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When former Cardinals MVP and current New York Yankee Paul Goldschmidt sat in the visitors dugout at Busch Stadium surrounded by reporters before Friday night’s series-opening game, it prompted some wheels to turn in this noggin.

“They remember everyone here,� Goldschmidt said of fans at Busch Stadium. “The fans are amazing here, and that’s what makes it one of the best places to play.�

While some people will retain immense respect and a strong sense of admiration for Goldschmidt’s exploits and the way he carried himself on and off the field during his time in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ and the impact he had on people at all levels of the franchise, I fear he won’t be remembered as the relative giant he was because of the team’s shortcomings.

Goldschmidt came to the Cardinals via a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks that included catcher Carson Kelly and pitcher Luke Weaver (now Goldschmidt’s teammate with the Yankees) in December 2018.

A veteran already established as one of the top all-around players in the game, Goldschmidt brought a figurative duffle bag with him from Arizona containing six All-Star selections, four Silver Slugger honors, three Gold Glove awards, more than 200 home runs and better than 700 RBIs.

Goldschmidt also served as a beacon that signaled ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ as a viable and desirable landing spot for star third baseman Nolan Arenado when he accepted a trade from the Colorado Rockies to the Cardinals.

In six seasons with the Cardinals, Goldschmidt batted .278 with a .360 on-base percentage and a .483 slugging percentage. He belted 153 home runs, registered 477 RBIs, won a Gold Glove, a Silver Slugger and the 2022 NL MVP award.

Goldschmidt became the 18th Cardinal to win the MVP, the first since Albert Pujols in 2009. Goldy’s star shined bright even during the 2022 season when Cardinals fans bid farewell to homegrown icons Yadier Molina and Pujols.

Goldschmidt didn’t come up through the minors with the Cardinals, so that somewhat colors people’s perception of him as a Cardinal.

While Willie McGee and Adam Wainwright began their professional careers in other organizations, they were acquired as minor leaguers and began their big-league careers as Cardinals.

“The Wizard� Ozzie Smith spent the first four seasons of his major-league career with the San Diego Padres, but his final 15 seasons came with the Cardinals. Smith remains synonymous with the Cardinals.

Jim Edmonds and Matt Holliday established themselves as top-tier players with clubs, but they remain largely viewed as Cardinals and firmly claimed by ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½.

Holliday just barely appeared in more MLB games for the Cardinals than for teams not named the Cardinals (Rockies, Oakland Athletics and Yankees), though Holliday came up through the minors and rose to stardom with the Rockies.

As far as time in the majors, Holliday spent eight seasons with the Cardinals (982 games) compared to six with the Rockies (723).

Similarly to Goldschmidt, the majority of Holliday’s individual accolades — his batting title, three of his four Silver Slugger awards, his runner-up finish in the NL MVP voting (2007) and his only two 30-homer seasons — came before he joined the Cardinals. Holliday also went to the Yankees after his time in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½.

When you stack them up against one another, Holliday’s Cardinals numbers and Goldschmidt’s are very similar.

As a Cardinal, Holliday slashed .293/.380/.494 for an .874 OPS, a 142 OPS+, 156 home runs and 23.0 wins above replacement (WAR) per .

That’s compared with Goldschmidt’s .278/.360/.483 for an .843 OPS, a 131 OPS+, 153 home runs and a 22.6 WAR in two fewer seasons.

The real difference in the way Holliday gets remembered as an all-time Cardinal legend and an eternal fan favorite comes from postseason success.

Holliday’s Cardinals went to two World Series and won one in 2011. Holliday batted .294 with a .419 on-base percentage in the 2011 postseason.

The farthest Goldschmidt’s Cardinals advanced in the postseason came in 2019, when they made it to the NLCS and were swept by the eventual World Series champion Washington Nationals. Goldschmidt batted .270 and slugged .541 in that postseason, his best with the Cardinals.

Goldy played in nine playoff games that year, and he played in just six more across three additional postseason appearances during his time in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½.

When asked by my colleague Benjamin Hochman about whether he said “what ifâ€� when he thought about his time in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½, Goldschmidt rejected that phrasing though acknowledged it was a “disappointmentâ€� not to win a World Series as a Cardinal.

I have little doubt that folks within the Cardinals will appreciate and recognize the influence, impact and overall humanity Goldschmidt brought to the organization. You need only ask manager Oli Marmol or a former teammate like Brendan Donovan, who views Goldschmidt as the model of how to conduct yourself, to get a small sense of that.

No, my dismay is that the sports memory Cardinals fans have of Goldschmidt will take away from his feats rather than exaggerate them, and I think that’s more a product of the organization’s shortcomings than of Goldschmidt having a few rough days in a two-game or three-game playoff setting.

Neither Goldschmidt nor Arenado will truly get remembered the way they should or at least could have been, and that might be the biggest shame of this latest era of Cardinals baseball.