Right-hander Sonny Gray’s first season with Cardinals ends with IL placement
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The Cardinals placed right-hander Sonny Gray on the 15-day injured list Saturday due to right forearm flexor tendinitis. The IL placement, which is retroactive to Sept. 19, ended Gray’s season with eight games remaining in the Cardinals regular season.
Gray, 34, posted a 13-9 record, a 3.84 ERA, and struck out 203 batters in 166 1/3 innings in his first year with the Cardinals. The right-hander signed a three-year, $75-million contract this past offseason coming off a 2023 season with the Minnesota Twins during which he was named to the American League All-Star team and finished second in American League Cy Young voting.
"It's still kind of new right now, to be honest with you," Gray said Saturday when asked about his season as a whole. "I think there was some good and some bad. … I don’t think I've gotten there yet."
His IL designation came a day after the Cardinals were officially eliminated from postseason contention.
Gray said he "didn’t recover great" following his Sept. 12 start against the Reds. Gray, who allowed four runs and struck out eight in 5 2/3 innings in a 10-5 Cardinals win Wednesday against the Pittsburgh Pirates, underwent an MRI on Friday night that revealed "everything was OK" in his throwing arm. He described the move as a "more of a precautionary thing" and noted the injury is one he would have pitched through if the Cardinals remained in the hunt for a playoff spot.
The former three-time All-Star’s 203 strikeouts in his first season with St. Louis tied him for seventh most in the majors at the start of Saturday. The 200 strikeouts made Gray the ninth different Cardinals pitcher to strike out 200 or more batters in a single season.
The Cardinals will replace Gray in the starting rotation with rookie Michael McGreevy. McGreevy, 24, is slated to start Tuesday in the road opener against the Colorado Rockies. The start would be the second of McGreevy’s career.
McGreevy, the Cardinals’ first-round pick in the 2021 MLB draft, debuted in the majors July 31 with a spot start against the Texas Rangers. The righty allowed one run across seven innings and earned his first win. McGreevy was recalled to the majors Sept. 18 and pitched three scoreless innings of relief that night in a win against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Miles Mikolas, Cardinals try to play spoiler to playoff-bound Guardians: First Pitch
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The Cardinals continue a home series Saturday against the Guardians. First pitch is set for 6:15 p.m.
St. Louis dropped Friday's opener as Cleveland inched closer to clinching the American League Central title.
Right-hander Miles Mikolas (8-11, 5.49) will take the mound for the Cardinals.
Just one of his past eight starts has been quality.
Mikolas is tallying career worsts in ERA, home runs per nine innings pitched and opponents' batting average while also being on pace to throw fewer innings than any season in his Cardinals tenure with the exception of his injury impacted 2021.
The Guardians will counter with left-hander Matthew Boyd (2-1, 2.52), signed in late June as he continued a long rehab from Tommy John surgery.
He made his debut Aug. 13 and is coming off his shortest start, when he allowed three runs, two of them earned in 2 2/3 innings vs. Minnesota.
The Cardinals are 77-77, third in the NL Central. The team was officially eliminated from postseason contention on Friday night.
The Guardians are 90-65, first in the AL Central. Cleveland's magic number for a division title is one. A Royals loss Saturday afternoon or a Guardians win Saturday night clinches it.
Lineups
CARDINALS
1. Masyn Winn, SS
2. Luken Baker, DH
3. Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
4. Nolan Arenado, 3B
5. Iván Herrera, C
6. Brendan Donovan, LF
7. Jordan Walker, RF
8. Thomas Saggese, 2B
9. Michael Siani, CF
P: Miles Mikolas, RHP
GUARDIANS
1. Angel Martínez, LF
2. Kyle Manzardo, DH
3. José Ramírez, 3B
4. Josh Naylor, 1B
5. Lane Thomas, CF
6. Andrés Giménez, 2B
7. Jhonkensy Noel, RF
8. Bo Naylor, C
9. Brayan Rocchio, SS
P: Matthew Boyd, LHP
Injury report
Willson Contreras (fractured finger):ճ catcher fractured the middle finger on his right hand when struck by a pitch Aug. 24, and his season is effectively over following an exam Monday with team medical officials. He was prescribed another two weeks of inactivity to continue the healing process, and that assures he will not be able to play during the regular season, which ends when September does. Updated Sept. 17
Lance Lynn (right knee inflammation):ճ veteran's season came to an end Wednesday, a day after he pitched six strong innings to pick up a win over Pittsburgh and remain unbeaten at Busch since July 2017. His contract has a $12-million option for 2025, though factors are stacking up that would lead the Cardinals to decline it. Updated Sept. 18
Sonny Gray (right forearm flexor tendinitis): Gray was placed on the IL Saturday, the morning after the Cardinals were officially eliminated from the playoffs, ending his first season with the team with eight games remaining. The move is retroactive to Thursday. Updated Sept. 21
BenFred: If there was any debate left, it's done. Ohtani must be baseball's first DH MVP.
Well, that settles it.
Whatever fragments of a debate that had been left before are gone now, their remnants blasted away Thursday night during the latest historic performance by one of baseball’s most remarkable players.
Homer by homer, steal by steal, Shohei Ohtani in an unforgettable six-for-six, 10-RBI game cracked three home runs, swiped two bases, clinched the Dodgers’ spot in the postseason and founded the 50-50 club. Its members? Just him.
He is now the only player in major league history to hit more than 50 home runs in the same season he stole more than 50 bases, and he did it in a game where he became the only player to hit three home runs and steal two bases in the same game.
Let there be no more debate. What felt forced before became even sillier during the Dodgers’ 20-4 dismantling of the Marlins. Ohtani is the National League’s MVP. Period.
And just like his previous two MVPs from the American League during his time with the Angels, this one also should come in unanimous fashion. Yes, even with the usual two-way sensation “only” playing as a designated hitter this season while his throwing arm recovers from surgery. That’s how dynamic and disruptive Ohtani has been in his role during his Dodgers debut.
Before Ohtani’s 51 homers and 51 stolen bases, the closest a player had come to creating the 50-50 club was, well, not really that close. Ronald Acuna Jr., was nine homers shy (41) when he stole 73 bases last season. Alex Rodriguez fell eight homers and four steals shy back in 1998. Ohtani still has time to boost the numbers even higher. The Dodgers have nine more regular-season games to go for him to extend his Dodgers-record homer lead. Before Ohtani, no Dodgers player in the organization’s proud history had hit more than Shawn Green’s 49 during the 2001 season.
Go ahead and prepare another first — besides Ohtani’s first trip to the postseason now that he’s freed from the Angels. We should now all agree he’s earned the right to become the first primary designated hitter to secure MVP honors. He should do so in unanimous fashion, making him the only three-time unanimous MVP among baseball’s small club of 21 unanimous picks. No one else has done it more than once. Absurd? Ohtani.
Look, Francisco Lindor and Marcell Ozuna are having great seasons, but they’re not rewriting baseball record books while leading the NL in slugging percentage (.629) and on-base plus slugging (1.005). Plus a bunch of other stuff, too.
Some, including Hall of Fame designated hitter David Ortiz, have argued Ohtani should suffer the same MVP scrutiny that he and others in his position have faced since the full-time designated hitter arrived to the AL in 1973.
Five times Ortiz finished in in the AL MVP top-five, but he never climbed higher than second in 2005. Ortiz can perhaps fairly suffer from some sour-grape feelings because his performances in the past probably would net him an MVP these days now that the universal DH is in play in both leagues and the distaste of the offense-only hitter fades more annually. What Ortiz can’t argue, though, is that he ever had a regular season like Ohtani.
Ortiz’s single-season best for Wins Above Replacement produced was 6.4 in 2007, when he finished fourth in the AL MVP race behind Rodriguez (9.4) and others. Ohtani’s current WAR of 7.8 (and climbing) leads the NL by an entire run. That shows how good his offense has been. It’s covering for him doing nothing else, and then some. Runs scored, total bases, home runs, RBIs, extra-base hits and intentional walks. He leads the NL in all of them. And he’s second in stolen bases!
In addition to taking into account Ohtani’s unparalleled offensive production and his knack for MVP moments that remind of a college quarterback making plays to clinch the Heisman Trophy, BBWAA voters selected to vote for MVP this season can also give Ohtani points for context. The powerhouse-on-paper Dodgers spent a large chunk of their season missing key players due to injuries; no problem, Othani powered them along while recovering from his own. And then there’s the word in the award itself: Value. Ohtani was the recipient of a staggering 10-year, $700 million contract to join the Dodgers, but the fine print reminds that he’s a $2 million player this year due to the staggering amount of money deferred. Most valuable, indeed.
And let’s not forget, too, where Ohtani’s season started. Against the Cardinals, yes, but beneath a dark cloud of uncertainty. A bombshell investigation into his former translator’s illegal sports betting raised serious questions about what Ohtani knew and how his money got involved.
If you expected MLB to ruthlessly investigate its biggest international star, that makes one of us, but the feds did their own investigation, and they tend to be a lot less interested in protecting baseball’s bottom line.
Ohtani was cleared, and now it’s become crystal clear.
Even when this guy can’t pitch, and he will again soon, he’s an all-time talent unlike any we’ve ever watched.
An option for Cardinals’ 2025 rotation and influential presence, Kyle Gibson hopes for return
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A glimpse into the conversations veteran Kyle Gibson had with his fellow Cardinals starters in the dugout on Friday night or is always game to have with a young pitcher in the clubhouse came after his start with the media in front of his locker.
Gibson was willing to go pitch by pitch, hint by hint through a key at-bat vs. Cleveland’s all-everything third baseman Jose Ramirez.
“I’m not facing those guys again,” Gibson said. “So I don’t mind going into it.”
The duel ended with a solo homer, one of three the Guardians hit on their way to a 5-1 victory at Busch Stadium that officially, finally eliminated the Cardinals from playoff contention.
Ramirez’s home run came shortly after the Cardinals made it a one-run game, and as Gibson revisited the at-bat in detail, he revealed some of thinking, explaining, and even questioning that has made him such a valuable resource for his teammates in his first year as a Cardinal.
He hopes it’s not his only year as a Cardinal, he told the Post-Dispatch.
“Ideally, I’d like to have my option picked up and be here again,” he said.
The Cardinals have a $12-million option for 2025 on Gibson, who turns 37 in October. There is a $1 million buyout on the option that would make him a free agent, but he repeated that his preference is to return to the Cardinals. A Mizzou alum who makes his offseason home in the St. Louis area and had his kids at the ballgame Friday, it’s surprising it took this long for him to become a Cardinal. It’s not surprising at all how quickly he fit in as a Cardinal.
Earlier in this homestand, lefty Matthew Liberatore spent at least 20 minutes beside Gibson in the clubhouse talking through various approaches with pitches. Andre Pallante credited Gibson with suggestions he’s made during the young right-hander’s bullpens – because Gibson rarely missed one, if he missed any this season. The catchers have all mentioned Gibson being part of their feel for calling games, and not just his games. Gibson was one of the veterans who suggested the Cardinals host fathers on a road trip, and he's been active in organizing or spreading invitations to team activitites.
He's also taken on some of the charitable initiatives in St. Louis started or captained by Adam Wainwright, including leadership of Big League Impact.
And on Friday, late in a game the Cardinals were about to lose, there was Gibson along with starters Sonny Gray, Erick Fedde, and others picking apart this at-bat by Ramirez and Gibson’s approach.
It wasn’t a pitch he felt he missed, but a swing he did not catch.
“I can’t throw a two-strike, front-hip sinker any better than I threw to him, and obviously he was looking for that one,” Gibson said. “Just bad recognition on my part. … If his hips are clearing early and he’s really out front on a cutter that’s middle-down, probably in one of his nitro zones – he’s got many, but in one of his nitro zones. That should tell me to go to something soft away. I kind of got blinded by wanting to go to that front-hip sinker.”
When Ramirez came to the plate in the top of the fifth inning, the Cardinals had just paired doubles to cut Cleveland’s lead in half, 2-1. Gibson struck out the first batter of the inning and faced Ramirez, an All-Star who is making a bid to be the first third baseman to join the 40-40 club. (He got closer Friday with his 40th steal and 36th homer.)
On his way to a three-hit game, Ramirez was 1 for 2 going into the fifth.
Gibson started the at-bat with a four-seam fastball, in and tight and fouled off.
The right-hander then missed low with a sweeping slider and in with a sinker to fall behind 2-1 in the count. Gibson leveled the count when Ramirez fouled off a cutter.
And there it was.
The swing that should have clued Gibson into the next pitch.
“I look at that at-bat – get ahead of him, probably beat him on the first pitch where it jams him, and pulls it just foul,” Gibson said. “I think I threw a ball. He fouled another one off – a cutter that was down, middle, that probably should have been hit harder. But he was trying to clear to get open and get that inside pitch. If I look back at that cutter – in my head, I was finding a way to get to a front-hip sinker for the looking strikeout. And by him being out front on that cutter, that should have told me to go with something away. I didn’t see it because I wanted to throw that front-hip sinker.”
He delivered the 2-2 sinker at 90.5 mph, and it darted in and slightly up to Ramirez. Gray would check the video to share his thoughts on the pitch with Gibson.
Ramirez got the final say on it.
He laced it 366 feet into the right-field seats.
Reading and responding to the hitters swing is something Gibson does throughout his starts, and it’s been a subject of ongoing conversation with rookie catcher Pedro Pages, who said late Friday night that talking with Gibson has informed how he calls games for other pitchers because he’s looking for info from hitters swings.
“Once you get on the same page, you just start rolling with him,” Pages said. “You start seeing and thinking like him, and it’s a lot of fun.”
The sinker that could have instead been off-speed away was one of two pitches Gibson said he’d like to rethink from Friday. Both were lifted for home runs. In six innings, Gibson allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits and three walks. He struck out two to help limit innings and got as many outs in the air (six) as on the ground (six). In the other half of the innings, the Cardinals went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position, whiffed on a few chances, and did not muster much against Guardians starter Ben Lively.
In his post-game presser, manager Oliver Marmol said Gibson “gave us a shot.”
Marmol agreed how he described the evening was how he could describe Gibson’s season.
“He did exactly that,” Marmol said. “He’s going to want the ball until you take it from him. He just wants to be out there, and he’s going to give you a shot, and I feel like he consistently does that. One of the better traits in this game is being described as consistent.”
The manager did not stop with the trait.
He began his post-game comments with another one he sees in Gibson.
“It’s hard to put it all into a quick description other than when we targeted him in free agency, we had a really good sense of what we were getting and it was needed in that clubhouse,” Marmol said. “He’s a guy who does a really nice job of encouraging others and bringing others alongside. Man, he did exactly that. He wakes up thinking about other people. That’s a nice trait.”
His final start of the season captured a lot of the conflicting traits of the Cardinals in 2024. Gibson authored his 13th quality start, which puts him beside Gray and Miles Mikolas for the team lead in a statistic that was supposed to define a heartier, sturdier rotation for 2024. Yet, at pitcher-friendly Busch, his ERA was more than a run higher than on the road, and the loss Friday meant he did not win a game at Busch after May 17.
After the game he spoke about wanting to shoulder one more inning Friday night and how pitching seven innings in his next start – likely at Coors Field next week – would “be a big deal” even after the Cardinals are eliminated. Seven innings against the Rockies would still leave him shy of triggering a $500,000 bonus for pitching 175 innings. He is at 165 2/3.
He feels the sharpness and quality of his stuff, like that front-hip sinker or the sweeper to lefties, has been “as consistent as it’s been in a long time.” And when elaborating on reasons he wanted to return to the Cardinals he was as detailed as he was about the Ramirez at-bat or will be with a young pitcher this weekend about an at-bat they navigate.
“For me, I’ve enjoyed being here,” Gibson said. “I’ve enjoyed being in this clubhouse, with this staff, playing at Busch every time was fun. It’s always been a place I enjoyed pitching. Obviously, I’m at home so that adds a lot to it. But it’s been a really fun group to be a part of, so I’d like to be a part of it again, if I can.”
Photos: Guardians beat Cardinals 5-1 with three late innings solo home runs
Class AA Springfield’s historic season ends with Texas League Division Series loss
A season for Class AA Springfield that began with a franchise-record nine-game win streak and reached a franchise-best 79 wins ended on Friday night in a 6-5 loss to Arkansas in Game 3 of the Texas League Division Series at Hammons Field in Springfield, Missouri.
Springfield found itself down 5-0 entering the start of the fifth inning but pieced together five runs in the bottom half of the fifth to tie the ballgame. Arkansas retook a lead two outs into the sixth inning when Jack Ralston allowed a solo homer to Victor Labrada.
Catcher Jimmy Crooks, who batted .321 with a Class AA-leading .908 on-base plus slugging percentage, reached base with a one-out single in the ninth inning as the S-Cards looked to make a comeback that would extend their season. The potential ninth-inning comeback was quieted with a flyout from Matt Lloyd and a swinging strikeout of Leonardo Bernal that ended the game with pinch-runner Chris Rotondo stranded on first base.
The loss prevented the S-Cards, who finished a franchise-best 20 games above .500 under manager Jose Leger, from advancing to their first Texas League Championship Series since 2012.
To claw back into Game 3 after starter Trent Baker allowed three runs in 1 1/3 innings and Ralston gave up two runs in the fifth, Springfield received a one-out double from Texas League batting champion Bryan Torres to get their five-run inning started.
Torres, who stole third base after his double, scored on a single from Nathan Church. Church’s single was followed by a single from Crooks that set the table for Lloyd to make it a one-run game with his three-run homer off reliever Peyton Alford that cleared the right-center field wall.
A two-out double from Noah Mendlinger off Garrett Davila, who replaced Alford after Lloyd’s homer, put the game-tying run in scoring position. A single from Jacob Buchberger in the at-bat that followed scored Mendlinger and leveled the ballgame five runs apiece.
Following Labrada’s homer in the top of the sixth inning, Springfield had runners on first and second base in the bottom of the sixth when Torres walked with one out and Crooks was hit by a pitch with two outs in the frame. That scoring threat ended on a ground out from Lloyd.
In the eighth inning, R.J. Yeager reached base safely on a single to lead off the frame. But just as it happened in the inning that followed, Springfield could not advance the potential game-tying run past first base.
Jay Randolph, at 90th birthday, endures setbacks but counts his many blessings: Media Views
It's been a whirlwind life for Jay Randolph, who traveled the world in a sportscasting career that spanned more than six decades and led him to the pinnacle of his profession in St. Louis as well as national prominence.
And now, with his 90th birthday having arrived Thursday, he is reflective. But while he has hobnobbed with some of sports' and politics' biggest names, he talks more about family than his famous friends or many on-air accomplishments when asked about his fondest memories.
"It went too quickly," he said in a conversation this week at his home in Ballwin. "I met seven presidents, I had a remarkable father and a wonderful mother, I have a superb wife, an absolutely unbelievable wife, the children — even though two of them are gone — I love them very much."
While Randolph said his life overall has been "fabulous," the past few years have been rougher. The loss of those two sons has been hard on him; his wife, Sue; and their daughter, Becky.
Jay Jr., well-known locally for his contributions on radio and in the golf community, died in late 2022 of cancer. He was 53. Then last April the other son, Brian, unexpectedly died — apparently of a heart attack. He was 52.
Randolph didn't say much about losing the boys, but the somber look on his face told more than his words.
"It's been tough, but what can you do?" he said. "Jay — we played golf all the time. Brian was a brilliant kid. Becky is our star in the hemisphere. And we have two grandchildren who are doing wonderful."
It also has been difficult in recent years for Randolph to get around, as mobility issues have him using a wheelchair.
"My health is great except for the fact I can't walk more than about 15 feet without tremendous pain," he said, adding that his outside activities are mostly limited to getting a haircut and going to doctors' appointments.
But he didn't dwell on his setbacks. He was upbeat as he looked back on his improbable sportscasting career, which developed by chance after being pointed toward being a pro golfer or politician early on.
Randolph's work accomplishments are numerous. After a short stay in the ’60s at KMOX (1120 AM) for his first job in St. Louis, he was the sports director at KSDK (Channel 5) — which was KSD when he started — from 1968-87, setting a record in the market for longevity in that position that later was eclipsed by Rich Gould's 34 years in that role at KPLR (Channel 11).
He became the primary TV play-by-play voice of the Cardinals when they were on Channel 5, a run from 1971-87. After the station lost the rights, Randolph had stints calling the Cincinnati Reds, Atlanta Braves and Florida Marlins. He wrapped up his big league baseball broadcasting days where they started, by announcing Cards games from 2007-10 when Channel 5 had Sunday afternoon telecasts.
He called that "a wonderful way to finish" that part of his career.
What might not have been as wonderful is an assignment he had early in his St. Louis days — doing TV play-by-play of the Blues' first season, 1967-68.
He had not pursued the job, which was offered to him after conversations between Randolph's boss — KMOX general manager Robert Hyland — and Blues owner Sid Salomon Jr. They already had settled on Cardinals announcer Jack Buck to do the hockey radio play-by-play
"Offered" might be a stretch on how Randolph's new duties were presented to him.
"I was told I was going to do the television," he said, chuckling. "Jack and I only had one year of it, thank goodness. I didn't know much about it. Hockey's the hardest sport to broadcast."
For Year 2, Dan Kelly was hired and the telecasts used the radio audio, sparking Kelly's legendary career locally and internationally.
"In my estimation he was the finest hockey announcer who's ever lived," Randolph said.
Randolph's reaction when told that he was being replaced?
"I said, 'That's fine with me, I've got plenty of jobs.' Frankly I was glad to get out of that thing."
He also soared at NBC, for which he seemingly broadcast every sport it carried. Football. Basketball. Bowling. Horse racing. Boxing. Luge. Dog shows. Etc.
''It was always a pleasure to work with him," said legendary NBC broadcaster Bob Costas, who got his start in St. Louis. "His gentlemanly demeanor as a person carried over as a broadcaster.''
Randolph has been that way off the air, too.
"Shortly after I got to St. Louis, in 1974, I was eating lunch at (Stan) Musial's restaurant and Jay walks into the room. I was 22 years old, had just started doing the Spirits basketball broadcasts and I was a student of sportscasting, so I knew who he was. I thought I'd go over and introduce myself.
"Instead, before I was able to get up, he saw me and came over and put his arm around me and started talking and said he'd heard a broadcast of mine. That was really impressive for a kid who didn't have any idea a guy like that would know me. But Jay is sociable guy and a genuinely nice person. It's one thing to be a good person. It's another thing to be a genuine good person. He is the genuine good person."
So much so that NBC used him to break in announcers the network thought had potential.
"He takes pleasure in seeing somebody else succeed, which isn't the case with everybody,'' Costas said.
Unlikely career path
Randolph grew up in West Virginia, the son of longtime congressman and senator Jennings Randolph.
He was quite a golfer as a teenager, earning a scholarship in that sport to George Washington University. While in Europe as a member of the Army, he not only won several military tournaments but played in two British Amateurs and in 1956 won the Egyptian Amateur in Cairo.
He was so proficient that he once had an opportunity to turn pro.
"But my dad didn't want me to do that," Randolph recalled. "He would have liked me to have stayed in West Virginia and get into politics."
His father, who had served in Congress from 1933-1947, decided to run in a special election in 1957 to fill a senate seat that opened when a sitting member died. Randolph, a Democrat, won that election and then four more for full terms, and his son seemingly was being groomed for a political career.
"I had helped him in that (special election push) and campaigned with (John F.) Kennedy and LBJ (Lyndon B. Johnson)," two future presidents, he said. "I knew the political people he did."
But in those days, an unexpected job offer led to a stark change in his life. A fellow associated with Randolph's father ran a small-town radio station, in Clarksburg, West Virginia, and in 1958 approached the politician's son.
"Do you think you could do sports for us?" Randolph, who then was 24, recalls being asked. "We have Babe Ruth League baseball and five high schools we cover."
He accepted the job, which paid $1.25 an hour or $10 a game.
His big break came not long after, when radio rights to West Virginia University football and basketball games became available and the owner of Randolph's station won the bid. Randolph was named the play-by-play man for a statewide network.
The football team was 0-8-2 in 1960, his first major broadcasting job.
"Everybody blamed me," he said, smiling.
That network lost the rights after two seasons, and he found himself bouncing around while getting his bachelor's degree from what now is Salem (West Virginia) University. That's when his second big break came.
Dallas days
In late 1963, Randolph heard the Dallas Cowboys' radio play-by-play job was coming open for the following season, so he applied and was brought to Dallas for an interview. He arrived on a Friday afternoon and was told he would have a tryout — by calling the second half of the Cowboys' game two days later.
"I was flabbergasted," he said. "I had no idea it was going to be that kind of an audition."
So it was time to cram. There was no internet on which to do research, no videos to watch on demand. He headed to the team's office to gather information to digest.
"Then I went to a hardware store and made up a spotting board," he said. "I spent all of my next 24 waking hours getting ready."
He did well enough on his tryout to be offered the job, which he took without even knowing the pay for the position that also entailed calling Southern Methodist University basketball games plus other duties. Randolph was unfazed.
"To get to do an NFL team and be in Dallas, I felt it was time to do it," he said. "I was kind of in a doldrum in West Virginia."
There were other considerations. He had just been turned down for a raise in West Virginia after recently becoming engaged, and when he found out his Dallas salary, he said "you bet it was" a nice increase.
St. Louis looms
A few drinks with Buck in 1966 led to Randolph's arrival in St. Louis, the most monumental move of his career. He and Buck were broadcasting a basketball doubleheader in Oklahoma City and afterward were chatting over several beverages when Buck mentioned that the football Cardinals' radio play-by-play job was going to be open.
Buck asked him if he knew of anyone who might be interested in it, and Randolph tossed out a few names while also inquiring about what the job would entail. It was a full-time position that included numerous other duties at KMOX (1120 AM).
"I asked him how much it paid, and it was a lot more than I was making in Dallas," Randolph said. "So I said to him, 'Jack, what's the matter with me?' "
He got the job, and the day after he and Sue married in Dallas, they were on their way to St. Louis, with a one-night honeymoon stop in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Randolph was No. 4 in KMOX's sports department, behind Harry Caray, Buck and Skip Caray. He had been there a little over two years when he was contacted to gauge his interest in jumping to Channel 5 as the sports director — meaning he'd be anchoring sports segments on newscasts.
"I had to think hard about it because KMOX was the gold standard," he said. "I'd never done a scripted news show on TV. When I finally got into negotiations, I asked, what they would pay me — it was four times what I was making at KMOX."
The answer about the offer might have seemed easy, but he wanted Buck's input. They had lunch. So with Buck's encouragement, he made the move.
"Jack had a great deal to do with my success," Randolph said. "He gave me a wonderful amount of time and advice over the years."
NBC assignments quickly followed, creating absences at Channel 5 — the network's local affiliate. That opened a path for Ron Jacober to also make the switch from KMOX to Channel 5, at which he worked with Randolph for 17 years and often plugged Randolph's gaps on sportscasts plus Cardinals telecasts.
"He was like an older brother I never had," said Jacober, now 85. "He changed my career; he changed my life. I don't think we had a cross word in all those years, while my life revolved around his schedule. He's still a dear friend."
Randolph remembers those chaotic times.
"That's when everything went crazy," he said. "I was working 40 weeks a year (for NBC) and doing everything but fixing the kitchen sink. I go from making nothing in West Virginia to NBC in about six years.
"The rest is history."
That history includes doing 19 seasons of Big Eight/Big 12 basketball on those leagues' TV package, and he considers the days then working with analyst Gary Thompson to be a highlight of his career.
"It was like a traveling road show, like 'Monday Night Football' was" in its early years, he said. "Marvelous, marvelous times."
Randolph also covered three Olympics for NBC and had a blast traveling with the Cardinals and announcer buddies Buck and Mike Shannon. There would be trips to play on top-notch golf courses and/or place some bets at big time horse tracks in the daytime, then evenings spent at ballparks. Plus there were many visits to fine restaurants.
"Unforgettable," Randolph said.
The later years
After his days of full-time work ended, he wasn't done broadcasting. He appeared on several local radio stations — most recently a long association with KTRS (550 AM) — did commercials and for 16 years was the in-house handicapper at Fairmount Park for its Tuesday afternoon cards, a run that ended in 2020.
Randolph long has loved horse racing, as did his dad — who introduced him to the sport as a boy at Charlestown Race Course in West Virginia. The younger Randolph spent a lot of time at Fairmount, now-defunct Cahokia Downs and many other tracks across the nation and now has the railbirds' lament: "I spent too much time betting on horses."
But it has been his hobby, as it has been for many in his circle.
In summing his now nine decades up, he again brought the conversation back to others and his family — not career accolades.
"I always tried to be prepared," he said. "I always tried to work with and be as helpful as I could to the people behind the scenes, because they really don't get the credit they deserve for helping us do the job.
"My wife, Sue, she's the greatest influence on me," he added. "She has guided me through so many treacherous waters. She's a brilliant woman, a great lady. I owe her so much."
'Felt really good. Would like to have 2 pitches back': Cardinals' Kyle Gibson on what he should've thrown
How late-game reps, words of advice can play into Thomas Saggese’s growth: Cardinals Extra
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When it comes to the experience that Thomas Saggese’s stay in the majors can provide to the Cardinals rookie, it’s more than just the number of games he appears in that can help him get a feel for the big leagues.
Also, consider the scenarios that those opportunities may come in. Two of the previous three games the 22-year-old appeared in ahead of Friday provide examples.
During games on Tuesday and Thursday against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Saggese was brought off the bench as a defensive substitution at second base. On both occasions, Saggese replaced Jordan Walker in the lineup as Brendan Donovan shifted from second base to left field and Lars Nootbaar moved from left field to right field.
Ahead of Saggese’s first career start at third base on Friday vs. the Cleveland Guardians, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol described Saggese’s opportunities off the bench as one that could pay dividends.
“It’s good for him to be around the staff and the players to finish this year — no different than when Masyn (Winn) did it,” Marmol said. “It’s always good for them to go into the offseason already having experienced it. … There is value in that. But it’s also good for him to come in late in games because you think about it in two ways like just let Jordan finish the game in right and develop as an outfield, but you’re also developing Saggese to come in in meaningful spots and go play defense and the game is on the line.
“There are both sides to that. I think it’s good for him (Saggese) to be able to do that from time to time.”
With Nolan Arenado slotted as St. Louis’ designated hitter in its series opener vs. the Guardians, Saggese received his first chance to play third base at the big-league level. Before reaching the majors on Sept. 10 and starting at shortstop that night, Saggese made 105 starts at third base in the minor leagues along with 106 starts at shortstop and 190 at second base.
“There are different little things for third and the middle infield, and even second and short,” Saggese said before Friday’s game. “But at the end of the day, your job is to catch the ball and throw the ball. A grounder is a grounder. Just be athletic, trust my instincts, and go from there.”
Saggese has appeared in nine of the Cardinals’ last 10 games since his call-up from Class AAA Memphis. He’s started in seven of the games he’s played in. He described the approach to days when he is not in the starting lineup as ones that he looks to take advantage of by learning from the people around him like the veteran players with whom he shares a clubhouse.
“Just soaking up all the information that I can because I want to be that one day,” Saggese said. “I want to be here for a long time. It’s all valuable information that I think is necessary to get to stay here as long as I can.”
Of the conversations that have stuck with him, Saggese highlighted one he had with Cardinals assistant coach Willie McGee on the topic of preparation.
“The biggest thing that stuck out from him was, use everybody else and talk to everybody else, but add it to your thing,” Saggese said the lessons he learned from the former MVP and Cardinals hall of famer. “You don’t have to change it. … That was a huge, huge piece of information for me.
“He’s like you got here for a reason and you have the skill to get here. And now it’s just work, work, work. Just take little bits and pieces from everybody and make it your own. But don’t get away from what got you here.”
Prospect Mathews reaches 200 Ks
With five strikeouts in six innings during a start for Class AAA Memphis on Thursday night, Cardinals prospect Quinn Mathews reached 202 strikeouts for the minor league season.
By reaching the 200-strikeout mark, the 23-year-old Mathews became the 10th pitcher in Cardinals minor league history to reach 200 or more strikeouts in a season and the first across the minors to reach 200 since Arizona Diamondbacks lefty Brandon Pfaadt struck out 218 batters in 2022. The 202 strikeouts tie Mathews for the seventh-most in a single season in Cardinals minor league history.
Mathews and Pfaadt are the only two minor league pitchers to collect 200 or more strikeouts in a season since the start of the 2012 season.
Mathews’ 202 strikeouts lead minor league baseball into the final weekend of the regular season. The 23-year-old and former fourth-round pick in the 2023 MLB draft made his minor league debut this season in Class Low-A. He’s amassed his 202 strikeouts in 143 1/3 innings across four levels. He’ll end the minor league regular season with a 2.76 ERA and an 8-5 record.
Entering Friday, Mathews was third across the minors in strikeout rate (35.4%), third in strikeout-to-walk rate (26.8%) and 12th in batting average allowed (.178).
Game 3 in Springfield
Class AA Springfield hosted Arkansas on Friday at Hammons Field in Springfield, Missouri, for a winner-take-all Game 3 of the Texas League Division Series.
Springfield won Game 1 in Arkansas and lost Game 2 on Thursday 6-9 at Hammons Field. A win on Friday would send Springfield to its first Texas League Championship Series since 2012.
Game 3 between Springfield and Arkansas had yet to conclude at the time of this writing.
If fan base slips into apathy, what can Cardinals do to reinspire?: Best Podcast in Baseball
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A year after "pitching, pitching, pitching" dictated the Cardinals' approach to the offseason, the club faces a far broader challenge this winter.
PR, PR, PR.
Or, as Best Podcast in Baseball guest Brooke Grimsley, noted: "Change, change, change."
The 2024 Cardinals' season comes to a close with the club trying ot break the hold of .500 and avoid a second losing season, what would be the first back-to-back losing seasons in a full schedule since Stan Musial played for the team in the late 1950s. Crowds, like wins and playoff appearances, have dwindled, and the one-off season the Cardinals promised after 2023 has become something more problematic for the club: a trend.
Grimsley, co-host of The Opening Drive at ESPN 101.1 FM/WXOS in St. Louis, said the feedback they've received from listeners and fans suggest that fans are moving from anger to acceptance to something more alarming for any club -- apathy.
With BPIB host and Ƶ baseball writer Derrick Goold, Grimsley discusses what messages and actions the Cardinals could take in the coming weeks and months to reanimate and engage the fan base. They discuss not just player movement and moves but how important comments, direction, and transparency from the front office could be, and what the role media plays in gathering that info and relaying it to fans.
The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the Ƶ, , and Derrick Goold.
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