Cardinals' strong first impression shows how to grow a team. Can they regrow the crowds?

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It would be difficult for the Cardinals to script a better opening weekend for their "transition" year that an emphatic sweep of the visiting Minnesota Twins. The Cardinals got sturdy performances from the starters, stellar play from the defense, and 19 runs in three days from the offsenese. Lars Nootbaar ignited the weekend with a run scored in three of the Cardinals' first four games, and Victor Scott personified the three-game series sweep of the Twins with a dynamic catch in the opener, two stolen bases in the middle game, and the decisive three-run homer in the series finale.

The Cardinals put on a show.

And some of the smallest crowds in Busch Stadium history were there to see it.

How can the Cardinals grow a team and regrow the crowds? Will one assure the other, or are the Cardinals entering more than a "transition" year in the front office and actually embarking on a whole new product to sell fans?

Maybe reset wasn't the word after all. This is a rebranding.

Post-Dispatch sports columnist Jeff Gordon joins Best Podcast in Baseball host Derrick Goold to discuss the first four games of the Cardinals season and how they came a late-game bullpen leak away from starting 4-0. The Cardinals established their identity early, and the question becomes whether they can maintain it to be competitive in the National League Central. But that isn't the only question. Competitive is quaint. Competitive is the expectation. Moving merch is essential. Will a style of play be enough? Will winning be enough? After several years of selling nostalgia to fans, the Cardinals need more than a clear message about the future.

They need a brand new way to market the team.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold. In its 13th year, BPIB drops weekly and is eager to hear from listeners about what it does well and what it can do better. Yes, we're especially talking to you -- the listener we have in Ireland.