Hi, this is Bob Ryan with this week’s SPORTS REWIND…the title this week is IT’S SUNNY, RAINING OR CLOUDY!… Sooo..here we go…

Sure, it’s late Fall with Winter knocking on the door, but right now, in the StL Sports World, IT’S SUNNY, RAINING OR CLOUDY! You know what I mean…when it’s SUNNY—things are going well, probably even VERY WELL, RAINING on you = things NOT going well and CLOUDY is the when there is “change in the air” as troubles seem to be on the horizon…sooo…take a look.

…What a fantastic VERY SUNNY WORLD SERIES it was from start to end!   The Dodgers were seemingly “out of it” when Toronto took a 3-2 lead after 5 games. LA won Game 6, 3-1 with all the runs of the game being scored in the 3^rd inning!  Great Pitching on both sides!

…Then the unbelievable Game 7… The Dodgers 5-4, 11-inning victory. Clearly go down as one of the best SUNNY MOMENTS of MLB World Series history. Considering the setting—Game 7 of the World Series, it was really very special. But it wasn’t the only good game. Already some are already calling the 2025 Series, one of, if not the best, All-Time great World Series.

…Speaking of the best.. how about these Shohei Ohtani Series batting numbers… average-.333; On-Base %-.500(so he got on base ½ of his at bats!!!); Slugging % of .778  and On-Base+ Slugging (OPS) of 1.278!!! This was on the biggest stage of the Baseball season! WOW!! That deserves a 2^nd WOW!!

…Here’s a bit SUNNY news about the Cardinals… Shortstop: Masyn Winn, was a Named as the Gold Glove winner in the National League. His range, strong arm, dependability as a defender were factors in this prestigious award. He was the only Cardinal to win a GOLD GLOVE in 2025. The last GOLD GLOVE CARDINALS WINNERS were Nolan Arenado & Brendan Donovan in 2022. Can you imagine that in 2021 the Cards had 5 Gold Glove winners?  They were Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, Tyler O’Neill, Harrison Bader  & Tommy Edman! That year the Cards posted a 90-72 record as they finished in 2^nd place in NL Central!! At 23 years, 191 days old on the final day of the 2025 regular season, Winn is the youngest Cardinals player to win a Gold Glove Award, per the Elias Sports Bureau, and the fourth Cards shortstop to win the honor. Other SS winners were Edgar Renteria in 2002 and ’03, Ozzie Smith from 1982-92 (what a stretch of years) and Dal Maxvill in 1968.

…We were spoiled a long time by the St Louis Cardinals Shortstops with a long string of SUNNY years, the Cardinals  & those SS, really spoiled us. Take a look at the years from 2000-2025. There were Cardinals post season years of 2000-2006, 2009, 2011-2015, 2019 and the last time was 2022. That run of success made it almost seem to be an “automatic” in the Lou that we’d be watching baseball in October.

… But, since 2022, things have been very RAINY for the Cardinals.  In 2023, the Cardinals dropped way off to a 71-91 record-5^th in NL Central Division. It was Ollie Marmol’s 2^nd year as manager. In 2024, the Cards bounced back over .500 with a 83-79 mark-good for 2^nd place in the Central; this past season-2025 the Cards posted a 78-84 record. It was CLOUDY,  not horrible, but really not GOOD. The Cardinals finished 4^th in the NL Central while finishing 19 games out of 1^st place. Looking at the team stats for 2025 National League-15 teams, the Cardinals batting stats were 12^th in runs scored, 9^th in batting average, 12^th in OPS, 11^th in stolen bases, 13^th in drawing walks.

… the faithful Cardinal fans have shown their feelings, not just by their words alone, but by their ghost-like attendance at home games. In 2019, STL had an amazing, SUNNY total of 3,480,393 fans for the season—2^nd highest in the MLB that season! That’s really incredible when considering the size of the STL metropolitan area (including St. Charles). 2020 was the wiped out season due to Covid sooo  NO FANS due to COVID. In 2021, there were 2,102,530 fans for the season. It’s very easy to see that the Lockout of 2021-22 really, really hurt the entire MLB at the gate. Cards saw a drop of 1,377,863. That’s a staggering drop of 39.5%!!!

…But the drop has continued in St. Louis. 2022 saw Cards attendance at 3,320,551, 2023- it was 3,241,091, in 2024 attendance was 2,878,115 fans  and last year, 2025 it fell to 2,250,007. So, the drop from 2022 to 2025 was a drop of  approximately 1/3! OUCH!

…Soooo, since the attendance has dropped, one could expect a drop in expenditures (since the Owner’s goal is to make money). Last year, the Cardinals were 16th^th of 30 teams in total payroll with their $131,152,698 payroll

…But then things began to RAIN. Tony LaRussa wore the Cards hat as manager from 1996-2011. Some people liked him…some did not. I did! Coupled with COVID, there was a change in leadership in the dugout.   Just check his career record. LaRussa took the Cardinals to the post season in 9 different seasons. Take a look at those SUNNY SEASONS–The Cardinals’ postseason appearances under La Russa were:

1996: Won the NL Central; lost the NL Championship Series. 2000: Won the NL Central; lost the NL Championship Series; 2001: Won the NL Wild Card; lost the NL Division Series; 2002: Won the NL Central; lost the NL Championship Series; 2004: Won the NL Central and NL Pennant; lost the World Series; 2005: Won the NL Central; lost the NL Championship Series. 2006: Won the NL Central & World Series; 2009: Won the NL Central; lost the NL Division Series; 2011: Won the NL Wild Card and World Series. Were we spoiled …or what?

…So….that’s far more than any manager riding the same group of players to the post-season for 2-4 years. This is NOT a knock on any of Tony’s successors. But, rather to illustrate his sharp skills in the dugout & off the field. There are all different levels of being GOOD! Tony was close to the highest form of GOOD in my opinion.  I also suspect that Tony had some input with the General Manager regarding formation of the roster during this tenure. There’s no question that Ollie didn’t have a strong roster in 2025 or for that matter at ANY time of his tenure.

…The last time the Cardinals won the NL Championship Series(series just directly prior to World Series) was 2013. Hence, their last World Series (winner of NL Championship game) was also 2013. But those SUNNY DAYS are almost completely shielded by the CLOUDY DAYS currently. To some, it seems that .500 has become the goal for 2026.

…More RAIN in the CARDINALS NEWS—  The Cardinals recently announced that Lars Nootbaar had surgery on both of his heels to shave down Haglund’s deformities. The timetable for his recovery is uncertain at the moment. Some are speculating that the Cards might non-tender Nootbaar to save $5.7m. In addition, he is thought to be heading to arbitration this off-season.  That often seems to become a headache along with bad press.  For his career, Lars Nootbaar owns a .242/.341/.406 slash line, good for a .747 OPS.

…When considering the idea of non-tendering a player and letting them walk, value has to come into play. Organizations will be quick to non-tender a player if the value, they believe they will get on the field from them, is less than what it will cost to pay them. In the case of Lars Nootbaar, it would take an even greater disaster of a season than what he experienced in 2025 for him not to be worth his current arbitration estimate. Nonetheless, I think that the Cards may look to trade him instead of non-tendering him.

….On the SUNNY SIDE, Winning CAN BE DONE & IS BEING DONE with smaller payrolls. The Milwaukee Brewers amazingly are#22 in MLB team payroll @ $121,018,720 ($10m less than the Cardinals).  Check out the recent Brewer records: 2025– 1st Place; 2024: 1st Place; 2023: 1st Place; 2022: 2nd Place; 2021: 1st Place. Now…I can’t decide if it means Milwaukee is THAT GOOD or that the NL Central is just that bad! Things are very, very SUNNY for Milwaukee right now, while the Cardinals still seem to have some RAINY  days ahead of them when it comes to grabbing wins.

…Mizzou football is playing under RAINY TIME  these DAYS also. The loss to Vanderbilt was a tough one. Vandy jumped right past the Tigers in the weekly polls. The heart-breaking last second, 2 yard short of a TD, made it real tough to for Mizzou swallow. This CLOUDY week off, gives MU an opportunity to plan, heal & practice well for the next opponent is #3 ranked Texas A&M. The Aggies bring in an 8-0 record, are ranked in the Top 5 at the moment (depending on the poll). The Tigers will definitely need a SUNNY, VERY SUNNY performance from all components—offense, defense, special teams to win. A loss, A huge RAINY DAY, makes the hopes of reaching the NCAA Final 12 teams land in the RAIN!

….Going through some very RAINY DAYS are the St Louis City SC. City fired the Sporting Director, Lutz Pfannenstiel, on August 25, 2025. It’s not really current news, but City really, really needs to recapture the excitement & enthusiasm that hovered around City Park in its opening years. Last year was another RAINY YEAR.  City posted a disappointing season with 8 wins, tied 8 games and lost 18. For the season they were outscored 58-44. So, 44 goals in 34 games isn’t going to win you many games, since that’s 1.3 goals/game.  I know very little about soccer but I do know that goals are precious. I don’t know how to do it…but go out and find some, maybe even just ONE, big scorer that can become a strong offense force. Of course, the costs for those higher scorers is on a much higher scale than most other players.  I know it’s easier said than done and that City has probably been working hard to do …but if you open up the wallet a bit wider, it can be done (at least I hope so) and it’d bring many more SUNNY DAYS in the future.

…The excitement of opening day is long gone as the Blues are playing in a HEAVY RAIN right now! As I write this the Blues hold a 3-7-2 record and they sit in LAST PLACE in the Central Division. To be completely honest, probably ALL parts of their game could be improved but there are some real problems. However, the defensive play seems to be a biggest negative at the moment. The Blues have given up 51 goals in their first 12 games..ouch!  That’s 4.25 goals/game. Far too high to have a winning team!

.. To my eyes, the Blues defense has the RAIN FALLING DOWN ON THEM. They appear to be much slower on their skates this year (especially the older veterans). The opponents’ offensive players seemingly just whisk right by them. Blues head coach Jim Montgomery has publicly expressed frustration with the team’s overall

… defensive play (for good reason). Take your pick..almost any defender could be chastised.  However, Veteran Justin Faulk seems to have lost noticeable speed (probably due to age) and we’ve  seen his play sag. Another Veteran, Colton Parayko, seems to be in a CLOUDY WAY. He’s up & down in performance for the Blues.

… I must note that HC Jim Montgomery has encouraged Parayko to crash the net when the opportunity presents itself.  That maneuver encouraged by Montgomery, does make it more difficult for Parayko to scamper back on defense quickly. I guess it’s a matter of trying to maximize the offense (which is struggling). Ya know, when your team is losing, you try to “push” even more out of your best players, even if it does result in some “counter” moves that hurt your team. All this being said about the defense, when the offense has scored 29 goals (2^nd lowest in the division) The miracle post-season of last year seems to have disappeared quickly here in the early part of 25-26 season. It’s a long season though,  sooo… we’re hoping for some SUNNY days from the Blues in the upcoming weeks. From my view, the Coaching is NOT the problem. HC Jim Montgomery is a good, probably even a very good Coach. Our problems, don’t lie in his shoes.

…SUNNY days are ahead for the SF Giants & their new manager (at least they hope so & I think so)-Tony Vitello.  Vitello will be the 1^st college HC to jump directly into a managerial position at the MLB level. Vitello was head coach at the University of Tennessee for 7 seasons. He led the Vols to a national championship in 2024 and multiple SEC titles. Vitello piled up a fantastic record in his 7 years at the helm. He posted an overall record of 341-131 and was 125-85 in SEC competition. He led the Vols to a national title in 2024 along with multiple SEC championships.  With respect to player development, he saw 52 of his players selected in the MLB Draft and helped lead the program to three Men’s College World Series appearances in 4 years, including its first national championship in 2024.Tennessee is the only program in the nation that has appeared in the super regionals in each of the last 5 years.

…But it was in his blood long before that…Vitello’s father, Greg coached baseball @ Desmet HS for 46 years. No… that’s not a typo—46 years!

…But it could bring CLOUDY results…..I believe Vitello’s knowledge of the game, his strategy, his enthusiasm, and energy are all good..but can he manage adult men? MLB players’ life & career are at stake with many of them having multiple years under their belt.  Most, if not all, hold contracts are far exceed the salary of the new man. Can he gain their respect is the question? And…he will have to GAIN it…just because he’s the manager, doesn’t make the players respect him at the MLB level. Like all other managers, he’ll have to WIN to gain respect. It’s funny, players blame managers when they are on a losing team. But, when the WIN, it’s because of the players!! 😊

…Nonetheless, it will have to be a different relationship than a college manager with his players. The relationship between players & managers at the MLB level doesn’t have to be buddy-buddy but there must be respect on each side for the other side. The first 2 months of the season could really be crucial for the Giants & Vitello. Only time will tell if Vitello’s success is SUNNY, RAINY OR CLOUDY I wish him luck!

…It’s feels like RAIN to me to see that some people are upset with the Dodgers because they placed Sandy Koufax in the row behind BEHIND Prince Harry & Meghan Markle at a world series game. Come on… there’s way too many things in the world that are real problems w/o being upset about sitting in the 1^st or 2^nd row at a sports game!! The only exception would be if they were in front or you and they stood up and were 6ft+ tall throughout the entire game—like I did at a City soccer match!!! Have a good week and I’m encouraging you to respond to any part of this REWIND! You can’t be wrong…it’s YOUR opinion! It can be SUNNY, RAINY or CLOUDY! 😊   Bob