Yankees' Paul Goldschmidt breaks silence on emotional Cardinals return

Yankees' Paul Goldschmidt breaks silence on emotional Cardinals return originally appeared on The Sporting News

The St. Louis Cardinals have seen a lot of veterans leave over the past several years, and following the 2024 season, Paul Goldschmidt departed in free agency, signing a deal with the New York Yankees.

For the first time since joining the Yankees, Goldschmidt returned to St. Louis. In a piece from Jeff Jones of MLB.com, Goldschmidt's comments on his emotional return to a city he called home for six years.

"Driving in today, this was my drive every day for six years; it's pretty cool," Goldschmidt said. "Probably just a lot of positive memories to try to block out the bad ones. Just all great memories, the great games, the relationships I have with all the guys over there."

After spending more than half a decade with the Cardinals, it's no surprise that his return as a former player was an emotional one. There are a lot of his former teammates in the Cardinals' dugout, and that is something that Goldschmidt emphasized.

"I have so many fond memories," Goldschmidt said, "so many lifelong friends over there in that dugout."

But, even though the reunion is touching, Goldschmidt will do everything in his power to make sure he beats his former team.

"That's going to be fun, but once the game starts," Goldschmidt said, "you know how serious I am. I want to always go out there and, number one, try to win. I'll say hi to people before or after the games, but I've got a job to do."

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During his six-year Cardinals tenure, aside from his 2022 MVP award, he had 874 hits, 495 runs scored, 179 doubles, 153 home runs, 477 RBIs, and had an .843 OPS across six years and 836 games played.

He's spent eight seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks and six with the Cardinals, and now, he's in the American League with the Yankees. He's having a solid year and is a big contributor to the Yankees' success in 2025.

His return to St. Louis isn't the first time he's experienced returning to his former team's stadium, as he's done so plenty of times with the Diamondbacks. But it's his first return to the Cardinals.

In the first game of the series, he didn't get an at-bat as he's nursing a mild sprain in his knee. But, he did come in as a defensive replacement late in the game, and helped the Yankees win 4-3 over the Cardinals.

Amid his return to St. Louis, Goldschmidt was retrospective and looked back on his time with the Cardinals fondly. While they came up short in the postseason, his six seasons in St. Louis were a big success and well worth the trade and contract the Cardinals spent to bring him to St. Louis.

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