Meet Me At Musial: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast

Episode 35: Treading Water

Another week, another mediocre outing from the Cardinals.  It's been about a month since the big press conference/coaches shakeup and still St. Louis can't seem to put a run together to reach .500.  After a loss to the Mets, Daniel (C70 At The Bat, @C70) and Allen (The Redbird Daily, @amedlock1) talk about the return of Dexter Fowler, why Tommy Pham sat tonight, and why Jose Martinez and not Randal Grichuk is currently on the Memphis roster.  The guys then get into talk about Josh Donaldson and the rumors floating around his possible acquisition plus other related items such as the improvement of Brett Cecil and whether or not Tyler Lyons should be going out there as often as he is.

Bonus: Greatest Cardinal Moment Tournament

It's under the Meet Me at Musial banner, but this one's a little different.  Starting July 10 and continuing until the closing day of the season, four Cardinal blogs will be holding a tournament to determine which is the great moment in the 125 years of Cardinal history.  To talk about this project, Daniel sat down with Noah Adelstein of Cardsblog, Dr. Michael Miles of Redbird Rants, and Brendan Schaeffer of The Intrepid STL, the three other blogs (along with C70 At The Bat) that will be hosting regionals in this tournament.  Each talks about their site, the tournament as a whole, and some of the interesting matchups in their regional.
Matchups will be published in the following order:
Mondays: C70 At The Bat (Branch Rickey Regional)Tuesdays: The Intrepid STL (Bing Devine Regional)Wednesdays: Redbird Rants (Walt Jocketty Regional)Thursdays: Cardsblog (John Mozeliak Regional)
For more information about the tournament, please check out this post, which gives you a link to the bracket as well as a more detailed schedule of what games will be coming when.  Be sure to vote and discuss this as we celebrate Cardinal history!

Episode 34: A Girsch Man Is Hard To Find

A surprising turn of events today in St. Louis as John Mozeliak moved up to be the first ever President of Baseball Operations and Michael Girsch stepped into the GM role.  It was less surprising to Daniel (C70 At The Bat, @C70) and Allen (The Redbird Daily, @amedlock1) that it happened than WHEN it happened.  With just a month before perhaps the most intriguing trade deadline in the last decade, what does this move mean for the moves that are coming?  Will Girsch be making the moves or is it really just business as usual with some new titles and extensions?  How will this affect the philosophy of the organization?
The guys then get into the improved performance of the team over the last week.  Is there hope for this squad after all?  Is Tommy Pham the spark and leader that this team has been needing all along?  What about the bullpen and the starting pitching?  There seem to be changes happening at the end of the game, with Trevor Rosenthal perhaps taking over for a scuffling Seung-hwan Oh.  Will that make a difference?  We saw good outings from Adam Wainwright and Michael Wacha this week.  Can we start to trust they will perform closer to their level?
Also Kyle Reis (The Redbird Daily, @kyler416) makes his regular appearance to talk about the week in the minors and about some of the folks, like Luke Voit and Alex Mejia, that have made their debuts this week.  Allen and Daniel finish up by talking about the release of Allen Craig, the upcoming Greatest Cardinal Moment Tournament, and the news surrounding the Han Solo movie (for those Star Wars fans in the audience!)

Episode 33: A Little Talk With Mo

Daniel (C70 At The Bat, @C70) and Allen (The Redbird Daily, @amedlock1) had a chance to finally meet up this past weekend, joining a handful of other bloggers under the Arch.  Those bloggers got a little face time with Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak, who had a frank and open discussion with them on many facets of the game, including what's coming up in the minors, how the offseason moves panned out, and what goes into some of the moves like moving someone to the bullpen or the coaching changes that came along last week.
Before the guys dig into that, though, there's a week of middling baseball to discuss.  The team looked great against the Phillies, then floundered a bit against a Brewers team they needed to beat.  What do we make of Seung-hwan Oh and his struggles?  Are these losses as bad or as frustrating as that losing road trip?
Kyle Reis (The Redbird Daily, @kyler416) comes by and drops knowledge on the draft and the week in the minors, then the guys tackle your Twitter questions.  They tried to keep this one short but miserably failed again.  Hope you enjoy it anyway!

Episode 32: Real Change or Shuffling Deck Chairs?

In what was SUPPOSED to be a short "emergency" episode of MMM, Daniel (C70 At The Bat, @C70) and Allen (The Redbird Daily, @amedlock1) react to all the news that John Mozeliak tossed out at the news conference Friday afternoon.  Kolten Wong for Jhonny Peralta, that made sense, but the coaching staff shuffle was a surprise.  Will it make a difference?  How hot is Mike Matheny's seat really?  How likely is it that this team can click and start playing better baseball?  Daniel and Allen take a whack at it, but don't promise any real answers!

Episode 31: How Long Can You Say The Same Things?

Another week, another recap of baseball that doesn't reach the general quality we are used to from the St. Louis Cardinals.  Honestly, neither Daniel Shoptaw (C70 At The Bat, @C70) or Allen Medlock (The Redbird Daily, @amedlock1) really have any answers, but that doesn't keep them from turning everything over.  The offense continues to sputter and you have to wonder how much longer the club can resist taking Jhonny Peralta out of the equation  Even that won't help the top of the lineup, which continues to be a huge black hole.  What options are there?  Can the Cardinals make a deal that will get them out of this funk?
The bullpen situation has changed in the fact that Jonathan Broxton is gone and there's more flexibility, but the trust issues remain, as was seen in Saturday's game against the Cubs.  What can you do if you are Mike Matheny?  What should you do if you are John Mozeliak?  At least the starting pitching is fairly solid, including a major return to form by Adam Wainwright.
Kyle Reis (The Redbird Daily, @kyler416) talks about losing out on Luis Robert, the rise of Jack Flaherty, and Carson Kelly's season, plus what it's like not thinking much about this season's draft.  (Apologies if the sound is iffy on this segment--Skype wasn't our greatest friend here.)
Allen and Daniel then talk about your Twitter questions and tell you how you can meet them in person if you are in the St. Louis area this coming weekend!

Episode 30: The Down Part of the Roller Coaster

The Cardinals are tiring folks out.  In many ways--these West Coast games really mess with your sleep patterns--but mainly the fact that nothing really is clicking, save the starting pitching.  Daniel (C70 At The Bat, @C70) and Allen (The Redbird Daily, @amedlock1) plow through the latest games against the giants and Dodgers and the Friday clubbing of the bullpen in Colorado.  There are a lot of problems but trying to find solutions is a different story.  Who should go?  Lots of locked-in contracts make manuevering a bit of a challenge.  Jose Martinez started his rehab assignment, so decisions will need to be made soon.  Will John Mozeliak go out and shake this team up?  Was Magneuris Sierra really the key to it all?  And how frustrating was it not to lock up Luis Robert?  It's a shorter version of MMM, so hopefully it's a higher ratio of goodness per minute!

Episode 29: Rain Delay Theater

Actually, while Daniel (C70 At The Bat, @C70) and Allen (The Redbird Daily, @amedlock1) though they'd try to podcast during the rain delay of Friday night's Giants/Cardinals game, the rain let up just as they kicked off.  So you get a few game updates and instant reactions built into a discussion of the past week of Cardinal baseball, the moves that were made and need to be made, and the answering of Twitter questions.  Was sending down Magneuris Sierra the right move?  How much will we see of Jhonny Peralta?  What's wrong with Brett Cecil?  Who goes when Stephen Piscotty is ready?
All that plus Kyle Reis (The Redbird Daily, @kyler416) talks to us about what Sierra's demotion to AA means for the rest of that outfield, who had the best week in the minor leagues, and perhaps the final speculation on Cuban prospect Luis Robert.  Give us a listen, then give us a rate and review on iTunes!

Episode 28: The Speed Force

While the Cardinals returned to Busch and dropped the first in their set with the Chicago Cubs, that couldn't erase all the warm feelings from a 6-0 road trip, the credit of which has been squarely put on speedsters Tommy Pham and Magneuris Sierra.  Their speed seems to have created an alternate timeline where the Cards are good and folks are excited about the team.  Whether the new one will last or we'll revert to the old cranky folks we used to be still remains to be seen.
Daniel Shoptaw (C70 At The Bat, @C70), Allen Medlock (The Redbird Daily, @amedlock1), and Kyle Reis (The Redbird Daily, @kyler416) talk about all the excitement and intrigue that the promotions brought with them along with some of the other issues that the week contained.  Can Brett Cecil ever get anyone out?  How strange is it to wonder if Kolten Wong will ever have a day off?  Is Adam Wainwright just a five inning pitcher?  The guys then talk about what Derrick Goold refers to as "roster angst" and try to figure out what might happen as folks start returning from the disabled list.
In the minors report, the debate continues about how to say Luis Robert, but there's no debate on the Cardinals' interest.  This seems to be moving toward its endgame--with St. Louis be the last one standing?  The guys also talk about Daniel Poncedeleon's scary injury, the week that was in the minors, and who to watch on the Springfield club.  Plenty of great conversation here for Cardinal fans!  Be sure to give us a review when you are done!

Episode 27: Muddling Along

It's another week of Cardinal baseball and it's still tough to tell what we have in this team.  Or perhaps it's more that we don't like the answer we keep coming up with.  Daniel Shoptaw (C70 At The Bat, @C70) and Allen Medlock (The Redbird Daily, @amedlock1) tackle a mixed few games for the Cards, who lost three of five and had yet another rainout to contend with.  Not only that, but they lose Stephen Piscotty and possibly Dexter Fowler.  What does that mean for the team?  Are we out of the woods since Fowler isn't on the DL?  What does the future hold for Jhonny Peralta, who is beginning his rehab assignment?
All that plus Kyle Reis talks about the month of April in the minors and the guys tackle your Twitter questions, including those that pay homage to Star Wars Day!