Out of the Pen Podcast | Ep. 21

Photo Credit: Marines.mil

On this episode of the Out of the Pen Podcast:

• Which teams that have been rebuilding or "retooling" are close to contention?

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Out of the Pen Podcast | Ep. 20

Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated

On this episode of the Out of the Pen Podcast:

• Which recent contenders will be seeing their window for winning close? Who will be in the hunt for the foreseeable future?

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The I-70 Podcast | "Out of Nowhere"

Faron (@FaronPJr) and Boston (@EricBoston3) each pick one player who has the opportunity to position themselves for the big league rosters in Kansas City and St. Louis during Spring Training.

Contract extensions, heated rivalries, and suspensions also feature in this episode of The I-70 Podcast on the MTMV Sports Network.








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Baseball Fan Winter Jitters

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

by: Andy Zsiga @zsiga_andy

What is it about the end of January that makes baseball fans so antsy? 

It doesn’t matter what your team has been doing in the offseason, there seems to be a buzz for every fan.

I don’t know any Orioles fans, but I am pretty sure they are just as excited about baseball as Red Sox fans right now (sorry if that is you). Fans of teams with high expectations and fans of teams with tank aspirations can all agree that baseball is in the air. How is a fan supposed to deal with the "winter jitters"?

Remedies for these jitters are different depending on the state of the team you follow. 

The excitement of following a team who made it to the World Series the year before is different from the qualms of the fan whose team missed obtaining a winning record. The nervousness of a fan whose team was quiet throughout the offseason is jarringly different from the hopefulness of the fan whose team "won" the offseason.

What can you do during this time?

As a fan of a team in a somewhat precarious spot, I know I tend to check my dynasty fantasy league over and over again hoping for some sort of information. (My team needs several young guys to find their bats and three to four reclamation projects to work out in order to think about the postseason for the upcoming year) and waiting to hear something anything on Twitter about the year.

I am excited for the year, despite the near certainness of my team building for success in future years.  

The uncertainness of your team’s decisions wears off when you are at peace with the current direction of the players you follow.

This feeling of general excitement for a season is much better than the years your team spends big money on an older free agent or the years your team sits on its hands while it has a glaring hole in the pitching staff (substitute line up or any certain position). The speed at which we find this offseason moving combined with the pace at which we obtain information causes even more excitement.

Is there a way to combat the disappointment of knowing there is still so much time before real baseball?

How do you handle the ‘winter jitters’ and the urge to endlessly check every baseball site for something new?

Let me know in the comments below.

The Cardinals Hit the Road

by: Tommie Anderson | Guest Contributor

On Friday, January 17th, the Cardinals Caravan hit Springfield, Missouri. 

The Springfield Cardinals hosted the event in their indoor training facility.

The caravan included current big league players Jack Flaherty, Dominic Leone, and Yairo Munoz. Prospect Max Schrock, former Cardinals Kyle McClellan and Randy Flores joined broadcasters Mike Claiborne and Polo Asencio to round out the panel.

The event kicked off with a question and answer session where fans were able to interact with the caravan participants.

After an introduction by Claiborne, Asencio emceed the panel portion. My wife and son agreed that the best answer of the day came from Flores. He fielded a question regarding what parents can do to help their kid get to the level of a big leaguer. His answer was to find something they love and encourage their pursuit of whatever that thing is, whether athletics or academics.

As a long time fan of the Cardinals, I enjoyed McClellan’s discussion of his battles with arm problems and placing the team first in a championship season.

Other highlights were Flaherty’s enthusiasm to get the season kicked off, Munoz discussing playing multiple positions, and Leone talking about offseason workouts for relief pitchers. Asencio was engaging throughout and made the session a lot of fun for the fans in attendance.

Following the interview portion, the players and broadcasters signed autographs. 

Kids 15 and under were given tickets to receive autographs when they entered. This ensured that all the kids would be able to get signatures and say hi to all of the caravan participants. My son loved meeting the players and even got pictures with some of them.

Throughout the event, a raffle was held to benefit the Children’s Miracle Network. (I can not wait to break out the Paul Goldschmidt shirt I won…)

It was a great time for fans of all ages, and another sensational event from General Manager Dan Reiter and the Springfield Cardinals.

Out of the Pen Podcast | Ep. 19

On this episode of the Out of the Pen Podcast:

• The guys are joined by Andrew Buchbinder, radio announcer of the Springfield Cardinals - Double A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals
• Hall of Fame inductees

Listen now: 

Out of the Pen Podcast | Ep. 18

Photo Credit: John-Morgan | Flickr

On this episode of the Out of the Pen Podcast:

• Which teams, who may have overachieved last season, are for real in 2019?
• Jordan Foote guests