It’s all Cardinals pitchers in this week’s Friday Stuff, from incredibly obscure to the most famous possible. We examine trades, Hall of Fame votes, and perhaps the most forgotten one-hitter in franchise history. @ibwaa.bsky.social

The Texas Rangers had focused on pitching just once in their first 40 years, and it worked. But then they ignored that and threw a pile of money at Álex Rodríguez anyway. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Relief pitchers aren’t known for their defense, but when you’re 5-foot-8 like Roy Face, you’ll use every little advantage to succeed, including playing your position well. @ibwaa.bsky.social

The postseason tends to make heroes, guys who perform well under that pressure. But it makes some goats, too, and sometimes those are the players you wouldn’t expect. Like Joltin’ Joe. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Eddie Joost had a reputation as a banjo-hitting pest. Then a wartime job built his muscles, and glasses fixed his vision, and suddenly he became something else entirely. @ibwaa.bsky.social

No special theme in today’s Friday Stuff, but tons of great ballplayers, including a couple of Hall of Famers with odd names, a couple of relievers who are more comparable than you’d think, and the great but overlooked Dick Lundy. @ibwaa.bsky.social

I normally don’t use Baseball Remembers on recent players, but Hall of Fame voters seem to have forgotten how good Mark Buehrle was, especially compared to Andy Pettitte. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Baseball cards stopped being just for kids a long time ago, but when you see one from a certain year for a great player it can still launch a lot of childhood memories. @ibwaa.bsky.social

The Chicago White Sox are on the clock, and they would do well to study another #1 overall pick in Chicago to understand the bar they are hoping to clear with this year’s pick. @ibwaa.bsky.social

When someone tweets about a Richie Zisk baseball glove, should I make that an edition of my First Gloves series or an Educating Twitter edition? I couldn’t decide, so I did both. @ibwaa.bsky.social

The used to write newspaper headlines differently, and they stand as cool artifacts now. We include a clip of one with each entry in this week’s Friday Stuff. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Happy New Year! To kick off 2026 we’re playing a guessing game about a pitcher who threw a ton of shutouts after turning 30, but only once he changed his team and his style. @ibwaa.bsky.social

New Year’s Eve is the time to look back at the year just finished, so here’s an unlocked edition counting down the ten most popular editions of Lost In Left Field from 2025. Happy New Year everyone! @ibwaa.bsky.social

Today’s free, unlocked edition is from our archives, about “Golden Boy” Jackie Jensen, and the struggles with mental health that ultimately derailed an excellent career. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Many people running social media accounts with huge followings don’t care about accuracy. They care about money. That’s a shame, because they’re damaging legacies by spreading misinformation. @ibwaa.bsky.social

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! The celebration continues today with a free edition of Friday Stuff, featuring Rickey Henderson, Curt Flood, and the underappreciated Ron Cey. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Merry Christmas! Today, unlocked for all, we look again at the Christmas Day baseball game that drew tens of thousands of fans during the Civil War. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Merry Christmas Eve, everyone! Today we’ve got a free-to-all post from the archives about the infamous “College of Coaches” that the Cubs tried to implement in the 1960s. @ibwaa.bsky.social

It’s odd that Dick McAuliffe had a signature glove, because defense wasn’t his calling card. A signature bat would have made more sense, as McAuliffe was one of the first good-hit, bad-glove shortstops. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Jeff Kent was good at hitting homers, and the Hall of Fame has rewarded him for that. That’s terrible news for second basemen who were good at virtually anything else. @ibwaa.bsky.social

From the best third baseman of the early 1950s to a good fielding catcher who later became a spy, we’re highlighting some of the best Jewish ballplayers ever with the Happy Hanukkah edition of Friday Stuff. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Stu Miller was one of the best relievers of his era, and that’s usually something that gets a player Hall of Fame consideration. But role evolution is a thing Hall voters sometimes struggle with. @ibwaa.bsky.social

With few exceptions, I don’t enjoy being mean to people, especially in my Baseball Remembers series. Alas, I’ve painted myself into a corner, and now I have to be mean to Vince Coleman. Let me explain… @ibwaa.bsky.social

Standards change. Sometimes they’re up, sometimes they’re down, and whether that’s good or not is often just opinion. But one thing is certain; our standards for what makes a baseball star are definitely higher now. @ibwaa.bsky.social

In the 1970s, the Pirates were seemingly strong everywhere in the lineup except shortstop, and that was a hole they created themselves, by trading away the guy who could have solved their problem. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Last week we talked about trades involving Hall of Famers. This week’s Friday Stuff covers guys who weren’t quite Hall of Famers, but were involved in some pretty impactful trades anyway. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Inertia affects all of us, and voters for baseball awards aren’t immune. That’s a major reason why a brilliant defender like Clete Boyer wasn’t recognized with multiple Gold Gloves his play had earned for him. @ibwaa.bsky.social

We conclude this year’s series on the various Hall of Fame ballots with my picks for induction. This year they include a group I haven’t voted for in the past, because I’ve changed my mind about modern pitchers. @ibwaa.bsky.social

We wrap up our look at the returning candidates to the Hall of Fame ballot today, including both members of a Phillies double play combination who have fascinating cases for election. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Today we look at the first group of returning candidates to this year’s Hall of Fame ballot, including a trio of pitchers who may make voters pause and reconsider what makes a good modern-day starter. @ibwaa.bsky.social

This week, Friday Stuff is dedicated to trades involving Hall of Famers, from guys who were washed up to guys in their prime, and even one team that traded away two Hall of Fame outfielders on back-to-back days. @ibwaa.bsky.social

The Hall of Fame discussion rolls on. Today we look at the two new candidates who have pretty good cases, including one that should make the voters stop and reexamine their views on modern starting pitchers. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Continuing our series on this year’s Hall of Fame voting, today we turn to the BBWAA ballot and examine the ten newcomers who most likely will be making their only ballot appearance. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Part Two of this year’s Hall of Fame series takes a look at the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee ballot, and I offer a couple of suggestions for making the entire Era Committees process better. @ibwaa.bsky.social

It’s Hall of Fame season here at Lost In Left Field, and we kick off our annual series by looking at the candidates for this year’s Ford C. Frick Award and the BBWAA’s Career Excellence Award. @ibwaa.bsky.social

I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving! To show my appreciation, today’s Friday Stuff is free to all, and there’s a special offer inside for discounted annual subscriptions. Enjoy, and have a great weekend everyone! @ibwaa.bsky.social

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! In honor of Turkey Day, here again is my profile of the great Turkey Stearnes, unlocked and free to all. I hope you have a day as great as Turkey Stearnes’ career! @ibwaa.bsky.social

While some folks tout Francisco Lindor as a top-5 all-time shortstop and call it nothing but some harmless engagement farming, folks like me recognize the harm in relentlessly dumping misinformation into the world. @ibwaa.bsky.social

In 1945, Chuck Hostetler fell on his face at the worst possible moment and it became his baseball legacy, sadly overshadowing what should have been an inspiring path to the big leagues. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Tomorrow marks the date Lou Brissie died, just shy of Thanksgiving. My guess is he was thankful for his baseball career, or even to be alive. And we should be thankful for people like Lou Brissie. @ibwaa.bsky.social

We’ve got nothing but Rookies of the Year, from future Hall of Famers to guys who won just because of the team they played for, plus great rookies who fell short, all packed into this week’s Friday Stuff. @ibwaa.bsky.social

I wasn’t expecting a cheaply framed “antique” in a Mississippi store to remind me of the Hall of Fame’s indifferent stance on historical accuracy, but here we are. @ibwaa.bsky.social

I got a chance to speak about my book and the Hall of Fame’s handling of players from the Negro Leagues over the weekend. I had a blast, and they were good enough record it. Here are the details, plus info about how to access a sale McFarlane Books is running. @ibwaa.bsky.social

We all talk ourselves into things we shouldn’t. An extra slice of pizza, an impulse buy, things like that. And sometimes baseball GMs talk themselves into terrible deals, like trading away Ozzie Smith. @ibwaa.bsky.social

The American League had a ton of really defensive shortstops in the 1960s, so many that Rico Petrocelli became known more for his bat. In truth, he was one of the better defenders of his era. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Like all of us, Bill James is often wrong. But he’s right more often, including when he noted the silly arguments people put forward as they try to make some players look like Hall of Famers. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Harmon Killebrew in Royals gear. A guy whose father-in-law made him quit baseball. A tragically anonymous death. It’s probably a downer, but it’s the unhappy endings edition of Friday Stuff. @ibwaa.bsky.social

It’s wonderful when fans love a player so much that they’re willing to defend them against even better players. But sometimes that passion borders on the delusional, not only with fans but also with the Hall of Fame. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Rickey Henderson is the answer to most questions about stolen bases, but in today’s unlocked, free-to-all edition we note that Otis Nixon is the surprising answer to a few of them thanks to the remarkable shape of his career. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Ken Raffensberger lived a lucky life. Found by a scout during the Depression, played 15 big leagues years, married over 60 years, five kids, lived to the age of 85. But when it came to winning, he was one of the unluckiest pitchers ever. @ibwaa.bsky.social