Change and Renewal: 1996 and 2026

Thirty Years of Spring Training Baseball

Mark Bausch

February 10


In November 2025, my Mother passed away. She was preceded in death by her husband (my Father), who passed in May 2021.

As I write this, the remains of both Catherine and Carl Bausch (Captain, USMC) are contained in small, separate wooden boxes no more than a few feet from where I am currently sitting.

The process that aims to transfer those boxes from my home to their final resting place (the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery) has been initiated, a process that has catalyzed all manner and form of life's memories.

In part because both Catherine and Carl were born and raised in St. Louis, some of those memories include thoughts of Cardinals baseball (although to be honest, apparently Mom's favorite St. Louis team was the Browns!).

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Born in 1934, Dad was 51 years of age in 1985, the year of the infamous Cardinals-Royals World Series.

The day after the Don Denkinger Game Six call-at-first-base debacle, the Royals won Game Seven (an 11-0 shutout) and therefore clinched the Series.

So after leading the Series three games to one, the Cardinals lost. It was a stunning defeat.

I recall talking with Dad, on the phone, during the late innings of Game Seven.

In the moment, I was surprised that he was not outwardly upset with the outcome of Game Six or even the overall outcome of the Series.

But after Game Seven was already out of hand, manager Whitey Herzog inserted Joaquin Andujar as a middle reliever.

And after home plate umpire Denkinger, in the view of Andujar, missed a couple of pitches, Andujar lost his cool--not once, but twice, and directed his ire at the hapless Denkinger.

The standard definition video that night was an awful look for the Cardinals, as reported by Ron Fimrite (Sports Illustrated): “The Cardinals were truly a sorry sight this night. Only a few days earlier they had seemed certain Series champions. Now they were exiting as buffoons.”

That night, Dad was clear about the worst part of the 1985 World Series (in his mind): as a Cards fan, he was embarrassed by Andujar's meltdown in Game Seven.

He also made a prediction: "Whitey will trade Andujar this off-season. Mark my words."

Dad was right. On December 10, Herzog traded Andujar to Oakland for catcher Mike Heath and pitcher Tim Conroy.

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Midwestern winters can be long and hard, and the tick-tock of an approaching Valentine's Day signifies the start of baseball's Spring Training.

My first Spring Training was 1996, and the big league Cardinals were training at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg, FL.

What follows is my recollection of my very first Spring Training experience...the very first time sometime in March 1996.

I arrived at Al Lang after that afternoon's game, and after picking up a credential for the week, I made my way down to the Cardinals clubhouse.

The clubhouse was dark, and empty...save for one ballplayer: Ozzie Smith.

As I approached The Wizard, he was standing in the center of the room, fully dressed and brushing his hair.

Ozzie greeted me with a smile. It was as if he was waiting for someone.

We spoke for five minutes or so before a visitor entered, a visitor wearing blue jeans.

It was first-year Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, who requested that he be allowed to speak privately with Smith.

Request granted.

Later I found that La Russa's purpose that day was to inform Smith, in person, that he (Smith) would not be required to ride the bus to the next day's away game--a privilege often afforded veteran players each March.

But there was tension in that room, that day in March, tension that exploded later in the 1996 regular season, Smith's final season prior to his retirement.

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Also from my first Spring Training...March 1996.

In December, 1995, the Cardinals signed free agent third baseman Gary Gaetti.

Gaetti, a native of Centralia IL, grew up rooting for the Cardinals and made his feelings about playing for the Redbirds crystal clear one afternoon.

While still wearing his uniform jersey in the general area of the clubhouse, he crossed paths with manager La Russa.

Gaetti, who at that time was beginning his sixteenth big league season, smiled, looked directly at La Russa, pointed at the 'Birds on the Bat' on his own jersey--and stated with pride: "I'm playing for the blankety-blank St. Louis Cardinals now."

It was as if Gaetti couldn't believe his good fortune.

That day in March, 1996, Gaetti gave voice to deep feelings that my father expressed about the Cardinals in the wake of the Andujar outburst in Game Seven of the '85 World Series: a very prideful view of the franchise.

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February 2026 marks thirty years since my first Spring Training.

A lot has changed. As far as the Cards spring headquarters are concerned, St. Petersburg is now Jupiter...and this spring...Jupiter is becoming a new Jupiter.

The off-season prior to 1996 was an important one for the Cardinals, still-new principal owner Bill DeWitt Jr. and still-new GM Walt Jocketty.

Along with signing Tony La Russa as manager and Gaetti to play third base, Jocketty signed free agents Ron Gant, Willie McGee, and Andy Benes, and traded for Todd Stottlemyre and Dennis Eckersley.

All of these acquisitions (along with Ozzie Smith, who had a banner 1996 season) played roles in the Cardinals falling just one game shy of qualifying for the 1996 World Series.

1996 was a good year, a very good year...and nearly a great year for the Cardinals.

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On the other hand...

The Cardinals, in the off-season prior to 2026, have re-invented the term 'roster makeover'.

Perhaps the best way to evaluate what the team's current roster looks like to examine the salaries for the current forty man roster (via Spotrac):

In 2026, thirty-one of the forty players are signed to earn $820,000 each, while C Yohel Pozo will earn $850,000.

Together, these thirty-two players will about $23M.

2026 salaries for the other eight players on the forty-man range from $12M (Dustin May) to $2.3M (Matthew Liberatore); together, these eight players (May, Lars Nootbaar, JoJo Romero, Andre Pallante, Ryne Stanek, Alec Burleson, Nolan Gorman and Liberatore) will earn about $40M in 2026 salary dollars.

Total 2026 salary dollars for the current Cardinals forty-man roster and the other four NL Central teams?

Cards    $063M
Cubs     $190M
Reds     $116M
Brewers  $089M
Pirates  $112M

Significantly, the Cardinals 2026 salary dollar obligations (including the now-traded Nolan Arenado, Willson Contreras and Sonny Gray) TOTAL $103M, $40M of which is owed Arenado, Contreras and Gray.

Remember that when reading that the Cardinals 2026 payroll may dip below $100M for the first time since...whenever.

It already has cratered, in terms of 2026 Cardinal players ($63M) only, playing for the Cardinals in the 2026 season.

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The transformation that the 2026 Cardinals roster is undergoing is long, long overdue.

Organizational decisions on Jordan Walker, Nolan Gorman, Victor Scott II, Pedro Pages and Ivan Herrera (and even Lars Nootbaar) can and should be made in 2026, a process made much easier with the removal of Arenado and Contreras from the roster.

All of which brings me back to this piece, and 'Change and Renewal'.

In the year or so after Dad's passing (May 2021), Mom continued to follow major league baseball in general, and the St. Louis Cardinals in particular.

When we met she always asked about the Cardinals and had various questions about the manager, specific players, and even details about the broadcasters.

But as she approached ninety years of age, her ability and/or desire to follow the Redbirds dwindled, a fact that became obvious when, in the middle of the 2024 season (Walker's second), I printed a picture of Jordan Walker and presented it to her.

When it became obvious that Walker's name and image did not register...I knew.

Change and Renewal.

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My next Cardinals report for stlsports.com?

Dateline Jupiter.