I was checking out at the local grocery store outside of downtown St. Louis a few weeks ago when a person approached me and asked what I thought the Cardinals would do this offseason. He had the usual questions: what to know about the front-office transition, which players could be traded this winter and what all this means for the direction of the franchise.
We were two strangers, but we chatted like we were old friends. After a couple of minutes, he bid me farewell, and we were on our separate ways. Interactions like this happen often in this city.
St. Louis didn’t earn its moniker as a baseball town for nothing.
I wrote this in my introductory column to the Cardinals beat, when The Athletic first hired me nearly five years ago: “Baseball is the sport for the impassioned, and what better city to exemplify that than St. Louis?”
I did not know at the time just how much that statement would ring true.
There is something special about beat writing in a town that lives and breathes with each game of the season. Cardinals baseball isn’t just a hobby. In this city, it’s essentially a way of life.
I think that’s what I’ll miss the most.
My time on the Cardinals beat has come to an end. Starting this week, I’ll be switching to The Athletic’s Los Angeles Dodgers beat. I’m elated to move back to my home state and cover one of the most influential organizations in professional sports, one that’s in the midst of a pretty special run. To do this alongside the talented Fabian Ardaya, who is both an excellent reporter and friend (go Sun Devils), makes this opportunity all the more exciting. There will be plenty of time to dive into the Dodgers and what comes next for the back-to-back champs, and I can’t wait to do so. But that’s not the purpose of this column.
The purpose here is to simply say thank you.
It still feels surreal that I have a job in the sport that I grew up loving. Early in my career, I made it a goal to try to learn something new every day, and every day since joining the Cardinals beat, I have had the privilege of doing exactly that. I am thankful to have worked with a fair front office, a trusting and respectful player clubhouse and a (very) patient manager and coaching staff, all of whom went out of their way countless times to make that possible.
I met my best friends in St. Louis. I worked with the most insightful, caring (and hilarious) broadcasters in the business. I have shared way too many late nights/early mornings in the press box with my beatmates, who have made me laugh until I cried and challenged me in ways that have made me better. So much of this job revolves around the people you do it with, and I’m grateful to have worked with such wonderful people within an organization I will always regard as professional (even if that organization didn’t always love what was written about them).
But I don’t get to do this job without a platform, and that platform exists because of this fanbase. A common note fans have sent me involves this specific era of Cardinals baseball, and how disappointed I must be to have covered a historically successful team during a rare down era. While I understand the sentiment, truthfully, I don’t view it that way at all.
We shared a historic 17-game winning streak to clinch a playoff berth in 2021. There was so much to love about 2022: the Cardinals won the division, Paul Goldschmidt beat out Nolan Arenado to win the National League Most Valuable Player award, and not only did Albert Pujols come back to St. Louis, he also hit 700 home runs (plus three more).
We witnessed Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina set a record that will likely never be broken. We watched all three — Pujols, Wainwright and Molina — walk off of Busch Stadium together, one final time. We didn’t know at the moment that the scene would mark a significant turning point in this franchise’s history.
We were there for Wainwright’s 200th career win, a feat that becomes rarer by the year. We were also there for the worst Cardinals season in 30 years, one that resulted in the first selling season in John Mozeliak’s decorated tenure. We thought maybe the 2023 season was a fluke, and the team could find a way to bounce back the following year.
We found out quickly that wouldn’t be the case. A drastic change in player development was needed. A change in leadership would follow. Now, after an unorthodox transition year, a new era is set to begin.
No, we didn’t experience a playoff win (but hey, we did have eight strong innings in Game 1 of the 2022 Wild Card Series! We just won’t talk about the ninth!). While I know I would have enjoyed covering a long playoff run, I feel lucky to have covered this team at all.
Regardless of the record, the last five years will serve as one of the most impactful periods in this organization’s long-storied history. It will be fascinating to look back upon this time a decade from now and see what’s transpired since. I look forward to following along from afar.
I’m grateful to have written this team’s story for as long as I have, and I’m floored that this fanbase took in a 24-year-old California girl with minimal (read: zero) beat writing experience and made St. Louis feel like home. Through it all, this job never stopped being what I always imagined it would be: a dream. That is thanks to you.
Dodger fans, I’m excited to get to know you, and for the opportunity to cover the most powerful team in the sport (just don’t ask me what team I grew up rooting for). There is something exhilarating about starting somewhere new: The challenges, the relationships, and most importantly, the stories. All I’ve ever wanted to do is write baseball stories. What a joy it’s been to do so about the Cardinals. What a thrill it will be to do so about the Dodgers. What a ride this has all been thus far.
I’m ready to get to work on what’s next.