Meet Me At Musial: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast

Episode 166: Let's Try This Again

One week after it looked like the Cardinals were returning to the field, there's still been no baseball for the St. Louis squad.  That looks to change on Saturday as the Cards will start their exhausting run to October in Chicago against the White Sox.  With Allen (Red Dirt Redbird, @amedlock1) away on another engagement, Daniel (C70 At The Bat, @C70) is fortunate enough to be joined by Alex Crisafulli (Birds On The Black, @alexcards79) to talk about all things baseball.  Daniel and Alex talk about what to expect from a team that hasn't even worked out in a week jumping right into a doubleheader, what Dylan Carlson can do and what fans should expect of him, and the strange sensation of having no real idea who is on the roster right now.  There are diversions and discussions along the way as two might-as-well-be 80 year old men discuss a very edgy and untraditional year!

Episode 165: Quitting Quarantine

The Cardinals spent the last week cooped up in Milwaukee due to positive COVID-19 tests that continued to multiply.  Now, with the infected identified and separated, the rest of the team has returned to St. Louis, facing the daunting task of playing the division leading Cubs this weekend without their catcher and their shortstop and on extended rest.  Daniel (C70 At The Bat, @C70) and Allen (Red Dirt Redbird, @amedlock1) talk about the challenges that lay ahead for this team, whether it's the different personnel, the time off, or the crammed schedule that lies before them.  They talk about who is on the roster, who is not, and who maybe should have been.  Come in and listen to the guys cover another week without baseball!

Episode 164: Corona Comes for the Cards

It may have felt like it would happen sometime, but that doesn't make it any more palatable when it does.  Two Cardinals tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, delaying the beginning of the Milwaukee series and throwing a little more fire on an already chaotic season.  Will it be a completed season?  Daniel (C70 At The Bat, @C70) and Allen (Red Dirt Redbird, @amedlock1) discuss that and many other issues coming out of this news, including whether the plans to play Saturday make sense or not.  Then they turn their attention to more bad news, also known as the series in Minnesota.  How much longer will Harrison Bader be out there?  Can the offense get it going and who else might be to blame?  All this and much more!

Episode 163: We Have Baseball! (For Now)

The 2020 season for the St. Louis Cardinals kicked off this weekend and Daniel (C70 At The Bat, @C70) and Allen (Red Dirt Redbird, @amedlock1) are here to talk about all the different angles of it.  How long will Dakota Hudson be in the rotation?  Will the first cuts be two position players?  How will Mike Shildt be able to use Austin Gomber and Daniel Ponce de Leon?  Also, they get into why you might not be seeing Dylan Carlson for a while.
 
They can't avoid talking about the coronavirus either, not with the epidemic running through the Miami Marlins.  Should baseball have cancelled?  What should they be doing about keeping things quarantined?  No answers, but plenty of talking through the questions!

Episode 162: One More Week

It's becoming a bit more real these days that baseball is just around the corner.  The Cardinals have had two different intrasquad games streamed and Daniel (C70 At The Bat, @C70) and Allen (Red Dirt Redbird, @amedlock1) are here to talk about those games and the issues around them.  Are the hitters struggling or are the pitchers that good?  What will the roster makeup ratio be?  Who makes up the bullpen?  Will the starters create the innings deficit we think they will?  Plenty of questions that nobody really has answers to but the guys tackle them anyway!

Episode 161: Baseball Is a Go(dar)

After a bump at the beginning of the week when testing issues caused consternation, the players are on the field and taking part in intrasquad games.  While there's not much news from those, that doesn't mean there's not a lot for Daniel (C70 At The Bat, @C70) and Allen (Red Dirt Redbird, @amedlock1) to discuss, especially when they bring in special guest Ben Godar (Viva El Birdos, @bengodar) to help out.  The guys discuss the testing issues and how concerned they are about the number of positive tests in the early going.  Then they get into some of the things this season might hold, such as how long do you stick with a cold bat?  How vital is each game?  Plus, with the Iowan on board, they discuss all things relating to the Field of Dreams game coming in August.  Plenty of talk for your weekend!

Episode 160: Let's Play Ball

After weeks of contention, we finally have a 2020 season!  Well, at least we know it's coming (virus permitting) in about a month.  Daniel (C70 At The Bat, @C70) and Allan (Red Dirt Redbird, @amedlock1) go through a lot of the different issues and possibilities relating to the strange season.  What will it mean for people like Dylan Carlson and Nolan Gorman?  How long can you let a player work through a slump?  Will fans ever be in the stands (and should they be)?  And how excited are you about this season anyway?  It's good to have actual baseball things to talk about for once!

Episode 159: Where and When? Maybe Nowhere and Never

Another week has gone by and there's still no agreement between the players and owners about when the 2020 season can resume, how long it will be, and the financial issues that go with it.  Daniel (C70 At The Bat, @C70) and Allen (Red Dirt Redbird, @amedlock1) get into the week that was, with the owners' proposal and the players' counter-proposal capping things off, perhaps permanently.  There also could be some significant changes to the game if it does return, which gets Daniel up on his soapbox.
Of course, the virus gets the final say and with all the spring training sites being closed down for cleaning due to an outbreak in Phillies camp (among others), who is to say it will matter what the two sides agree on?  Baseball may not return either way.
To wrap up, the guys talk about the 30 for 30 documentary Long Gone Summer and relive a little bit of 1998.  COVID-19 can take a lot, but it can't take away two guys talking about games of the past.

Episode 158: A Podcast With Upside

Baseball news!  Actual real baseball news!  The First-Year Player Draft was held this week and that means Daniel (C70 At The Bat, @C70) and Allen (Red Dirt Redbird, @amedlock1) went to the expert to find out all about the draft and the players the Cardinals took.  Kyle Reis (Birds on the Black, @kyler416) breaks it all down for us--how good was the draft, his thoughts on the players taken, and what might happen next with the undrafted players.  Sure, before the guys get into that, they have to get into the latest "proposal" by the owners, but that's old hat by now really.  The draft part is the good stuff!

Episode 157: Dark Clouds Gathering

Another week and no movement by players and owners to some sort of settlement that will get baseball back on the field in 2020.  While there's a chance for a forced season of around 50 games, Daniel (C70 At The Bat, @C70) and Allen (Red Dirt Redbird, @amedlock1) wonder if it is worth it to go through all the hoops for a season that would be so extreme and truly a small sample size.  The clock is ticking, though, and a small season might be all we can reasonably hope for.  The guys also talk about Jack Flaherty, whether it is his openness to criticize MLB owners or his fight on behalf of black Americans in this time of turmoil.  So much to discuss (and hopefully at better sound levels)!