I was 22 years old for Game 6 of the 2011 World Series, a few months out of college in an era that will inevitably cultivate cultural nostalgia but for which I feel little warmth. We were still in the throes of the Great Recession, I was working lousy hours in a call center because…
An alternate history: What if the Cardinals hadn’t made the Marcell Ozuna trade?
In terms of pure results, steeped entirely in hindsight, the worst trade that the St. Louis Cardinals have made in the twenty-first century, by a mile, was on December 13, 2017, when the Cardinals acquired outfielder Marcell Ozuna from the Miami Marlins in exchange for four prospects. The prospects, at the time, felt minor--the one…
Willie and Bill
An underrated part of the single most significant story in the history of professional baseball, Jackie Robinson's integration of the Brooklyn Dodgers and the National League on April 15, 1947, is that the man who broke baseball's color barrier was also a transcendent talent. The headline is not that Jackie Robinson was a Hall of…
The incorporation of Negro Leagues statistics has enriched our appreciation of St. Louis baseball history
Those familiar with the history of major professional baseball in St. Louis are likely aware that, prior to the 1920s, the St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Browns were not typically very good teams. There were periodic winning seasons, but it wasn't until the arrivals of Rogers Hornsby and George Sisler that St. Louis developed…
The All-One Team Players Teams
As much discussion as player movement has received basically since free agency began, there are a number of current Major League Baseball players who have built Hall of Fame resumes with a single franchise. There are two players, Mike Trout and Clayton Kershaw, who would be Hall of Famers in five years if they retired…
Whitey Herzog: A man of innovation, a man of his time
Whitey Herzog: 1931-2024
How Brandon Crawford could solidify Oli Marmol as the new Matheny
The acquisition of Brandon Crawford by the St. Louis Cardinals is simultaneously the funniest possible transaction and a completely defensible one. Acquiring a thirty-seven year-old, a fifth acquisition this off-season of a player who was born in the 1980s, is a deeply funny way of leaning into their own bit, and bringing in a guy…
Nick Saban, Bill Belichick, the St. Louis Cardinals, and the importance of adaptation
On Wednesday afternoon, news broke that the greatest coach in the history of college football was retiring. On Thursday morning, news broke that the greatest coach in the history of professional football was retiring (or possibly being retired, but he will no longer be coaching regardless). These are not stories related to the St. Louis…
The ones that got away
The thing that really stands out when one watches highlights of José Adolis García, as he was known at the time, during his time as a St. Louis Cardinal, besides the fact that he tripped rounding third base and the Cardinals were eliminated from playoff contention by the Milwaukee Brewers because there is only one…
Requiem for the pitching win
On Tuesday, September 12, Adam Wainwright won his 199th career game. He allowed two runs in five innings, walking three batters and striking out three batters; these are not great statistics, but he did get 11 ground balls, which is impressive enough. Of his 199 career wins, this was certainly not his greatest triumph nor…
St. Louis Bullpen 