DOWNTOWN — Anthony Reyes bee-lined out of baseball and straight to the beach when last season was over.

Proving he’d rather have sand in his shorts than thoughts of his season in his mind.

“I didn’t think about it one bit,” he said this weekend at the Winter Warm-up when asked about his 2-14 season that saw him seesaw from the majors to the minors and sink in performance. ”I went home and went straight to the beach and tried to forget everything.”

Well, everything but one thing.

One question continues to gnaw at him: Where did that fastball go?

Reyes burst into the majors several seasons ago as the Cardinals top pitching prospect — top prospect overall, really — and buried Milwaukee in his debut. The hotshot righthander with the crepe-flat brim and ring-tail stockings burned batters with a four-seam fastball he could elevate for the strike out or bore in on the hands. He offset that with a changeup he had confidence in and a curve he knew needed work.

He was successful. He was confident.

And he was neither in 2007.

“I kind of went home and erased everything that I did that year,” Reyes said. ”Just kind of started from scratch.”

Reyes’ goal this offseason is two-fold — to have fun throwing the ball again and to rediscover his fastball. In the minors, Reyes has been able to fire a fastball that pushes it to an above-average pitch. In the majors, that same fastball hums at slightly less than 90 mph and has been imminently hittable. He agrees with Tony La Russa and Dave Duncan’s assessment — it’s not only about velocity.

It’s also command. Reyes struggled to locate his fastball to any other location but up in the zone. He couldn’t tickle the corners. He couldn’t find the lower zone. He’s spent this offseason working toward finding command first and hoping velocity follows.

“My biggest thing is command,” Reyes said. ”I didn’t have the command that I’m used to having. I’m out there now just playing long toss (and) trying to get my feel back for my fastball. I’d like to start using it more. That’s the pitch I used to throw to get ahead of hitters and then I’d use my other stuff as kind of put away pitches. Just trying to get my fastball back has been my main goal in preparing for this season.”

*** 

In addition to telling us he called off elbow surgery this winter, Albert Pujols joked that he’s now the old man in the clubhouse. “Me and Russ Springer are going to have to take over the clubhouse,” he said.

***

The Cardinals have hired Mike Aldrete as an associate hitting coach. Aldrete will help Hal McRae work with hitters. While Aldrete will be in uniform before games, he will not be during games. He’ll work with hitters in the cages while McRae steers batting practice, or vice versa. Aldrete will also help with scouting and may station himself in the video room during games to work with hitters. La Russa said adding the position was something he got approval from ownership to do when they negotiated his new two-year deal.

In what La Russa called “a complete coincidence, but a nice one”, Aldrete was Troy Glaus’ hitting coach in Arizona. 

*** 

A question asked Sunday of Jay Randolph and Rick Horton compelled manager Tony La Russa to leap from his autograph session and take to the stage to give his opinion on the matter. The topic: Scott Rolen. Of course. The MLB.com fellas, including Matthew Leach, got the details of this crowd-pleasing exchange, one Randolph later described to me as lighthearted.

A fan asked about what happened between Rolen and La Russa and why they just couldn’t get along. Randolph and Horton explained how even the best relationships go sour. Alpha player. Omega manager. Etc. Etc. Eventually the personalities clash and they don’t give an iota about each other.

That was when La Russa left his signing behind to take the stage, and say, breezily:

“The Cardinals have a history of taking the absolute best care of their players and Scott Rolen got the best care possible,” La Russa said. “He made a very big mistake.”

Rousing applause ushered La Russa back to his table.

***

Will be at Winter Warm-Up all weekend, filing live updates into the blog from press conferences and panels. On Monday, I’ll be hosting a panel for fans at noon. It’s opposite Tony La Russa’s Q & A on the main stage and Albert Pujols signing autographs. So choose wisely … and get back to me if they say or do anything newsworthy.

-30-