Redbirds Fun

Only a few more days until baseball season officially starts.

The News-Leader has a feature story on top draft pick Colby Rasmus.

SportsMemo previews our starting rotation.

I truly hope J-Ed is alright. He's been playing this past spring through some pain.

The Orioles defeated the Cardinals with a score of 3-2. The Fish beat St. Louis with a score of 6-5. This moves the Cardinals to a 14-12-1 record this spring.

Matthew Leach notes that Adam Wainwright is enjoying the bullpen just fine.

"I haven't done it long enough to say I'm a pro at it yet, but I'm pretty comfortable in what I'm doing out there," said Wainwright. "I feel good coming out of the 'pen. My arm seems to like it to. So everything is going good."

Never one with a shortage of confidence, Wainwright said he hasn't surprised himself with the smoothness of the transition.

"I have high expectations of myself," he said. "I expect to come in and pitch well when I'm battling for a job. So it's not a surprise to me. I'm happy with the way things have gone, but it's not over yet either."

For a team that otherwise lacks a strikeout threat in the middle innings, Wainwright could be a major boon. He fell short in the competition for the fifth-starting spot, though it's hard to say that winner Sidney Ponson outpitched him.

It's very likely to be Junior Spivey but second base is still very much out in the open.

A rare thing happened recently. For the first time since March 31, 2004, Albert Pujols struck out during a spring training game.

I have some good news...college basketball season ends one week from today. Now for the sad news, much of my week will go to focusing on a column on Anthony Reyes but I will not stop blogging except for Wednesday in which I take a much needed day of rest.

Can the worm turn? Dan O'Neill believes the worm can turn.

The Cards lost to the Fish yesterday with a score of 9-1. It was not a good day for Mark Mulder. However, the Cards beat the Washington Nationals 7-0 today with a Jason Marquis home run. This brings the record this spring to 14-10-1. I think we'd be seeing a different record had we not had players lost to the World Baseball Classic.

In transactional news, Jeff Nelson was released. Brian Daubach was reassigned to the Memphis Redbirds.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer previews my beloved Cardinals.

KEY OFFSEASON ADDITIONS: SP - Sidney Ponson, RP - Braden Looper, RP - Ricardo Rincon, 2B - Junior Spivey, INF - Aaron Miles, OF - Larry Bigbie, OF - Juan Encarnacion, C - Gary Bennett

KEY OFFSEASON SUBTRACTIONS: SP - Matt Morris, RP - Ray King, RP - Julian Tavarez, OF - Larry Walker, OF - Reggie Sanders, 2B - Mark Grudzielanek, INF/OF - John Mabry, INF - Abraham Nunez

PROJECTED LINEUP: David Eckstein (SS), Larry Bigbie (LF), Albert Pujols (1B), Jim Edmonds (CF), Scott Rolen (3B), Juan Encarnacion (RF), Junior Spivey (2B), Yadier Molina (C)

PROJECTED ROTATION: Chris Carpenter (RHP), Mark Mulder (LHP), Jeff Suppan (RHP), Jason Marquis (RHP), Sidney Ponson (RHP)

PROJECTED CLOSER: Jason Isringhausen (RHP)

I don't think that Spivey will start. He's had a pathetic spring this year. David Eckstein, on the other hand, is having a very impressive spring season.

The rotation is as follows: Carp, Ponson, Mulder, Marquis, Suppan.

Every streak must come to an end. But the streak in question is not one that us Cardinal fans wanted to see ending. Unfortunately, it did. Friday was not a good day for St. Louis.

The NL Cy Young winner, who threw 16 shutout innings in his first four exhibition outings, did well to minimize the damage in the New York Mets’ 12-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday. He allowed the first four batters to reach, threw a wild pitch, made a throwing error and blew a squeeze bunt.

"My location wasn’t as good as I would like," Carpenter said. "My stuff was fine, so I’m not concerned."

I would like to offer my condolences to trainer Barry Weinberg on the loss of his mother.

Matthew Leach's notes on the Cardinals mention the return of Rick Ankiel. Ankiel is one of my favorites and it really pained me when he lost control of his pitches. I hope we find him in the outfield or somewhere in the field regularly.

Cardinals assistant general manager John Mozeliak said Friday that Ankiel could play in a game within the next week. Ankiel sustained a grade 2 strain of his left patellar tendon on Feb. 27 and hasn't played in a game since.

"I think that (situation) has become encouraging," Mozeliak told reporters, following the Cardinals' 12-2 loss to the Mets. "I don't know the exact date that we're going to try to really test it 100 percent, but I think it's sooner than later. If I were going to define that, I'd say probably this week."

That doesn't necessarily mean Ankiel will play in a Grapefruit League game. Instead, the Cardinals might choose to play him in a Minor League game somewhere on the back fields at the Roger Dean Stadium complex.

Jerry Crasnick believes that the Cardinals are the team to beat in the National League.

Sidney Ponson led the Cardinals over the Dodgers with a score of 5-1. The victory moves the Cardinals to 13-9-1.

Mark Mulder starts against the Marlins later today.

I hate starting off with bad news so I'll start off with better news. I'll be writing about my beloved St. Louis Cardinals for Baseball Bias.

As you know by now, Anthony Reyes was sent down so that means that Sidney Ponson will be getting the fifth starting position for the Cardinals. Adam Wainwright is still competing for a bullpen position for the Cards. Despite Reyes being sent down to Memphis, I am not getting rid of him on my fantasy baseball team in the Cardinals Diaspora league. He is too good of a player to let go.

On Wednesday, St. Louis lost 9-3 against the Washington Nationals. On Thursday, Suppan picked up the start against the Los Angeles Dodgers and we won 4-2. Carp starts against the Mets today. Currently, the Cards are 12-8-1. Ponson starts tomorrow in a game against Los Angeles. You can watch that back in St. Louis on KPLR (WB-11)

The Cardinals have returned Juan Mateo to the Chicago Cubs.

FoxSports.com previews the pitching rotations for every team.

The only starting positions that need to be settled are left field and second base. The battle for left field is between So Taguchi, Larry Bigbie and John Rodriguez. It's likely that Tony La Russa will have all three of them platoon. The fight for second is down to Junior Spivey, Aaron Miles, and Hector Luna. Well, so much for Larry Bigbie for the time being. He'll be out for two to three weeks.

Are the St. Louis Cardinals ready? You bet that they are.

Monday was NFL day for the St. Louis Cardinals as Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick were both in attendance.

Steve Kline is looking to regain his old form.

Gordo wants to play GM.

The USA Today previews the St. Louis Cardinals.

Who will be starting at 2B?

This answers the question with regards to the 5th starting position.

The St. Louis Cardinals gave Sidney Ponson their fifth starting spot on Tuesday when they optioned prospect Anthony Reyes to Triple-A Memphis.

The Cardinals also optioned left-handers Tyler Johnson and Carmen Cali and catcher Michael Hernandez to their minor league camp. Plus, manager Tony La Russa said right-hander Adam Wainwright, who had also been in contention for the fifth spot, is now trying out for a bullpen job.

The Cardinals are 10-8-1 as Jason Marquis takes the start against the Washington Nationals.

Been busy watching the NCAA Tournament.

The Cards lost to the Orioles on Thursday with a score of 4-2.

Mark Mulder's agent was spotted at camp.

Allowing that "no negotiations have taken place so far," agent Greg Clifton emphasized that Mulder's preference is to remain with the Cardinals and that the absence of talks to date has little significance.

"We're prepared to communicate with the Cardinals whenever they want to communicate," said Clifton, who also represents lefthanded starters Tom Glavine and David Wells. "This is about getting done what Mark wants to accomplish. And he's made clear he'd like to stay in St. Louis. It's a great place for him."

Thursday saw a lot of Hall of Famers at the game.

Jeff Suppan started on Friday against the New York Yankees and the Cards won 5-2. Carpenter started on Saturday against the Orioles and the Cards shut out the O's 7-0. Sidney Ponson started yesterday against the Braves. Anthony Reyes pitches today against the Braves on the ESPN televised game.

Jeff Gordon takes a look at a lot of the pitchers.

Yadier Molina is back with the Cardinals after the WBC.

Albert Pujols is back in the camp as his team is no longer playing in the WBC.

The Cardinals are currently 10-7-1.

Due to the NCAA Tournament, blogging will be light in order for me to watch the games.

The theft of the birds starts an ad trend.

Rick Ankiel will start the season on the DL.

The Cards are 7-6-1 before they played the Orioles. Wainwright started today and Marquis started for the Memphis Redbirds. Suppan starts tomorrow. Yesterday was a tie in ten innings.

For the first time since I bought it, I finally was able to watch Busch Stadium Memories on DVD. I watched it all and cried some especially when they showed clips of Jack and Darryl.

Red Schoendienst is enjoying his 64th year of spring training.

"I just like still being around, seeing who's who and keeping up with what's going on," Schoendienst said while watching practice from a golf cart Tuesday.

Schoendienst, 83, was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1989. He managed the Cards to a World Series title in 1967. In that memorable series Bob Gibson — who is in camp as a special instructor with the Cards — faced Tiger Denny McLain in epic match ups.

This spring, Chris Duncan has hit four home runs.

Want your own Fred Bird? Well, now you can. Or when you can. But you have to get to Busch Stadium first.

Build-A-Bear Workshop hopes to hit a home run with Cardinals fans and expand its baseball mascot business by opening a make-your-own Fredbird store inside the new Busch Stadium, the company said Tuesday.

The new location means that Overland-based Build-A-Bear will have five exclusive stadium mascot stores by the end of the year. The company opened its first mascot store in 2004 in Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park and followed in 2005 with locations in Cleveland's Jacobs Field and Cincinnati's Great American Ball Park. In the upcoming baseball season it also will open a store in San Francisco's AT&T Park.

Shawn Bertani, a company spokeswoman, said there also are plans to open a regular retail store in Boston's Faneuil Hall Marketplace, near Fenway Park. It will be the only location where an exclusive mascot will be available outside a stadium.

Jesse Schoendienst is taking after his great uncle.

"He hasn't made it out here yet," Jesse said on Sunday from Norfolk, Va., where the Monarchs had completed a three-game sweep of George Mason to run their record to 17-3 this season. "He's pretty busy with his family and everything. I went out to Illinois where I grew up in hopes of seeing him last Christmas, but he was away with his family."

Jesse said his great uncle works as a special assistant for the Cardinals and is in Florida for spring training.

The Cardinals made Jesse a 40th-round draft selection last June, although the 5-foot-11, 165-pound Schoendienst hit only .276.

Jesse was set to sign a contract with St. Louis, but the Cardinals wanted him to stay at Old Dominion for his final year of eligibility.

"They like my quick hands and my defense," he said. "But we basically had a deal. They wanted me to go back [to school] and get a little bit stronger and work on my hitting a little bit.

"I was basically ready to go, but they said, 'We'd rather see you play another full year there and after your season there, we'll probably try to work on something and sign you before you go back to the draft pool next year [this June].'"

We have about three weeks to go before opening day.

On Wednesday, workers began laying Kentucky bluegrass for the new Busch. The work comes less than three weeks before the first game in the $400 million stadium - an exhibition contest between the Cardinals' top two minor-league teams, Triple-A Memphis and Double-A Springfield, on April 4.

The first real game is April 10, the defending NL Central champions' home opener against Milwaukee.

By midday Wednesday, the infield was already a picture-perfect blue-green, with outfield work to follow.

Joe Abernathy, the Cardinals' vice president of operations, shielded his eyes and pointed to an outfield fully bathing in the sun's rays. Unlike the old Busch, the new stadium has an open plaza beyond the outfield walls, allowing in the sun and wind.

"In the old stadium, right field was a constant problem for us with the shadows," Abernathy said. "We think with the sunshine and the ventilation in this stadium, the grass will have a better chance of surviving."

St. Louis beat Florida 2-0 in ten innings today. The Cards are now 8-6. I expect that they will have a better record once Albert Pujols comes back. Jason Marquis will start tomorrow against the Baltimore Orioles.

Tony is an animal lover. I'm a dog lover myself. I miss mine right now - he's like a brother to me.

Mark Mulder starts tomorrow against the Marlins.

Sorry about the lack of updates and if I have not commented at your blog lately, I apologize.

Mark Mulder started on March 10th against the Mets in which the Cards won 11-3. Jason Marquis started on Saturday against the Orioles. Jeff Suppan started yesterday. Chris Carpenter started today. Sidney Ponson starts tomorrow against the Yankees.

Mulder talks golf and pitching.

So Taguchi was re-signed for a one year deal. Brian Daubach is having a great preseason.

The Springfield Cardinals will honor Chris Lambert with his own official bobblehead day this season.

On Saturday, Jim Edmonds played his first preseason game this season.

Baseball balancing act: Cardinals Hall of Famer Bob Gibson and starting pitcher Jason Marquis joked before the game in the locker room about the rigors of balancing baseball with family life. "If [my wife] can find a way to make $5 million, then I'll be happy to stay home," Marquis said.

Dog lover La Russa: Before the game, La Russa was paid a visit by the Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League in West Palm Beach to do a photo shoot. La Russa, wearing his Animal Rescue Foundation ("ARF") necklace, rolled around with Jake, an 8-year-old boxer up for adoption.

Braden Looper is glad to be back with the Cardinals and he hopes to finish his career with the Cardinals. Larry Bigbie feels at home with the Cardinals.

Going into Sunday, the Cardinals were 5-5. Scratch that, 5-6 after the loss yesterday. They are 6-6 with today's victory.

Don't expect to purchase a luxury box at Busch anytime soon. Check out some of the sponsors while you're at it.

From the Bank of America replays to two Hardee's branded concessions and Big Mac Land, most of the St. Louis Cardinals' former advertisers and sponsors are following in the steps of Anheuser-Busch and making their presence known at the new Busch Stadium.[...]

Anheuser-Busch, Bank of America and Coca-Cola are the top sponsors, all holding exclusive sponsorships in their respective categories, although the Cardinals declined to disclose the value of the agreements. Included among their sponsorships will be the Coca-Cola Rooftop Deck and Scoreboard Patio beyond center field, similar to Power Alley at the old stadium, and the Bank of America Club, similar to the old Batter's Eye Club, at loge level above third base.

Other returning exclusive sponsors include Ford, AT&T, MasterCard, Casino Queen and BJC Health Systems.

The new partner at the park is U.S. Cellular, which signed a $5.2 million, five-year deal last month to be the Cardinals' exclusive wireless sponsor. U.S. Cellular, which entered the St. Louis market in July, already is the exclusive wireless provider for the St. Louis Rams and has its name associated with numerous sporting facilities, including the Chicago White Sox's U.S. Cellular Field.

The Cincinnati Enquirer accuses St. Louis of making fun of them. Looks like someone declared war between the Gateway City and the Queen City.

Due to college basketball -- which is life where I come from -- posting will be light this weekend.

The Cards are 3-4 as Anthony Reyes takes the start against the Marlins' Ricky Nolasco.

Mulder starts tomorrow against the Mets.

Sick of reading about Barry Bonds? For all that I care, he lied under oath and should be put in jail.

Does Tony LaRussa have a rock music blog? I checked it out and the answer is no.

As of last night, the Cards are 2-4 in the preseason. Not having Pujols does not help matters. Carp starts today against the Nationals. Anthony Reyes starts tomorrow against the Marlins.

The final score was 12-8, moving the Cards to 2-3 in preseason play. Suppan starts against Brett Tomko today.

Carp goes tomorrow.

Wayne Hagin is back as the play-by-play man only this time it is for KPLR WB 11.

Under the arrangement, Hagin will serve out the final 2006 contract of Bob Carpenter, who was released from his contract recently to accept a position calling about 150 games for the Washington Nationals.

"Given the last-minute departure of Bob Carpenter, we had to look quickly to find someone who was familiar with the Cardinals, who is experienced in the baseball broadcast booth," said Cardinals President Mark Lamping, in a statement.

Hagin called the past three Cardinals seasons on the radio. He will join Rick Horton for one preseason game and 41 regular season games on WB 11 and Cardinals Television Network.

The St. Louis Cardinals are confident about the 2006 season.

Yesterday, the Cardinals won 6-3, moving their record to 2-2. Jason Marquis starts against Jim Johnson. Jeff Suppan starts tomorrow against the Dodgers.

Giants have six ex-Cardinals.

There is a different product from the Gateway to the West that Giants general manager Brian Sabean likes to collect: baseball players. Visit the San Francisco clubhouse and it strikes you with the force of a dozen Clydesdales.

The room is teeming with former St. Louis Cardinals.

If Jamey Wright makes the team there will be six of them, about one-fourth of the 25-man roster. Four of them -- Matt Morris, Mike Matheny, Steve Kline and Jeff Fassero -- played for the 2002 St. Louis team that lost to the Giants in the National League Championship Series. The sixth is Mark Sweeney.[...]

"It wasn't by design," Sabean said when reminded how many Cardinals he now employs. At the same time, he said, "I have the utmost respect for that team, almost equal to my respect for the Braves, which is saying a lot and is duly considered when you look at everybody's resume."

These are not bit players. The Giants signed Morris for three-years and $27 million to be a top-of-rotation starter. Matheny's importance as the starting catcher is obvious. Kline, just acquired from Baltimore for LaTroy Hawkins, replaces Scott Eyre, one of baseball's best left-handed setup men in 2005. Sweeney is here to nurture first baseman Lance Niekro and lead the pinch-hitting corps.

That they all emigrated to San Francisco, some directly, some via other teams, bespeaks the respect Sabean has for his St. Louis counterpart, Walt Jocketty, who has held his post two years longer than Sabean has.

Even Jocketty was surprised to hear the Giants' Opening Day roster might feature six of his former players.

"It's interesting," he said by phone from Jupiter, Fla. "I think our two teams have been kind of similar in a lot of respects. Brian and I operate in very similar ways putting our teams together. I'm not surprised he has interest in the same players we have."

Players come and players go; every GM knows that. But Jocketty said Morris' departure was a particularly harsh blow because Morris was the first player Jocketty selected in his first draft, in 1995. Jocketty said he feels that way even while acknowledging he did not make a competitive offer to keep the onetime 20-game winner. Morris has said the Cardinals made him feel unwanted after eight seasons.

As such, when Morris signed with San Francisco, some Giants fans wondered if Jocketty knew something Sabean didn't. It's not like Sabean could call Jocketty and find out why he was not prepared to offer Morris three years.

Jocketty said when it became clear Morris was leaving St. Louis, he advised the pitcher's agent, Barry Axelrod, to choose San Francisco over his other suitors (including Seattle, Texas and Cincinnati) because "I know Brian real well, he's a great GM. They'll treat him right, it's a very good organization and it's a great ballpark for him to pitch in."

Morris dresses in a corner of the Giants' clubhouse that could be called Redbird Row. He sits next to Matheny and Kline, with Sweeney just around the corner and Fassero down a few more cubicles. All but Sweeney contributed to the Cards' recent run of division titles. He made his big-league debut with St. Louis in 1995 and played on its 1996 NLCS team. Wright was a Cardinal for just four games in 2002.

The influx of former Cardinals is "a testament to these guys, what they can do for you when they play on a winning team," Matheny said. "The experience you have when you win is invaluable in what you bring to a team and the longevity of your career. Once you get labeled as part of a winning tradition, it doesn't do anything but help you out personally, which ends up helping the team."

Fassero, a Cardinal in 2002 and 2003, put it another way.

"It's a whole lot more fun winning than losing," he said. "If you bring that kind of attitude in your clubhouse, it can't do anything but help."

Fassero views the organizations as "more similar than different. They're pretty fair with the players here and they were fair in St. Louis. You don't get abused here and you didn't get abused there.

"As far as the clubhouse goes, they let us be professionals. They're not sitting there hovering over us telling us what to do, babysitting us. I've been on teams where managers just want to babysit us and be in the clubhouse and dictate everything that goes on. They don't let you be your own man."

Both organizations want to return to the World Series, and Jocketty knows his team might have to beat the Giants in the postseason to get there. He laughed when asked what it would be like at the NLCS if he looked into the opposing dugout and saw six ex-Cardinals.

"It would be very strange," Jocketty said, "but I hope we have that opportunity, for the both of us."

New Busch will be both a hitter's and pitcher's park.

In spring training, the Cards are 1-2. Jason Marquis starts tomorrow against the Baltimore Orioles. Mulder (3), Carp (15) and Sidney Ponson (24) could get to 100 career wins this season.

I haven't checked but I assume it is standing-room only that is left.

In the Grapefruit League, the Cardinals lost 9-0 against the Florida Marlins today. They beat the New York Mets yesterday 11-8.

I've read where So Taguchi is trying to make the starting lineup.

Mark Mulder starts against the Marlins on Sunday.

The Cardinals lost 12-7 yesterday to the New York Mets.

Carmen Cali, a FAU alumnus, is hoping to make the roster.

Carp starts today against Yasaku Iriki. Sidney Ponson starts tomorrow.

KTRS takes over radio broadcasts tomorrow.

Get them while they are hot!

Paul Konerko thought that the St. Louis Cardinals would have won it all.

We saw the St. Louis Cardinals winning it all. White Sox captain Paul Konerko saw, well, the St. Louis Cardinals winning it all.

"I thought the Cardinals probably had the best team overall," he says. "I thought we were right next to them … right there."

The New Jersey Cardinals are relocating.

Curve Baseball LP, which operates the State College Spikes Baseball Club, announced it has completed its purchase and relocation of the former New Jersey Cardinals, following receipt of final approval from the New YorkPenn League, Minor League Baseball and the Baseball Office of the Commissioner.

In October, Curve Baseball LP President and managing partner Chuck Greenberg announced that his ownership group had entered into an agreement to purchase the Augusta, N.J., franchise with the intent of moving the St. Louis Cardinals' short-season Class-A affiliate to State College for the 2006 New York-Penn League season. The requisite baseball approval process was completed Wednesday.

Jeff Stanek calls it for St. Louis in six games.

There, in six games, the Cardinals will finally prove that they are more than just a great regular season team. Too long have the Cardinals not played to the potential in the playoffs. In 2006, the St. Louis Cardinals will finally win the World Series.

Today, St. Louis played the New York Mets in an exhibition game.

Jeff Suppan started against Steve Trachsel. Carp takes the mound tomorrow night.

The Cards beat FAU 6-1 in front of 4,832 fans.

The first day of exhibition games and outfielder Rick Ankiel went down with an injury that will keep him out for two weeks.

Team orthopedic surgeon Dr. Robert Shively confirmed the diagnosis shortly after the team’s Tuesday game against Florida Atlantic University and estimated Ankiel would be sidelined for at least 10-14 days.

"We’ll be able to tell you in 10 days to two weeks as to how well he responds," Shively said. "If he responds well then… it’s not a big deal."

Ankiel apparently sustained the injury when chasing a fly ball hit by outfielder Larry Bigbie during the Monday scrimmage. "I turned and my cleat stayed planted," said Ankiel, who called the sensation a "tweak" but allowed it had not eased overnight.

Shively stopped short of describing the strain as a tear. "It all depends on how you classify strain. A strain can be a lot of flavors," he said.

Rick, we're all praying for a speedy and hopeful recovery.