Ignition switch: From sparking lineups with 'Leadoff Man' author to thawing a chilly Hot Stove

A discussion the Cardinals and a chilly Hot Stove eventually ignites with this completely unrelated question: How far into your list of the best players in the history of Major League Baseball do you get before mentioning Rickey Henderson?

He's the all-time leader in runs, he's the greatest leadoff hitter in the game's history, and he almost lapped everyone but Lou Brock when it comes to career stolen bases. 

The name of the game is scoring runs, and few (if any) did it better than Henderson.

That's part of the discussion with Matt Snyder, CBS sports writer and author of the new book, "The Leadoff Man: The history of, the evolution of, and fun with the greatest catalyst in sports." (The book is available here.) In his book, Snyder chronicles the changing nature of the leadoff spot, from the speedy contact hitters of yore to the bashers and mashers of the modern game, from the tradition of putting infielder there regardless of their ability to get on base to the analytics of prioritizing the most at-bats for the player who makes the fewest outs. Henderson leads the way with a style of play that was both ahead of his peers and ahead of its time.

At about the 23-minute mark, the conversation speeds from leading men to discussing the current offseason and the Cardinals' willingness to trade their leadoff man, Brendan Donovan. The Hot Stove has been sluggish, even stagnant. And that prompts an impromptu suggestion for how to spur deals during the winter meetings with tools already present in the current Collective Bargaining Agreement. No cap needed.

Although talk about a cap is going to dominate the next 11 months, and that is where the podcast hurries toward its conclusion by describing how it's not the tycoon-like Dodgers that signal the lack of competitive balance and economic concerns about the game. The Cardinals could be the canary.

To which, Snyder flips the question: How deep into a list of the most recognizable baseball teams does one get before naming the Cardinals?

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In its 13th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.