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After his barehanded play on a slow-rolling grounder ended Tuesday night's game against the Cubs with a stirring, 8-7 Cardinals victory, third baseman Nolan Arenado talked about how much it meant to play meaningful, tense, important games against an archrival. He said he woke up excited, and hadn't been this eager to get to the ballpark in almost two years.

A day early, Cubs manager Craig Counsell said he wouldn't be the "hype man" for the series.

The oldest rivalry in Major League Baseball between two teams that have not left their cities, Cubs-Cardinals was long defined by one team's brand as champion and the other as lovable losers, but that's so Y2K, man. Now the rivalry happens in cycles, and for the first time in several years the Cardinals and Cubs were snug in the standings when they played this past week at Busch Stadium. Does that give the rivalry renewed verve, or does the change in schedule make it just another division series?

Chicago Tribune baseball writer and Cubs beat writer Meghan Montemurro joins the Best Podcast in Baseball for a conversation at Busch Stadium (listen to that determined A/C) about the current state of the rivalry and if it has the same heat in Chicago that it experienced from the St. Louis side this past week.

The pressure is on the Cardinals to chase down the Cubs, and the pressure on the Cubs, with only one guaranteed year of standout player Kyle Tucker, appears to be on winning and advancing in October now.

How should that shape their trade deadline decisions?

How can they shape the Cardinals' trade deadline decisions?

Cubs president Jed Hoyer is in the final year of his contract, and Cardinals president John Mozeliak is in the final year of his tenure leading the Cardinals' baseball operations. Change is coming, potentially to both teams, adding another twist to the rivalry. Plus, BPIB host Derrick Goold, asks Montemurro about his theory that maybe instead of the National League Central rivals spurring the Cubs to spend like a bigger market it will be their neighborhoods on the South Side as the White Sox welcome in a new investor.

A split four-game series at Busch Stadium between the Cardinals and Cubs left nothing settled between the two teams, and the final game of the series (a 3-0 victory and second consecutive shutout by the Cubs) ended with both teams emptying their dugouts to almost confront each on the field. Tempers cooled quickly, but the stage is set for their next week within two weeks for Fourth of July at Wrigley Field.

Will there be fireworks?

The Best Podcast in Baseball, in its 13th year as one of the leading baseball podcasts, is sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis. It is a production of StlToday.com, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and Derrick Goold.

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CHICAGO -- Two showdowns loom for the Cardinals in the coming weeks. First, they face the division-leading Chicago Cubs for the first time with a four-game series at Busch Stadium..

Second, they face themselves at the trade deadline.

Hall of Fame broadcaster and fixture on Cardinals' radio Mike Claiborne joins the Best Podcast in Baseball for his annual appearance around Flag Day. Claiborne has long argued that Flag Day is the first day to check the standings are start making plans on what kind of team the Cardinals are going to be. This year's time might take a little longer, but Claiborne tells baseball writer and BPIB host Derrick Goold what he already knows about the 2025 'transition' club.

Claiborne and Goold also discuss what the Cardinal can aim to get in return at the trade deadline if the upcoming series against the Cubs point them in the direction of selling.

That is if they can fight their tendency for straddling the fence -- never all-in and hesitant to drop out.

The podcast was recorded on the South Side of Chicago at Rate Field before another postponed game due to rain forced the Cardinals into their sixth doubleheader of the season.

In its 13th season as one of the most-popular and longest-running Cardinals-centric podcasts, the Best Podcast in Baseball is sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis. BPIB is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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From near his perch at Busch Stadium, where he calls games for the Cardinals' Spanish language broadcast, Polo Ascensio surveys the style of game, the style of play, and, yes, the style of his calls for the 2025 Cardinals.

The nine-game home stand did not lack for some compelling games -- though evidently there is some debate on how entertaining the opening innings of the Cardinals' 2-1 victory against the Dodgers was -- and that had to be reflected in the calls from all of the broadcast booths. Ahead of Toronto completing a series sweep of the Cardinals, Ascensio spoke with Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold about those calls, about the enthusiasm and inspiration he brings to them as well as whether this team has made such energy easier with its style of play.

Ascensio also discusses the catching history of the Cardinals and the catching present, with background on how two members of the current team, Willson Contreras and Ivan Herrera, signed with the Cardinals specifically because of their fondness for former Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina. The podcast explores why Contreras stayed with the Cardinals when the team, pivoting toward youth, offered to trade him to a contender, and there a conversation about Herrera's future at catcher.

Ascensio's broadcasts with former catcher and former Cardinals coach Bengie Molina are available for every home game on WIJR/880 AM La Tremenda. There is hope from many parties in and around the Cardinals that the broadcasts will expand beyond home games, especially if the club continues to contend late into the season.

The Best Podcast in Baseball is in its 13th year as one of the first and most-downloaded baseball podcasts and a leader among the Cardinals-based podcasts. It is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, and it is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold. It is part of the constant Cardinals coverage available at StlToday.com and in the pages of the Post-Dispatch daily.

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The first extended home stand of season brings two sides of the contending spectrum to Busch Stadium, with the Kansas City Royals in an upswing after some down years that have brought in high-end talent and then the Los Angeles Dodgers and how they can muscle their way into perpetual contention with financial might. Somewhere in the middle is where the Cardinals' must find their sweet spot -- not stomaching the downturn the Royals experience while unable to spend like the Dodgers do.

Post-Dispatch sports columnist Jeff Gordon joins the Best Podcast in Baseball host and baseball writer Derrick Goold do discuss and compare the building of contenders through various blueprints.

As the Cardinals rethink theirs, what can they borrow from each of the teams visiting this week, and what can they pull from their rival they're about to visit -- the Milwaukee Brewers?

Gordon presents a hypothetical about the draft and choosing between the high-ceiling high school pitcher and a surefire college starter. Goold offers a quick answer certain to disappoint but not so easily dismissed.

The podcast concludes with a discussion on whether the Chicago White Sox are about to do what no other National League Central team has been able to do: Push the Cubs to spend like their market suggests they should and now may have to in order to keep up with the South Side and the Sox new investor.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is in its 13th season as one of the first and most popular podcasts about the St. Louis Cardinals. It is a weekly production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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A big, defining topic for the Cardinals' future and their development of a big, defining hitter needs a jumbo-sized Best Podcast in Baseball.

For more than a decade, the Cardinals have had to go shopping for their middle-order hitters -- either by trade (Paul Goldcshmidt, Nolan Arenado, Marcell Ozuna) or, rarely, by free agency (Carlos Beltran, Willson Contreras) -- but during this "reset" year where offense has been a major part of their success, the Cardinals seem closer to having homegrown hitters in the middle of the order to build around. Brendan Donovan, currently hitting No. 3, leads the league in doubles and hits. Candidates to climb up to cleanup include Ivan Herrera.

There is the catch.

Herrera's bright future as a hitter seems clear. Less so, is where he fits at catcher.

Kevin Wheeler, host at KMOX/104.1 FM, joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to discuss all of the ramifications of this question: Can the Cardinals develop the middle of the order for a contending team? It's a question thick with implications. With St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold, Wheeler discusses Herrera's fit as a potential cleanup hitter, what it means that the Cardinals have an advancing group of catching talents in the minors, and whether Herrera needs to be flanked by a fellow prospect for the Cardinals to have a strong lineup. The cost of surefire middle-order hitters is only going up, and increasingly all teams need both lightning and thunder to come from within the house.

This BPIB discusses whether the Cardinals need to have Jordan Walker and/or Nolan Gorman join the middle of the order for their development summer to be a success, and where Alec Buleson, JJ Wetherholt, Lars Nootbaar, and Masyn Winn best fit into the lineup of the future.

The Cardinals, with 10 different players who have at least 15 RBIs, are cranking out the hits this season and they've won 18 of their past 23 because of the depth of their lineup. Is that what the future holds as well -- not one or two hitters that are the fulcrum of the lineup but a depth that goes all the way to the speed at the bottom?

The answer could be the key whether the Cardinals contend in the years they're looking toward as well.

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.

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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.

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.