Sep 26, 2026 · 1h 0m
Forgotten Cardinals reveal how sports memory gets made
50 Forgotten Cardinals: Will Saulsbery on St. Louis Legends
The episode connects overlooked baseball careers to the storytellers, institutions, and changing economics that determine which athletes endure.
- 1Will Saulsbery’s book recovers unusual Cardinals careers that conventional histories often leave behind.
- 2Broadcasters, writers, documentaries, and social media can elevate athletes from statistics into lasting cultural memory.
- 3The conversation links historical sports storytelling with St. Louis’s uncertain professional-sports future and college athletics’ unsettled NIL economy.
Don't miss
Saulsbery traces the book back to a Baseball-Reference rabbit hole about Icebox Chamberlain, showing how one obscure name opened 140 years of Cardinals history.
The brief
Will Saulsbery joins Sports Chasers to discuss 50 Forgotten Cardinals, a book built from overlooked careers, eccentric characters, and 140 years of St. Louis baseball.
A Baseball-Reference rabbit hole beginning with Icebox Chamberlain led Saulsbery to define “forgotten” broadly, then narrow a sprawling history to 50 players.
The episode argues that athletic memory is made by more than performance: Tony La Russa, Bob Costas, broadcasters, writers, documentaries, and social media all shape who lasts.
Saulsbery explains how he balances accuracy, entertainment, and respect when writing about players, then applies that same listening discipline to ghostwriting and interviews.
The discussion widens from Cardinals history to St. Louis’s prospects for an NBA team, the Rams’ departure, and the unsettled economics of NIL.
The standout idea is simple: championships and iconic moments create immortality, but careful storytelling can return overlooked athletes to the record.
Books & mentions
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