Would you consider the 2026 campaign to be a success for the St. Louis Cardinals?

i'd say hand down i would be absolutely it was a success this year and i i understand i i get it if you're listening to this new bristle tuesday a successor on in the playoffs or whatever you felt like when you said that it could be a different boys uh... and i get it uh...

this year was about development this year was about young talent uh...

this year was about opportunity yet again it was about building towards twenty seven twenty eight and beyond And I feel like a lot of questions were answered this season.

And some questions were even answered even more in my opinion, a little bit, a little bit later in the season, like JJ weather hole, you sign him to a multi-year deal.

Is he a real guy? Yes.

That answer is yes.

Where do you think an individual like Riley O'Brien is at mentally after these struggles, and how do you approach him if you're the Cardinals going into next season?

Would you consider the 2026 campaign to be a success for the St. Louis Cardinals?

i'd say hand down i would say absolutely it was a success this year and i i understand i i get it if you're listening to this and you bristle to say a success you're not in the playoffs or whatever you felt like when you said that it could be a different boys uh... and i get it uh...

this year was about development this year was about young talent uh...

this year was about opportunity yet again it was about building towards twenty seven twenty eight and beyond And I feel like a lot of questions were answered this season.

And some questions were even answered even more in my opinion, a little bit, a little bit later in the season, like JJ weather hole, you sign him to a multi-year deal.

Is he a real guy? Yes.

That answer is yes.

Where do you think an individual like Riley O'Brien is at mentally after these struggles, and how do you approach him if you're the Cardinals going into next season?

Would you consider the 2026 campaign to be a success for the St. Louis Cardinals?

I'd say hands down.

I would say absolutely it was a success this year, and I understand.

I get it.

If you're listening to this and you bristle, too, it's like a success you're not in the playoffs or whatever you sound like when you said that.

It could be a different voice.

I get it.

Where do you think an individual like Riley O'Brien is that mentally after these struggles and how do you approach him if you're the Cardinals going into next season?

Let's go get

the boys.

That's usually the meeting.

That's usually the meeting.

All we do is get the guys together and say, boys, do it for yourself, okay? You can pack up at the end of it.

No, Doug, what I love about coming on your show is your positivity.

That is the thing that really drives me each and every Thursday morning in the 9 o'clock hour.

What do you suppose they'll do there?

Let's go

get the boys.

That's usually the meeting.

That's usually the meeting.

Always just get the guys together and say, boys, do it for yourself, okay? You can pack up at the end of it.

No, Doug, what I love about coming on your show is your positivity.

That is the thing that really drives me each and every Thursday morning in the 9 o'clock hour.

What do you suppose they'll do there?

Let's go get

the boys.

That's usually the meeting.

That's usually the meeting.

All we do is get the guys together and say, boys, do it for yourself, okay? You can pack up at the end of it.

No, Doug, what I love about coming on your show is your positivity.

That is the thing that really drives me each and every Thursday morning in the 9 o'clock hour.

What do you suppose they'll do there?

Now, if he carries this over to next year and two years from now and contain- continues to be the same guy while the team gets to the playoffs and has success, then I think you start to remember, do you remember that stretch where Alec Burleson was, you know, an MVP-esque player? But I think if you're just talking of this season specifically, yeah, I don't think people really remember these.

Yeah.

I'm with you.

I, I just-- St. Louis Cardinals baseball is defined by October, not just regular season success from an individual level.

Um, so I, I don't think that this season will be remembered for Alec Burleson.

Now, I do think one caveat that I would throw in there for him is if he can do it for multiple years, even if it doesn't come with winning necessarily, if he's able to do it for the next three seasons, okay, now we're talking about a guy that probably gets remembered just because of what the numbers were.

But for w- if he just does it for one individual season and there's no winning involved, nobody remembers it, right? Like, I never grew up with my dad telling me about Pedro Guerrero's 1989 season when he drove in 100 runs and had led the league with 42 doubles.

Yeah, that's a dangerous team compared to what I thought.

Just kind of take us behind the scenes on what the last couple of days has been like for you and what you're expecting as you get out to the ballpark this weekend.

Yeah, look, it's so interesting.

With some of these guys, you get an opportunity to see them quite a bit.

Others, it's been pretty much 10 years since the last reunion.

But the cool part is when we get together as a group, it was like yesterday, picking up with stories, just picking up with families.

One of the best parts today, we had a little brunch this morning with all the alumni from 06.

And it was getting a chance to see everybody's kids and everybody's families that weren't around, right? My kids were not around when I was playing.

Louis Cardinals?

Just kind of take us behind the scenes on what the last couple of days has been like for you and what you're expecting as you get out to the ballpark this weekend.

Yeah, look, it's so interesting.

With some of these guys, you get an opportunity to see them quite a bit.

Others, it's been, I mean, pretty much 10 years since the last reunion.

But the cool part is when we get together as a group, it was like yesterday, picking up with stories, just picking up with families.

One of the best parts today, we had a little brunch this morning with all the alumni from 06, and it was getting a chance to see everybody's kids and everybody's families that weren't around, right? My kids were not around when I was playing, so them getting to meet all my other teammates' kids and them becoming friends, and now they've got friends all over the country and in different countries.

That's a really special thing.

Louis Cardinals?

Just kind of take us behind the scenes on what the last couple of days has been like for you and what you're expecting as you get out to the ballpark this weekend.

Yeah, look, it's so interesting.

With some of these guys, you get an opportunity to see them quite a bit.

Others, it's been, I mean, pretty much 10 years since the last reunion.

But the cool part is when we get together as a group, it was like yesterday, picking up with stories, just picking up with families.

One of the best parts today, we had a little brunch this morning with all the alumni from 06.

And it was getting a chance to see everybody's kids and everybody's families that weren't around.

Louis Cardinals?

I just wonder if starters get frustrated when they're told, here's your pitch count, here's your inning count for this season.

Yeah, I think pretty much the rare breed is the one that doesn't get frustrated.

Overall, these guys want the ball, and they want to be out there for nine innings.

Now, we all know the nature of the game now, and maybe there will be some sort of...

in the game where we do bring back the starting pitcher, basically.

Maybe you limit pitching staffs moving forward if that's part of another CBA.

But you understand why managers utilize their bullpen the way they do.

How about when you first arrived? I would think that was a little intimidating.

I just wonder if starters get frustrated when they're told, here's your pitch count, here's your inning count for this season.

Yeah, I think pretty much the rare breed is the one that doesn't get frustrated.

Overall, these guys want the ball, and they want to be out there for nine innings.

Now, we all know the nature of the game now, and maybe there will be some sort of...

in the game where we do bring back the starting pitcher, basically.

Maybe you limit pitching staffs moving forward if that's part of another CBA.

But you understand why managers utilize their bullpen the way they do.

How about when you first arrived? I would think that was a little intimidating.

I just wonder if starters get frustrated when they're told, here's your pitch count, here's your inning count for this season.

Yeah, I think pretty much the rare breed is the one that doesn't get frustrated.

Overall, these guys want the ball, and they want to be out there for nine innings.

Now, we all know the nature of the game now, and maybe there will be some sort of...

in the game where we do bring back the starting pitcher, basically.

Maybe you limit pitching staffs moving forward if that's part of another CBA.

But you understand why managers utilize their bullpen the way they do.

How about when you first arrived? I would think that was a little intimidating.

Does this guy look different than what he did early on? And can he perform at third base and be the answer for the Cardinals moving forward?

I think that he's in the equation for sure over at third base, because why not? I mean, that's a position right now that is up in the air, and they're waiting for somebody to end up running with it.

And Blaze Jordan was doing a fantastic job over there.

Unfortunately, the ankle set him back a tiny bit.

But with the J.C., look, he was given some runway at the big league level early in the season.

He was given every day a pass for a while, and these results weren't there.

But every single step along the way, this is what he's done.

So before you do that and make a decision that you can't take back, do you want to see the final three weeks of the regular season just give him all of the at-bats possible to give him every opportunity to be able to still earn that right back onto your roster? I think that's the big thing to me that I'm hesitant on completely giving up on him.

Does this guy look different than what he did early on? And can he perform at third base and be the answer for the Cardinals moving forward? I think that he's in the

equation for sure over at third base, because why not? I mean, that's a position right now that is up in the air, and they're waiting for somebody to end up running with it.

And Blaze Jordan was doing a fantastic job over there.

Unfortunately, the ankle set him back a tiny bit.

But with the J.C., look, he was given some runway at the big league level early in the season.

He was given, you know, every day at-bats for a while, and these results weren't there.

But every single, like, step along the way, this is what he's done.

I think that's the big thing to me that I'm I'm hesitant on completely giving up on him.

Does this guy look different than what he did early on? And can he perform at third base and be the answer for the Cardinals moving forward?

I think that he's in the equation for sure over at third base, because why not? I mean, that's a position right now that is up in the air, and they're waiting for somebody to end up running with it.

And Blaze Jordan was doing a fantastic job over there.

Unfortunately, the ankle set him back a tiny bit.

But with the J.C., look, he was given some runway at the big league level early in the season.

He was given every day at-bats for a while, and these results weren't there.

But every single step along the way, this is what he's done.

I think that's the big thing to me that I'm I'm hesitant on completely giving up on him.

What have you seen from him so far? He could be another Jim Dandy.

Yes! Oh, golly, what a Jim Dandy of a home run it was last night.

Two runs shot.

We might have to get a Jim Dandy on the broadcast tonight.

Yes! That'd be nice.

It's making me happy is what it's doing.

But him being able to pop that shot, they like the power potential that he put up.

So is there any talk of that when you're around the club, whether it be the guys or in the organization?

What have you seen from him so far? He could be another Jim Dandy.

Yes! Oh, golly, what a Jim Dandy of a home run it was last night.

Two runs shot.

We might have to get a Jim Dandy on the broadcast tonight.

Yes! It's making me happy is what it's doing.

But him being able to pop that shot, they like the power potential that he put up.

We all know this.

So is there any talk of that when you're around the club, whether it be the guys or in the organization?

What have you seen from him so far? He could be another Jim Dandy.

Yes! Oh, golly, what a Jim Dandy of a home run it was last night.

Two runs shot.

We might have to get a Jim Dandy on the broadcast tonight.

Yes! It's making me happy is what it's doing.

But him being able to pop that shot, they like the power potential that he put up.

We all know this.

So is there any talk of that when you're around the club, whether it be the guys or in the organization?

well for somebody who hasn't used it yeah please explain rv keeper in the simplest terms possible and what does it actually do for an rv owner

Excellent.

So it basically what it'll do is is when you first open the app, you're just going to put in what what do you have.

Right.

So I'd put in 2011 Montana Mountaineer.

I'd put in my model number and it will go through a research phase to all of this.

So much information that I've compiled into this thing and it's going to research your exact model and.

What's happening behind the scenes?

How impressed have you been with what the pitching staff has done with the guys that they get their hands on this season at the big leagues?

Yeah, look, I think that Dusty Blake and his team have done a really good job.

They've done a really nice job of being able to figure out, and obviously this goes further than just the big league team.

A lot of this stuff is happening in the minor leagues where they have their pitching coordinator, Matt Pierpont, has done an awesome job of having a plan for each one of their guys.

But The idea of being able to tweak each individual, I think they've done a really good job here recently of being individualized.

Instead of a blanket, this is what we do.

We throw sinkers at the bottom of the zone.

Anything that you're seeing with Riley O'Brien that plays into the ups and downs that he's struggled with over the last couple of months?

How impressed have you been with what the pitching staff has done with the guys that they get their hands on this season at the big leagues?

Yeah, look, I think that Dusty Blake and his team have done a really good job.

They've done a really nice job of being able to figure out, and obviously this goes further than just the big league team.

A lot of this stuff is happening in the minor leagues where they have their pitching coordinator, Matt Pierpont, has done an awesome job of having a plan for each one of their guys.

The idea of being able to tweak each individual, I think they've done a really good job here recently of being individualized.

Instead of a blanket, this is what we do.

We throw sinkers at the bottom of the zone.

Anything that you're seeing with Riley O'Brien that plays into the ups and downs that he's struggled with over the last couple of months?

How impressed have you been with what the pitching staff has done with the guys that they get their hands on this season at the big leagues?

Yeah, look, I think that Dusty Blake and his team have done a really good job.

They've done a really nice job of being able to figure out, and obviously this goes further than just the big league team.

A lot of this stuff is happening in the minor leagues where they have their pitching coordinator, Matt Pierpont, has done an awesome job of having a plan for each one of their guys.

The idea of being able to tweak each individual, I think they've done a really good job here recently of being individualized.

Instead of a blanket, this is what we do.

We throw sinkers at the bottom of the zone.

Anything that you're seeing with Riley O'Brien that plays into the ups and downs that he's struggled with over the last couple of months?

Does it ever get hard when the, when the losses begin to mount up and it's starting to look like it's just not gonna happen for you at all? Does it get hard for the, for the players to show up every day just 100% raring to go, positive attitude, let's go get 'em? Does that ever get difficult?

difficult?Well, there was a lot of rah-rah in there, but, uh, no.

No, it doesn't because it, it mainly be- w- a couple things.

One, it's your job, right? Like, your job is to show up and do that every single day.

Uh, and, uh, that, that is part of it.

Uh, does it get discouraging when you lose games? Of course, and especially if you, when you lose tight games.

Like the, the game the other night in, in Philly, that sucked.

How, how much is, is the difference as a pitcher between pitching to Triple A hitters and Major League hitters? How, how, how big of a difference is that?

Does it ever get hard when the, when the losses begin to mount up and it's starting to look like it's just not gonna happen for you at all? Does it get hard for the, for the players to show up every day just 100% raring to go, positive attitude, let's go get 'em? Does that ever get difficult?

Well, there was a lot of rah-rah in there, but, uh, no.

No, it doesn't, because it, it mainly be- It's a couple things.

One, it's your job, right? Like, your job is to show up and do that every single day.

Uh, and, uh, that, that is part of it.

Uh, does it get discouraging when you lose games? Of course, and especially if you-- when you lose tight games.

Like the, the game the other night i- in Philly, that sucked.

H- How much is, is the difference as a pitcher between pitching to Triple A hitters and Major League hitters? How, how, how big of a difference is that?