TOWER GROVE — John Smoltz, the St. Louis Cardinals’ recent booster shot for their rotation, freely admits that he’s had a lot of time to think about things in his highly decorated major-league career, and one day he decided to figure out his personal odometer.

For every year of his big-league career but this one, Smoltz had the same route to the ballpark. It was a 70-mile round trip from his house to the parking lot at either Atlanta Braves ballpark he called home. Between starts he decided to calculate how many miles he’d covered on that same path. Take the 35 miles one way. Multiply by 81 home games a season. Add the Braves constant presence in the postseason. Carry the gridlock that can add an hour to the journey. Divide by the number of cars used ..

“And it’s about 120,000 from my house to Turner Field or the other place,” he said.

He knew the route well.

And then there was this past Tuesday, which became an adventure in GPS.

As Smoltz attempted to navigate his way from the place he’s taken in St. Louis to his new ballpark, Busch Stadium, he ran into detours and turns and that were as unfamiliar as the potholes he encountered as a starter for the Boston Red Sox. He said his satellite co-pilot kept telling him to take Interstate 64, and anyone who knows Interstate 64 as Highway 40 also knows you can’t get here from there on that road. Not for another few months. Smoltz tried to follow his GPS, but the road said no.

There is a tortured metaphor here and far be it from me to pass it up.

Coming off shoulder surgery for the first time in his career, Smoltz has spent the season trying to find a new way to get familiar places. The righthander will make his home debut as a Cardinal tonight, and he does so coming off his most successful start of the season. Yes, it goes beyond the tipping of pitches. It really comes down to the movement on his pitches, which had never been as sharp and biting as it was last weekend in San Diego. Smoltz said he’s heard about the reception he’s likely to receive tonight, and before we move on to his pitches, here’s his thoughts on his debut:

“I’m one of those high-anxiety guys who loves the moment,” Smoltz said. “But sometimes I can get too amped up. … The bigger the moment, though, the more I’m relaxed. For the seventh game of the World Series I’ll be much more relaxed than I will be going out Friday.”

On with the 10@10 …

1. What Smoltz discovered when he returned from shoulder surgery wasn’t that his arm strength was lacking or that his arm slot was missing, but that he couldn’t do some of the finer things in his mechanics that made his pitches dance. His delivery would pull off, keep him from extending. To borrow again from the road-map metaphor, Smoltz was telling his arm and hand to do things that would, say, make his split-finger fastball snap and he kept running into Highway 40-like closures. He had difficulty “finishing” his pitches, and that gave them flatter or less crisp movement. Smoltz said one of the things he’s had to do this season and learn what his shoulder will allow him to do and adjust — find a new way to make his old pitches work within the parameters of his health. There were “breakthroughs along the way,” he said, “and I’m better for it.” Count his recent bullpen among those. Encouraged by his five shutout innings against the Padres and the sizzle on his splitter, Smoltz attempted to integrate a sinker into his array during his previous bullpen. He hadn’t tried before because he wasn’t sure he could get the movement. He flipped a few Tuesday because … he’s found a new way around the roadblocks.

2. We know that three veterans will be among the September additions when rosters expand: Troy Glaus, Kyle Lohse and Todd Wellemeyer, all of whom will be returning from the disabled list. Manager Tony La Russa said he’s met with GM John Mozeliak and plans to meet with his coaching staff to get a feel for the number and names of September callups the team will bring up. A third catcher is a certainty, but that third catcher could be outfielder Nick Stavinoha. Adding a player, like Allen Craig, to the 40-man is not necessarily an issue because he has to be added this coming winter to be protected. Lefty Jaime Garcia (because of injury) and righty Eduardo Sanchez (because of age and control) have support for promotions, but there is hesitance to push both of the pitchers that much in 2009 when they should focus on 2010. And all of that is backdrop for a poll to last the weekend:

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3. About this time last year, there was a lot of hoopla and hullabaloo about Manny Ramirez and his big-splash debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers. His jag to begin his Hollywood career slingshot the Dodgers into the postseason, and there were multiple debates popping around sports journalism on whether that was enough to put him in the National League MVP conversation. Ditto with Milwaukee pitcher CC Sabathia. Ramirez, who played about a 2/3 of the games in the NL that Albert Pujols did, finished fourth in the MVP voting for what he did down the backstretch. That brings us to Matt Holliday. Holliday hit his seventh home run as a Cardinal on Thursday, and he has 29 RBIs in his first 31 games. If Ramirez is the trade-surge test case, then here is how they both compare through their first 31 games with the new teams:

Ramirez in 2008 … 31 games w/ LA … .414/.500/.748 … 17 xb, 10 HR, 29 RBI

Holliday in 2009 … 31 games w/STL … .378/.442/.672 … 19 xb, 7 HR, 29 RBI

4. There have been plenty of mentions this past week about the Cardinals’ record in games started by Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright and Joel Pineiro since July 1. It’s now 28-4. It’s 23-9 in games started by Wainwright all this season. But what about the position players? The Cardinals are 73-54 in games that include Pujols for a winning percentage of .575. Of players who have played in 25 games or more this season, Pujols ranks seventh by winning percentage. The top five:

• Matt Holliday … 22-9 (.710)
• Julio Lugo … 18-9 (.667)
• Brian Barden … 33-19 (.635)
• Mark DeRosa … 24-16 (.600)
• Brendan Ryan … 59-41 (.590)

5. Familiarity breeds an antidote. With a hitless game Thursday, Albert Pujols is hitting .179 against the Houston Astros this season. Only Alex Gonzalez, the former Cincinnati Reds shortstop, has a lower average among players in the division who have faced the Astros regularly. Despite going hitless, Pujols did inch his way into a little history Thursday. He scored his 1,046th run — which puts him behind only Ted Williams when it comes to scoring runs in the first nine seasons of a career. According to ESPN research, here are the five players who scored the most runs in their first nine seasons since 1900:

Ted Williams … 1939-50* … 1,164 runs

Albert Pujols … 2001-09 … 1,046 runs

Earl Averill … 1929-37 … 1,045 runs

Joe DiMaggio … 1936-47* … 1,036 runs

Paul Waner … 1926-34 … 1,023 runs

The * designates players who missed time in their first nine seasons for military service.

6. Shortstop Brendan Ryan extended his hitting streak the hard way Thursday, coming in late as a defensive replacement in a double switch and then singling in his first at-bat. Ryan brings tied both a season- and career-best with a hit in his ninth consecutive game. He’s 13-for-32 in the nine-game stretch, and he has a slash line of .406/.457/.625. The only shortstop in the National League that is hitting better than Ryan this month is Florida’s Hanley Ramirez, who is running away with the batting title. Ramirez is hitting .439, Ryan .367.

7. A few days after his pick for the Arizona Fall League was announced, Class AAA second baseman Daniel Descalso was selected for the Team USA roster that will go to the 2009 World Cup competition. Descalso is one of 23 players selected to play on the national team in the 38th playing of the International Baseball Federation’s biennial world championship. The U.S. team also includes Pirates top prospect Pedro Alvarez and Houston top prospect Jason Castro. The tournament is in Europe from Sept. 9-27, and the U.S. team will begin play in Germany on Sept. 10.

8. FARMNIK REPORT: Shortstop Tyler Greene, mentioned above as a September callup, homered twice as Memphis put on its second power show of the week in a 11-7 victory. Troy Glaus hit his third home run of his rehab assignment, and Allen Craig (No. 24) and David Freese (his eighth) also homered. Toss in leadoff hitter Jon Jay’s two-hit day and the top five hitters in the Triple-A lineup went 12-for-22 with 11 runs scored, 10 RBIs and five home runs. … That saved lefty Evan MacLane from himself. He got the win despite allowing 12 hits and six runs in 5 1/3 innings. The win really came from the bullpen, where Josh Kinney – September callup? — got a hold as he struck out two and pitched a scoreless 1 1/3. Fernando Salas also pitched a scoreless 1 1/3 innings. … George Brown pitched seven shutout innings for High-A Palm Beach. He allowed five runs and one walk, but countered those with six strikeouts. It his third consecutive game with at least five strikeouts and his fifth in the last 10 games he’s appeared in. … Tommy Pham homered and drove in two of the three runs for the PB-Cards. … Niko Vasquez, that sleeper pick from a year ago for the power he showed as a prep middle infielder, continues to struggle. Drafted as a shortstop, he’s playing second base and he’s struck out 12 times in his previous 36 at-bats. Returning to Batavia this season, Vasquez is hitting .192 after 60 games there. This season he has almost as many strikeouts (106) as he has total bases (110). … Robert Stock could be stirring from his first slump as a pro. Stock went 2-for-4 in one game of a doubleheader for Johnson City yesterday. Stock is hitting .229 in his previous 10 games, but the second-pick with the backup plan (he could pitch if he doesn’t hit) has a .329 average and has been batting No. 3 for the JC-Cards. He hit his third homer Thursday.

9. The Cardinals won’t tie the record for most wins in the month of August, which was set at 21 in 2004 and 1967. But the real number that matters for the month continues. Not since July 29th have the Chicago Cubs won on a day the Cardinals lost. It helps that the Cardinals have won 15 of their previous 19 games, but even when the Cubs have a shot — like they did yesterday — they lose. Consider the Cardinals and Cubs were tied on August 6, and in the next 18 games the Cardinals have opened a nine-game lead. News flash: Cubs manager Lou Piniella said his team doesn’t have the best chemistry, as Gordon Wittenmyer writes in the Chicago Sun-Times. It hasn’t been one of the “better mixes,” he told Chicago writers. (An interesting article this morning on ESPN.com that asks the question: What if Milton Bradley is right?)

10. Believe Bernie Miklasz mentioned something about this a few weeks ago, but a quick check of the stats shows that former Cardinal and 2006 cult hero Scott Spiezio is still playing ball. Spiezio went 2-for-4 in a win for the Orange County Flyers yesterday. He’s playing alongside some former major-leaguers, like Robert Fick, and Spiezio is starting at third base. Spiezio is hitting .218 and slugging .327 in 14 games for the defending Golden League champs.

No word if his chin strip is dyed orange.

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