Thomas Saggese flips the script with questions for BPIB and a new position for Cardinals

About this episode

Thomas Saggese discusses his transition to center field and explores the complexities of MVP and Hall of Fame voting.

JUPITER, Fla. -- Thomas Saggese has questions for the host of the Best Podcast in Baseball. Moments after finishing his first ever start in center field for the Cardinals, Saggese joins baseball writer Derrick Goold to talk about the transition to a new position and how much work he wants there before playing it in the regular season. But that's not all. Through the years, Saggese has often shifted interviews to ask great questions he has about history, statistics, and specifically voting for the MVP, other awards, and the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He was invited on the podcast so he could flip the script and ask those questions as part of a conversation. What follows is a deep dive into the decisions that go with a ballot, whether it's the MVP ballot or the Hall of Fame. The conversation explores how measuring a player with statistics contrasts with how a player measures themselves. Saggese talks about how he values batting average but avoids looking at it, and how when he's thinking about hitting he's seeking feel. Goold wonders what the reaction would be if he explained his votes for MVP and Hall of Fame by saying it just "felt right." And yet there's more common ground…

People in this episode

Host: Derrick Goold

Guest: Thomas Saggese

Topics covered

• baseball
• MVP voting
• Hall of Fame
• player statistics
• position transition

Keywords

• Thomas Saggese
• Derrick Goold
• MVP
• Hall of Fame
• baseball statistics
• batting average
• player evaluation

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Places: JUPITER, Fla.

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