On Thursday, Nolan Arenado hit a go-ahead two-run home run in his first home game as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals. As often happens at Busch Stadium, the roaring crowd demanded that Arenado, following his return to the Cardinals' dugout, hop back out and salute the crowd. He did, the crowd got excited…
Today is Opening Day in Major League Baseball, a day which the league will happily tell you should be a holiday, and a day which I will happily tell Major League Baseball should be on a weekend if they want us all to watch baseball all day. The good news is that, unlike last season,…
Despite the Cardinals acquiring the bigger name, the Milwaukee Brewers had the best off-season in the National League Central
A look ahead to a season in which we inevitably look back.
For eleven glorious seasons, the Cardinals got to experience one of the three greatest first basemen who ever lived.
The "Yadier Molina can't hit well enough to stick around in the Major Leagues" takes are now old enough to drive
Before Jim Edmonds, the Cardinals were a sideshow for Mark McGwire. Once Jim Edmonds arrived, they were a serious contender.
A look at Adam Wainwright, from postseason hero reliever to staff ace to innings-eating veteran
This doesn't even seem possible. The St. Louis Cardinals should easily have a better team in 2021 than the total sum of their former players. It would be one thing if the Cardinals had spent the last several years trading away their best players for prospects who may never come to fruition. But the Cardinals…
You may not think the guy who used Limp Bizkit as his walk-up song because it repeatedly said a homophone of his name is "subtle", but Rolen was one of his generation's great quiet stars.
According to Dan Szymborski's ZiPS projection system, which projects the performance of every player and team in Major League Baseball, there are 411 players designated as "outfielders"--this is, if you do some basic back-of-the-napkin math, obviously far more players than there are spots, but this incorporates tons of lifelong minor leaguers and players who aren't…
Matt Carpenter had one of the strangest origin stories of any superstar in franchise history
You just had to be there.
For a rehab project from Toronto whose best-case scenario was decent back of the rotation starter, the Chris Carpenter experiment worked out pretty well for the Cardinals
Matt Holliday was never the best player on the Cardinals, but he was a consistent number two for some of the most potent lineups in franchise history
A look back at Matt Morris, who was probably better than you remember.
The Cardinal of the 1990s remained a star well into the Tony LaRussa era
Even if Edgar Renteria's World Series accomplishments with other teams are his most iconic moments, the shortstop's best seasons came in St. Louis
A look at Brian Jordan, the two-sport star who became one of the most well-rounded Cardinals in recent memory
J.D. Drew may end up being viewed as the 21st century Ernie Broglio, but like Broglio, Drew was also a heck of a Cardinal
The Cardinals acquired Woody Williams to be a future Remember Some Guys guy, but instead, they were delighted when he became A Guy.
For his first eight seasons, he has turned out to be the opposite of whatever you thought he was going to be
The recently-departed now-Milwaukee Brewers second baseman crafted an exhilerating eight-season career in St. Louis.
Ryan Ludwick wasn't a great Cardinal, but he filled a very necessary void for the team at a very necessary time
It is impossible to discuss Darryl Kile without discussing his death, but it is malpractice to discuss Darryl Kile without discussing his life.
Tommy Pham, by sheer force of will, had one of the highest peaks for the last quarter-century of the Cardinals
Although not regarded as an ascending prospect, Paul DeJong became a defining example of the last quarter-century of Cardinals Devil Magic.
He was never the team's ace, but Lance Lynn was a rock-solid member of the starting rotation for some of the best teams in recent memory
A look at Andy Benes, a player who became a star elsewhere but truly came into his own in St. Louis
A look back at the unlikely, inconceivable success story of David Freese
While not especially flashy, Todd Stottlemyre was dependable and the ace of a team that broke a nine-year playoff drought for the Cardinals
A look at some of the next-best Cardinals of the last quarter-century
In October 1995, the St. Louis Cardinals hired recently-former Oakland Athletics manager Tony LaRussa. Coming off an eighth consecutive year without a playoff appearance, the Cardinals were hoping to start a new era of dominance. And the very next season, the Cardinals were one game away from the World Series. After building a 3-1 lead…
PECOTA says they won't, but PECOTA is also always wrong
The St. Louis Cardinals' signing of Dexter Fowler in the 2016-17 off-season will not exactly go down as one of the most prudent free agent signings of all-time, but at the end of the day, Dexter Fowler did fill a role for the Cardinals. Maybe not a $16.5 million per season role, but a role…
He may not be as synonymous with the Cardinals as Yadier Molina or Adam Wainwright, but Kolten Wong is an indispensable part of Cardinals lore
Maybe at some point in the near future, I will wax poetic about what Kolten Wong means in the story of the St. Louis Cardinals. He was, after all, on the Cardinals for parts of eight seasons, won a pair of Gold Gloves, and has a postseason walk-off home run to his name, so while…
It wasn't long ago that Matt Carpenter was an MVP candidate. In 2018, the Cardinals third baseman-turned-second baseman-turned third baseman-turned first baseman-turned third baseman went on an offensive tear that St. Louis baseball fans hadn't seen since Albert Pujols (or possibly Pete Kozma in 2012, I don't really remember). Despite beginning and, to a lesser…
After years of rumors that would have seen them fleeced, the Cardinals were patient and made a sensible trade
If Curt Schilling doesn't want to be on the Hall of Fame ballot, let's replace him with somebody who would enjoy it
A look at the greatest players under all 27 presidents of the Professional Baseball Era, plus predictions on the best of the next one
You probably weren't alive the last time the Cardinals didn't have a credible Hall of Fame candidate on their roster. That may be coming soon.
We know what the San Diego Padres want to be. We know, for better or worse, what the Tampa Bay Rays want to be. But what are the Cardinals?
The top of the Hall of Fame ballot for 2021 is filled with feel-bad stories. Scott Rolen is a refreshing exception to that.
You may have noticed that this is my first time weighing in on a moment which has now passed—whether the St. Louis Cardinals should pick up a $12.5 million option for 2021 on the contract of second baseman Kolten Wong, which it was revealed this afternoon that the Cardinals were not going to do. And…
Justin Turner has offered a spot-on metaphor for the lie Major League Baseball fed us in 2020.
Do you remember Bo Hart? I remember Bo Hart. I could never forget Bo Hart. Bodhi J. Hart was a 26 year-old second baseman, four years removed from being a 33rd round draft pick, languishing in the minor leagues for the St. Louis Cardinals organization when, in 2003, an injury to Miguel Cairo forced the…
I always viewed Bob Gibson as the first modern baseball player. Like all St. Louis Cardinals fans, I grew up revering Stan Musial, even though I had never seen him play. Not only had I never seen him play, but I couldn't even comprehend the idea that he really did play. He seemed like an…
He entered the season as the ace. By many measures, he was the team's best pitcher in 2020. Why is Jack Flaherty being relegated to Game 3?
We are at least half a decade removed from the peak of people hating the St. Louis Cardinals. Also, the Cardinals were better from 2011 through 2015 than they were from 2016 through 2020. I wonder if the two are related. Probably not. They probably just managed to overcome the objectively bad and evil things…
