Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Who's On The CHOPPING Block As The St. Louis Cardinals' New Era BEGINS with Potential Trades!

Episode Date: October 14, 2025

Cardinals trade talk heats up. Will Arenado, Gray, or Contreras be on the move?JD Hafron and guest Thomas Gauvain break down potential off-season deals for St. Louis. They analyze the pros and cons of... trading veterans, including freeing up playing time for prospects like Nolan Gorman and Alec Burleson. The duo explores the Cardinals' impressive catching depth, debating Ivan Herrera's future behind the plate. Plus, relive Ozzie Smith's iconic 1985 walk-off homer against the Dodgers.Tune in for expert insights on the Cardinals' roster strategy and how these moves could reshape their 2024 season.0:00 Cardinals offseason trade possibilities5:28 Nolan Gorman's potential at third base14:04 Potential free agent pitching targets25:27 Ozzie Smith's iconic 1985 NLCS home runFollow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-st-louis-cardinals/Locked On MLB League-Wide: Every Team, Prospects & More🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/leagues/mlb/Follow on Twitter/X: @JDSPORTSRADIOFollow the show on Twitter/X: @LO_CardinalsSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONMLB to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.PrizePicks — Run Your Game.Click Link Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONMLBMonarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONMLB at https://monarchmoney.com/lockedonmlb for 50% off your first year.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONMLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Football season is around the corner, visit the FanDuel App today and start planning your futures bets now.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)#ForTheLou #stlcards #mlb #lockedoncardinals #stlouiscardinals Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 We know that the St. Louis Cardinals are going to make some deals this offseason. So how can the team benefit from finding deals for veterans like Nolan Aronato, Sunny Gray and Wilson Contreras? We'll break it down on today's episode of Locked on Cardinals. You are Locked on Cardinals, your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey there, Cardinals fans. I'm J.D. Hafer, a former national radio sports anchor, born and raised in St. Louis and a lifetime Cardinals. And I'm your host for Locktown Cardinals, part of the Locktown Podcast Network covering your team every day. I want to thank all of our
Starting point is 00:00:41 everydayers for being here with us, not only throughout the regular season, but now here in the offseason where things are going to get real goofy for this team. And for those of you who are new, welcome in. We hope you enjoy the content. This is a show that serves Cardinal Nation and gives you all of the info about the birds on the bat. Today's episode being brought to you by Fandle. Right now new customers can bet you's $5. And if you're bedwind, you'll get $300 in bonus vets to use across the app. So download the app today. All right, on today's episode, we are going to be rummaging through a lot of the discussions that have taken place over the last week about trade proposals involving the Cardinals,
Starting point is 00:01:19 including yesterday's topic of dealing away from the catching depth. We'll also reminisce about one of the all-time great Cardinal moments, which took place on the state 40 years ago in the NLCS involving the Wizard. But we start today with the subject that I'm I think maybe we sometimes take for granted that will just kind of happen, even though it could be more difficult that we realize. And that's the possible trades of veterans like Nolan Aronado, Sunny Grayne, Wilson, Contreras. They got the no trade clauses. And what the benefits of moving them could mean for this team in 2025 to help us through this today is our good buddy Thomas Govade from Redbird Grants.com. You can follow him on X at Thomas Govane as well as read his work at Redbirdrance.com.
Starting point is 00:02:00 Thomas, how are things? And do you have all of your spooky Halloween decorations up yet like I do behind me here in the studio? I'm doing well. Thank you. No. So my family is more of like a fall decorations. We'll do like a bale of hay, a couple of pumpkins out front. But we're not really Halloween as much as very fall.
Starting point is 00:02:19 Okay. So you're not as scary as my house where we try to literally build haunted houses out of our places that we live in. You guys keep it a little more tame, yeah? Yeah, we do. There's a house we drive by to, like, early grocery sports around their neighborhood. And they've got, like, real, it's, it's actually, like, scary. It's not just, like, the spooky. Like, they've got trash bags hanging from trees, that kind of stuff.
Starting point is 00:02:41 It's pretty freaky. We went on a walk yesterday with the pup, and there was one that had, like, a body hanging upside down. Yeah. That's a little dark, but okay. Yeah. All right. A little fun. No big deal.
Starting point is 00:02:53 We're not here to judge you. What we are here to judge is the St. Louis Cardinals, their roster, and what changes can be made. here in the off season. And it could be fun, maybe, maybe not, depending on your perspective, as the Cardinals roster changes that might happen this offseason and the possibilities of saying goodbye to Nolan Aronado, Sunny Grayne Wilson, Contrera. So let's start with who I believe is the most likely to get moved. And that's Nolan Arnato. Now, if Nato gets traded, we certainly will miss, you know, the great defense down there at third base. Still elite level. It's still a joy for a guy like me who enjoys great defense to watch what he does and how easy he makes things look over there at the
Starting point is 00:03:33 hot corner. I think it's still elite level stuff. But the offense, it's a problem. It dipped yet again in 2025. Of course, he had the injuries, but his OPS fell to 87, which is the third lowest of his career, only behind his rookie season and then the COVID year of 2020. So in your eyes, what are the benefits of moving someone like Aronado? And how difficult do you think this is going to be considering, You know, it's the same issues we had last offseason where there's probably a limited amount of teams that he's going to be willing to go to. And he's still got two years remaining on his deal, which I guess you could look at as a good thing and a bad thing. Before it was three years and it was more money. Now things are getting a little cheaper over the last couple of years and it's only two years.
Starting point is 00:04:16 So what are your thoughts on an Aronado deal and how it could help the cartons? You start with the payroll. It takes a lot of the financial stress off the team. they'll have to kick in $15, $20 million. I asked Dan Zanzan, I'm a butcher's last name, Dan Sismbrowski over at FanGraphs, what his value actually is. And it's pretty close to what his contract is. He's at two years, $41 million, $42 million.
Starting point is 00:04:42 I believe the Rockies are still kicking in some money for that. And we've got deferments. So it's not wildly expensive, like it's sometimes being portrayed. But there's the financial relief there if you move in. You open up some playing time. I know next year it's not as much of a runway year as this year was. It's more of like a get out there and perform. We're kind of tired of waiting here.
Starting point is 00:05:03 But you open up some playing time for Nolan Gorman. J.J. Weatherholt could be a guy that we see if he breaks camp with the major league team, starting over at third base. So it's the financial. It's the playing time. You lose some of the defense, especially if you go to Nolan, but he started warming up towards the end of the year over at third base once he had some consistent playing time there too.
Starting point is 00:05:25 Yeah, and that was one thing about Gorman was that, you know, we've been moving, you know, it's kind of like with Walker. You know, you've been moving around trying to get him to learn a bunch of new things like learning how to play second base. And then you just want him to be as good as he was offensively, which, you know, we think that they should be able to pull that off. But it appears that it was a little more difficult than we thought. And you're right. You know, at first it was, and it was more like the throwing errors in trying to get used to throwing it across the diamond, to get different arm angles and stuff that Gorman would have to go through over at third base. But, yeah, after like a week or two while Arnada was out,
Starting point is 00:06:02 Gorman started to get comfortable. And, you know, he looked better at third base than I've ever seen him look at second base. Like, I just never really seemed like a very smooth transition for him. Gorman getting bad on ball is really the biggest problem with him. And, you know, trying to utilize that power that he's got over. at third base. You brought up J.J. Weatherholt. I feel like it's been a little weird that they've kept them at shortstop as long as they have in the minors. I know they started moving him around a little bit this past year. Do you feel like third base is the spot for him? I'm going to make you
Starting point is 00:06:38 get out your crystal ball here, Thomas. All right. I apologize for this. But who do you see as the starting third baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals on opening day in 2026? If it's not Nolan Arnauddo, if a deal is made, who do you got down there at the hot corner? No one, Gorman. I know we've seen JJ Weatherholt play shortstop, like you said, but I think the idea behind there is if you can play shortstop, you can play anywhere else. So let's give him the hardest position, have him figure that out. I think it's going to be no one Gorman at third base on opening day. We need some power from the left side. We need some power, period, and he can provide that pretty easily.
Starting point is 00:07:14 You have the strikeouts. He showed a penchant for getting more walks last year. The strikeout was rate was slightly down. year over year he had at one point i think he was like 27 percent strikeout rate he lost some power there but i think it's got to be no one gorman and you've got to live with the the defense and errors here and there yeah and you just got to hope that he'll be better knowing that he's got a role like hearing heme bloom talk about like well i'm not sure if you know there was ever he was that comfortable you know it was never his job he never had odd job you know he was never the starting second baseman. You had Donovan over there. He was never the starting third
Starting point is 00:07:52 basement. He was just kind of a dude floating around. And I wonder, because I get the vibe from Nolan Gorman that he's somebody that needs confidence, like that lacks a little bit of confidence and can be down on himself, maybe a little too harsh. And I don't know him. I've never spoken to him. It's just a vibe I get. And I wonder if he gets the confidence that comes with like, you're a starting third baseman, opening day. this is your job. Like have at it, you know, go eat, buddy. I wonder if that'll do something for him, just confidence-wise, and help him be more of the player that we all hoped he would be as he was coming up through the system. So I agree with you. I think it will be Nolan Gorman over at third base.
Starting point is 00:08:35 I know there are fans that are going to be like, trade Gorman. He sucks. And I just don't see that happening. It's the same thing. I don't see them giving up on Jordan Walker. I just don't see that. They're both very young. They put a lot of time into these two guys, expecting them to be better players. And I just don't think pulling the plug on either one of them at this point is going to do much. Plus, you're selling low if you trade one of those guys at this point in their career. Like, what are you going to get in return for them at this point? There can't be a whole lot.
Starting point is 00:09:08 So I feel like that's the best possible route. I would like to see on opening day, Gorman, win, and JJ and. second and I want to see Donovan in left field, hot take. I don't need Lars Newpar on my team anymore. He can move on. I don't know if that's a hot take anymore. I think at this point that's just a lukewarm. Yeah, I was trying to be a little facetious there because I feel like people know by now
Starting point is 00:09:33 that I'm not the biggest Newpar fan and it's, I just am ready to turn the page on that whole thing. So, all right. So we've got third base figured out why moving Aronado would be good. Next name on the list will be sunny gray. Some thoughts on how a trade involving him could benefit the Cardinals as well. That's coming up next here on Lockdown Cardinals. You know, most people can't name all their financial accounts or even what they're worth,
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Starting point is 00:11:26 Listen every day. If you enjoy Daily Cardinals content, you can follow the podcast on Axet L1 underscore Cardinals. We're also available on your other social medias like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, as well as Lockdown Cardinals. Thomas Gauvade from Redbird Rants with us here today. Sunny Gray, very expensive next season, Thomas, $35 million. And of course, you've also got the money that you got to buy them out if you don't do the option the year after that. Part of that deal that he signed with the Cardinals two years ago, which when he signed it, we were all like, yay, it's real cheap early on and we'll be able to add more pieces. And then Lance Lenin and, you know, Kyle Gibson showed up. And then we all go, oh, boo, terrible idea.
Starting point is 00:12:07 Now, you know, Sonny, he's been the top pitcher on this team for the two years he's been here. Many believe, though, he hasn't lived up to expectations. They thought he was going to be better than what he's been. Sunny admitted that he might have to look at a trade this offseason, given the Cardinals' current direction, his age, his desire to play. for a contender and win. I personally don't think it's going to be that difficult to move, Sunny. If he's cool with waving, is no trade clause because everybody wants pitching. You know, larger market teams, I don't think they're going to have a whole lot of issues
Starting point is 00:12:40 with bringing Sonny on for one guaranteed year remaining and then that club option for 2027. But being that the Cardinals are also a team that needs starting pitching, how could trading away your best guy actually benefit your best guy actually benefit your team in 2026. Yeah, I think that Sunny Gray's numbers are a little bit deceptive. He was still top 10 in K's per 9, which is something that teams love to see right now in this era. He pitched to, was it 200 innings that he got to? 180. Still solid amount. He pitched every start. He could. If he's traded, that leaves you with Michael McGreevy and Matthew Libertor as your two guaranteed or can put them in the rotation guys. Andre Palante gets a little bit tricky. Do you want him?
Starting point is 00:13:26 one in, I don't want him in rotation. So you're filling three spots there if Sunny Gray's traded. We'll have to dip into the free agent market. You look at names like Zach Letell, Jose Cantana. I think there's a way we could swing a Zach Allen deal. If it's like a one-year proof-it type thing with a second-year option, then you have to look at Heimblum to trade one of these guys that we've been talking about for a starting pitcher. Lars Neubar, Alperlinson, Nolan Gorman, Brendan Donovan.
Starting point is 00:13:53 And I think that's how you fill out this rotation. A couple of cheaper veteran signings, a trade for a starter, and then use your internal guys from there. Yeah, it certainly would open up, depending on how much you would have to eat, which I can't assume that it's going to be a ton. But if you have to eat some money, so be it, you're already supposed to be paying $35 million anyway. So not the end of the world, but you mentioned some of those free agents. It's funny because you bring up Zach Gallen, and it's shocking to me that he's 30 years old. bow. Like it doesn't seem like he at the age of 30 yet. He should still be in his mid-20s, but he is. There are some other names that, you know, that have been kicked around. You mentioned Zach Lattel,
Starting point is 00:14:37 which was somebody that got traded from from the raise where, you know, Hime used to be. He ended up going to the Reds and pitched fairly well for these. And this is the guy, like, they're not going to go find some superstar. You know, that's not where the money is going to go. You've got other names like Walker Bueller. Dustin May, is a guy that I have been infatuated with if the dude could ever stay healthy. Like he's just nasty and he's just got to figure out how to reel it. He feels like he's always coming back from an injury, which makes things very difficult for him.
Starting point is 00:15:07 Nick Martinez also a former Reds guy. How about nasty Nestor Cortez from the left side? That's a guy. Griffin, Jordan Montgomery. People aren't going to like it. Jordan Montgomery, maybe. Yeah, he's going to be looking to, you know, put his name back out there as somebody
Starting point is 00:15:23 who can still do it. he hasn't been healthy since that World Series run with the Rangers when he was amazing. So there's a lot of possibilities there. The key is trying to talk these guys into coming to St. Louis on those kind of deals. So we'll see what the market has to offer for them. But there are certainly a number of different guys and routes they could go to bring in. Obviously, we want to see Quinn Matthews is somebody that I want to see him at the major league level next year at some point. So there are some possibilities.
Starting point is 00:15:53 But as you mentioned, there's other traits that they could make, you know, could you flip a Lars Neup bar or an Alec Berlison for, you know, a capable starter? I would assume you'd get more back from from Burley than you would, Newpe, but whatever. But you got to fill these rolls somehow, you know, and I had people who were actually, you know, sending me Miles Michaelist. And I'm like, no, stop it. Stop it. Do not, we do, we do, this, Mo's not in charge anymore. We've got to turn the page from all the Moe stuff and, and move on. We've got to hope I'm this smarter than that, right? Yeah, and I see, and the sad part is, Thomas, I see why if his name wasn't Miles Michael, so he wasn't on your team.
Starting point is 00:16:30 I know. What somebody that, you know, they can handle 32 starts, but yeah, no, no, no, no, no, stop it. Let's move on to Wilson Contreras. Probably the least likely to get moved in this scenario. We've seen the Mets pop up as a team that might be looking for a first baseman if Pete Alonzo ops out, which we all think. he probably will and the Mets seem to kind of want to like redo some things. So that's a team that maybe would be after Wilson and Treras.
Starting point is 00:17:02 Willie helped himself out by playing very good at first base this year in his first year. If Willie was moved, how could that impact things for the Cardinals in a positive way, even though odds are he's probably sticking around? The positive is similar to third base with Arnado. You free up some time. Alec Berlinson can become full-time first baseman. Ivan Herrera could get some time in there as well if it's a left-handed pitcher. You get some playing time there for who was probably your best hitter.
Starting point is 00:17:32 There are two best hitters in Bertlinson and Herrera last year. I would miss Contreras. Out of those three guys, I think he's the one I'd want to keep the most. His fire is there, his intensity. He seems to really want to be in the city. And with the team, which helps quite a bit, especially with all the transitions, you need some consistency, and he could provide that. He's exciting.
Starting point is 00:17:51 He's fiery. He's the player that every other team hates, and you want those kinds of guys on your team. Yeah, I completely agree with you. If you're going to open up that spot, that's something you mentioned Herrera, is a guy that I feel like, you know, if it did happen, that you could open up a spot there
Starting point is 00:18:09 because I just don't believe in Ivan Herrera as a catcher. I just, I've seen enough where I just don't think, I don't care if Yadi's working with him this all. I just don't think there's a way to make him a good enough catcher where you're going to want him starting all the time behind the plate. I just, I can't see it. But because he's an athletic enough guy, I think doing what you did with Wilson, moving him over to first base makes a lot of sense. You can also move him into the corner outfield when you need him to for, you know, certain games and whatnot. Obviously, the DH roll is always open as well. So, yeah, it doesn't seem like it's something that'll probably happen. It's probably got to be a really good. deal for Willie to ever want to get out of St. Louis, because like you mentioned, he loves it here. He really does want to be around this team and be a part of this renovation they got going on. And I got no issues with him sticking around. And perhaps he's even better at first base coming up in 26 after getting one year under his belt. The Cardinals do have catching depth.
Starting point is 00:19:08 I want to get Thomas's thoughts on who he thinks the Cardinals should or could move from that group of players that they got where they've got like. five guys to choose from right now. We'll see what he has to say about that. Plus, we'll take a trip down, happy memory lane. Something big happened on this day. A few years back, we'll talk about it next coming up. Unlocked on Cardinals.
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Starting point is 00:20:10 So him going bonkers last night against Buffalo was awesome. Of course, you had a great game between the Bears and in Washington, which was a whole lot of fun. This Thursday night football game, it'll be the Steelers. and my former heartthrob Aaron Rogers. He used to quarterback my Green Bay Packers. He goes into Cincinnati as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers to take on Joe Flacco in the Bengals, who thought that was going to be a thing ever.
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Starting point is 00:20:58 Thanks for making locks on Cardinals. Your first listen every day for your second list and check out. Locked on MLB Game Night every game every night until the World Series champion is crowned. Get local analysis. But on a national scale with Immelby Game Night on the Locked on MLB YouTube channel or wherever you listen to your podcast. Thomas Govane from Redward Ranser.com joining us here today. Talk and catching now. The Cardinals currently have some pretty decent catching depth.
Starting point is 00:21:21 I don't know what it looks like over the rest of the league, but looking at what the Cardinals have, it's pretty impressive. It's pretty impressive. You know, if you include a Van Herrera as a catcher, which apparently he's going to try it again in the offseason. They're going to see if they can get this, this whole throwing thing worked out. But you would have Herrera. You've had Pedro Pahas, which obviously has been a very capable MLB catcher. Joel Pozo is still on this roster. There's this talk, you know, Derek Gould talked about, you know, signing him and do a different type of deal, which would put him in the running to, he doesn't necessarily have to start at the major league level.
Starting point is 00:21:57 But you've also got Jimmy Crooks, who we saw got called up at the end of the year. And then you've got your two top catching prospects in Leonardo Bernal and Radhaigas, both very young men. Rodriguez is only 18 years old. Bernal's 21. Hasn't even played at AAA yet. But Thomas, we're going to make life difficult for you. If you got to move one of them, which one are you moving, knowing that the better the player,
Starting point is 00:22:23 the better the return? because yesterday I was like, well, Pahas makes the most sense to move on from, but what the hell are you going to get for Pedro Pahas in this day and age? So who do you think it'll be? Who's your choice out of that grouping? I'm going to pick two. I don't know how many teams have four catchers on their 40-man roster. It's the Cardinals and probably nobody else.
Starting point is 00:22:44 Remember when we carry three at the same time for fun? That was cool. Yeah. I think it's Pedro Pahas. You're not getting much. Maybe we swing a really very very. deal. You think like the Paul Young deal a few years ago, find some AAA reliever, someone who can become something hopefully, and you just pray and send him packing. And I think the other guy might
Starting point is 00:23:05 be Leonardo Bernal. I know that he's got a lot of hype behind him. He's probably defense first, but I would love to see a Jimmy Crooks-Avon Herrera pairing behind the plate, Joel Pozo as the AAA depth guy. Brunall could get you a pretty serious pitching prospect or a pitcher. even potentially for a team that's kind of a little bit more rebuild than the Cardinals are and they have more patience. So I think that he carries the high return value that Pedro Pahez doesn't. Pah Hayes carries the, let's get him off the roster and clear space value that we're all looking for right now too. And it's that we don't like talking about Pedro in a bad light, you know, because he's obviously been somebody that the pitching staff has been very comfortable with. he seems to be one of those really good locker room guys.
Starting point is 00:23:56 You know, people seem to enjoy having him around. And, you know, you see his enthusiasm on the bench and whatnot. Part of this kind of ties in with the out of your Molina stuff because if he does become a member of Ali's staff, which has been something that's been rumored recently, that, you know, he'll be able to work with these catchers. And maybe he can give you some insight as which ones he would want to keep around and which ones are actually worthy of sticking with. with. What is your faith in Ivan Herrera as a catcher? Obviously, mine is not very, I don't have a lot there. Are you trusting in, do you think there's still something there with Yvonne behind the plate? I think so. I don't know. He's still pretty young. I don't have the injury concerns with him behind the plate.
Starting point is 00:24:41 Both of his injuries this past year or not while he was actually catching. It was on base paths. And so I don't know if the injury concern is there for me. It's his arm strength that he's got to boost back up a couple years ago. he was at least league average, his pop time could use a little bit of help too. And those are things you can work on. It's not like he is awful at framing, which also is a thing that you don't need anymore with ABS for the most part. At least you need it, but to a lesser extent. So as long as it's like strength building or reaction times, those could be fixed pretty
Starting point is 00:25:11 easily throughout an offseason, I would imagine. I still believe in him to catch 120 games. No, don't throw him back there. But maybe like a nice 75, 80 game count. be good for him. Jimmy Crooks comes in, fills in the rest. Yeah. And the dynamic that you have there with Yvonne from the right side and Jimmy from the left side is something obviously, if we're talking matchups, that you love to have that flexibility there as well. So I said something similar yesterday. I was like, in a perfect world, Yvonne becomes a really good catcher and at least a capable
Starting point is 00:25:43 enough major league catcher where it's seven crooks behind the plate and life is good. You don't have to worry about anything else with Bernal and Rodriguez at this time unless, like you said, you want to move one of them and use that as ammunition to go get you some more starting pitching, which we know that the Cardinals are in desperate need of just because, not only because of revamping everything, but, you know, the injuries that took their toll on some of the starting pitching depth that they had at the minor league level last year. All right. Ending on a happy thought on the state, 1985.
Starting point is 00:26:15 Ozzy Smith, the Wizard of Oz. It's the famous walk-off solo home run against Tom Niedenfueur and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The go crazy folks go crazy call from Jack Buck obviously is immortal and is synonymous with Cardinals baseball as someone who was not yet alive. What are your thoughts? Because you know, you're living through what and it's sad because it's not really the dark times of Cardinal baseball. Like there have been worse times than what is happening right now.
Starting point is 00:26:44 But it's currently at, you know, at a down point. but you go back and you see that crowd and that energy and what that home run was about. When you go back and look at the footage, what goes through your mind? What are your thoughts when you see it? Man, I love it. And I think that's one of the best parts about being a Cardinal fan because no matter what age you are, maybe if you're three years old, my son probably doesn't have any positive memories of the Cardinals. But no matter what age you are, you can find your era and you can find the excitement.
Starting point is 00:27:11 You can find the players that are in the Hall of Fame. You can find World Championships. that's what's awesome about being a Cardinal fan. You have the history to rely on, even when it's a little bit of a dry spell for the team like we're in right now. It's great to look back on all the players. I've started the last couple of years picking up on some of the Cardinals history that I missed the first 25, six years of my life.
Starting point is 00:27:33 And it's exciting to look back and see all the things that made the franchising organization and what they are today. Yeah. And it also reminds you how disappointing it is to see such emptiness at Bush Stadium right now. At least in the 70s, though, it could be worse. We're not in the 1970s anymore. It could be worse. And clearly they're doing things to try to patch this thing back together
Starting point is 00:27:56 and get it moving in the right direction and get this train back on the tracks. You were around for the David Free's home run, which I know it's World Series versus NL Championship Series when we talk about these home runs. But those are the two that really stick out, in my mind, is some of the biggest one. I know we've had other huge ones,
Starting point is 00:28:14 you know, Yatis against the Mets and, you know, Jack Clark in that same series against Dodgers was another big one. But there's been a lot of huge home runs. But, you know, obviously David Freeze is probably the biggest one for you in your lifetime, right? Yeah, absolutely. Although I remember, I think it was regular season. David Eckstein hit the Grand Slam out to left field. He had a, he faked a bunt, didn't he? And then crushed it out to left field.
Starting point is 00:28:40 That home run sticks. I know it's not postseason, but that's one of the home. runs I think of. It was the walk off grand slam. We were all at that game. We had a, we had like a family reunion at the game where we all had like jerseys on with our age because we were celebrating like the August birthdays. And so all of our names are on the back or whatever. And I specifically remember my father crying in joy, tears of joy in a regular season, a walk off grand slam by a little David Eckstein. Anytime the little guy hits a home, everybody, everybody just feels good, right? Yeah. Short,
Starting point is 00:29:14 Kings, I think. That's what they're called, right? Yeah. It was, you know, seeing Ozzy hit that one. And that was the big thing about it was that, like, they had just flashed the stat on the screen, too. It was like, has not homered from the left side of the plate in like two billion at bats. It was like, never is going to do it. It's not going to happen. Forget him. Oh, there it goes. And it was a crazy, crazy moment. Hence the go crazy folks call from the immortal jack fuck. All right. So there you go. Leave it on a on a happy thought. Once again, Thomas, where can the folks follow you when it comes to X and anything else you're working on for RedwoodRants.com in the future?
Starting point is 00:29:53 Yeah, I'm on TwitterX at Thomas Cavain. Redwood Rance, you can find my author page there. I just had something. It's either going up soon or just went up about, ironically, today is the day that the Cardinals fired Mike Schilt for philosophical differences just one day after he retired as well. So I've got something up there working on some offseason, like three agent type stuff too, just to,
Starting point is 00:30:14 names to keep an eye on. We love it. We love it. We'll be here with, with Thomas throughout the entire offseason and have him on the show as much as he'll be available and be able to come on and join us. So thanks again, buddy. Thank you guys for making a lockdown cardinals. First listen every day if you haven't already. Give us a follow on X at L0 underscore Cardinals at a JD Sports Radio, TikTok and Instagram at Lockdown Cardinals. Please like, subscribe on YouTube. It really does help the channel grow. It does wonders for us if you can get on there. We would appreciate that. You guys are the best fans in baseball for a reason. We'll see you next time on Lockdown Cardinals.

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