs and Cardinals, share in common.

They're both chasing Milwaukee.

More Post-Dispatch podcasts.

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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.

CINCINNATI -- The Cardinals continue a stretch of 12 consecutive games against National League Central rivals, and all five division teams will reach their 50th game of the season with a record at .500 or better.

At least four will have winning records as the first third of the season comes to an end.

But is there a real NL Central race?

Post-Dispatch editor Nathan Mills joins baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss the division and what each team needs to do to win the title. The Cubs and Brewers stand out. The Reds have intriguing talent. The Pirates have a wicked pitching staff. The Cardinals ... must continue to win at the margins, and there's a word that Goold gives to that: "Zero Defect."

Besides, the real race in the division may not be on the field at all.

It could be in the dugout.

If the Cardinals continue to play beyond expectations, manager Oli Marmol may present the best challenger in the division to Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy's three-peat as National League Manager of the Year.

Also discussed on this episode:

• The method behind the six-inning starts from the Cardinals rotation.
• How to update classic pitching metrics for a modern starter.
• The invention, in real-time of Skyline Chili poutine. You're welcome.

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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.

Keep your shirts on, the Best Podcast in Baseball is back.

And just in time, too.

Good vibes have engulfed the Cardinals after returing from a successful swing through California to an eletrcic weekend at Busch Stadium, thanks to the fortuitous pairing of the Stephen F. Austin club baseball team, a walk-off win Friday night, and a mid-game revival Saturday against Kansas City. For several years, the host of the Best Podcast in Baseball has stumped and advocated for a change in the atmosphere at Busch -- from the need for a victory anthem to the idea of transplanting the supporter section from City SC to Busch, even for a weekend.

Well, it's all happening.

The students from SFA created that section organically, the Cardinals have adopted a victory anthem, and they're playing a style of baseball that is producing wins. Heck, they even have a home run prop.

BPIB asks, have they found their voice as a contender?

Host Derrick Goold, who misplaced his voice for several weeks, welcomes KMOX/104.1 FM star and BPIB fixture Kevin Wheeler discuss what elements of the Cardinals' success and the atmosphere at the ballpark has staying power.

Also discussed:

• Wheeler suggests that the Cardinals have received produuction from Jordan Walker equivalent to a $40-milliion free-agent addition.
• Goold details his breakdown on the three types of statistics: narrative, qualitative, and predictive. And how each applies to discussing analytics for players, fans, and writers, and of course team executives, who camp out in the predictive category.
• The challenge of development when it comes to a character like Grogu as his big-screen debut approaches.

This is the way BPIB returns

More Post-Dispatch podcasts.

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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.

MIAMI -- Fresh off a sweep of the Astros in Houston, the Cardinals visit the Marlins with a tailwind of five consecutive wins and a fast start to their rebuild season. Does their early success suggest they'll outperform expectations in 2026, and if so should they accelerate their rebuild plans?

That's the question that begins a conversation between 101 ESPN/WXOS host Brandon Kiley, of BK and Ferrario and the Redbird Report, and Best Podcast in Baseball host and baseball writer Derrick Goold.

The Cardinals' rush to five games better than .500 this season is buoyed by defying some trends, such as their negative run differential and their undefeated record (5-0) in extra innings. Both indicate that the Cardinals will experience a correction. Still, they've played a crisp, opportunistic brand of baseball that can claim wins in April, and if they continue to outplay their projections how will that challenge the team's stated plan to focus on the longterm. Will the Cardinals keep their eye on the ball and make future-focused trades even if the club orbits .500?

What message will they send fans if this team draws support for how it's playing, for how well it's playing?

There are messages and actions that the Cardinals could in the months ahead that would find the balance between responding to the way the team has played now while not straying from their longer-range goals. Kiley and Goold discuss what that looks if the Cardinals just move their timeline up and what those moves look like.

More Post-Dispatch podcasts.

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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.