Daily Dirt for Monday, Nov. 10, 2025

Cubs are No. 6 in those same rankings …  Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 1,456 of The Daily Dirt.

1. If you’re a Cardinals baseball fan, you may want to brace yourself.

“It feels like the Cardinals overachieved to even finish 78-84,” writes David Schoenfield of ESPN.

And it may get worse. Much worse.

ESPN ranks St. Louis No. 26 among the 30 MLB teams in its first Power Rankings of the offseason. The only teams the Cardinals are ahead of in that breakdown are rebuilding Minnesota, the Los Angeles Angels, Washington, plus woeful Colorado.

“The Cardinals’ young players simply haven’t taken off and the team lacks any semblance of a star player,” Schoenfield continued. “If 2025 was a ‘hold steady’ season, 2026 looks more like a rebuilding year.”

The St. Louis pitching staff ranked 29th in the majors in strikeout rate and its offense ranked 29th in home runs. Those are two categories that trigger wins and losses in this era.

“Now Chaim Bloom takes over as head of baseball operations and the Cardinals will apparently be willing to include cash in deals for Sonny Gray (one year left at $35 million) and Nolan Arenado (two years left at $42 million total),” Schoenfield said.

Stay tuned, it’s only early November.

For those who are curious, the Cubs are No. 6, the Royals No. 11 and White Sox (who have lost 100-plus games three straight seasons) No. 24 in those ESPN rankings.

2. Did you know (Part 543)

— That Chuck Norris can slam a revolving door.

— That Chuck Norris knows Victoria’s secret.

— That if it looks like chicken, tastes like chicken, and feels like chicken, but Chuck Norris says it’s beef, it’s beef.

— That 43 years ago you were going to the record store (remember those?) to buy “Love’s Been A Little Bit Hard On Me” by Juice Newton, “Heat Of The Moment” by Asia, “65 Love Affair” by Paul Davis, “Leather And Lace” by Stevie Nicks and Don Henley, “Hold Me” by Fleetwood Mac, “We Gor The Beat” by the Go-Gos and “Always On My Mind” by Willie Nelson.

— That a “blatherskite” is a person who talks at length without making any sense, “huckmuck” is the feeling of confusion that arises when things are not in their right place and “malneirophrenia” is the unhappy feeling of waking up from a nightmare.

3. A few years ago, Rolling Stone magazine asked its readers what their least favorite songs of the 1960s were.

These were the results:

1. “Yummy, Yummy, Yummy” by The Ohio Express: Yes, I’m rather biased because the Ohio Express was from the town where I went to high school back in Ohio. That aside, this was a GREAT song at the time. It put the bubble in bubble gum … and set the stage for follow-ups from the group like “Chewy, Chewy,” “Mercy, Mercy” and “Pinch Me (Baby Convince Me)”. Ahh, those were the days, my friend. We thought they’d never end.

2. “Honey” by Bobby Goldsboro: If I never hear this song again, it will be too soon. Ugh.

3. “MacArthur Park” by Richard Harris: I may have been the only teenager who actually like this strange interpretation, but I did. It was a bit long, though.

4. “Cherish” by The Association: Granted, I became extremely sick of this song during its heyday, but a spot in this type of top 10? I don’t think so.

5. “Revolution 9” by the Beatles: Even the Fab Four recorded an occasional dud.

6. “I’m Henry VIII, I Am” by Herman’s Hermits: Well, no argument here. How this effort even reached radio has always been beyond me.

7. “Sugar, Sugar” by the Archies: Pure lunacy. Another of my all-time bubblegum favorites. I nearly wore this record out. And I was not alone. It was Billboard’s No. 1 song in 1969.

8. “I Got You Babe’” by Sonny and Cher: Who was voting? Holy crap. This was a No. 1 song, and years later, Cher re-recorded the song with — drum roll, please — Beavis and Butt-Head.

9. “Surfin’ Bird” by The Trashmen: This is a crime. “Surfin’ Bird” will always be one of those garage-band classics.

10. “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” by Tiny Tim: Very deserving of a place in the top ten, probably should have been higher.

Steve Thought O’ The Day — Maybe the Cardinals should hire Chuck Norris.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. Sadly, Whitey Herzog ain’t stepping back into Busch Stadium any time soon.