TOWER GROVE — Of all the statistical bubblegum that is packed into Bill James’ annual Handbooks, among the best to chew over and stretch to the point of popping is the predictions for the coming season.

ACTA Sports recently emailed me the 2010 predictions for several members of the 2009 St. Louis Cardinals — predictions that are featured in Bill James Handbook 2010 — and while it doesn’t take a “statistical oracle” (as The Wall Street Journal…

TOWER GROVE — This morning, St. Louis Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright was announced as his peers’ selection for the National League Outstanding Pitcher, as discussed over on the breaking-news blog, Cardinal Beat. The Players Choice awards, founded a little more than a decade ago by the players’ union, doesn’t have the historical oomph or bonus panache of the more revered hardware — the MVP, the Cy Young, etc. — but do they serve as indicators…

TOWER GROVE — Let the annual windfall of awards begin for St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols and his chip-free right elbow. Early this morning, The Sporting News continued its award announcements and revealed that Pujols, for a second consecutive year, is the publication’s choice as the Major League Baseball Player of the Year.

The magazine relied on a panel of 338 current big-league players to make the award selections, and Pujols was the choice for the…

DOWNTOWN — The Los Angeles Dodgers have found the best way to neutralize the best bat in the game is to yield to the inevitable — put him on base. The St. Louis Cardinals have decided they know how to take a different tack with the most prolific postseason hitter of his era.

They think they can keep him off base.

“No chance,” said Adam Wainwright when asked about how he and his team have approached Manny…

LOS ANGELES — By all accounts, there is no truth to the red-eyed reports that the St. Louis Cardinals, when they jetted away from their nightmarish turn of events Thursday, left behind a few players, marooned at Dodger Stadium …

(wait for it)

… stranded on base.

The Cardinals continue to have tremendous success against the Los Angeles when it comes to inflating their on-base percentage in this best-of-five National League Division Series. The Cardinals are getting in…

LOS ANGELES — The most-effective curveball in baseball during the regular season is back where it became famous — bending its way through lineups in the playoffs.

St. Louis Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright is the midst of pitching the Cardinals back into the National League Division Series, and he’s doing so by deploying with alarming regularity the pitch that won him and the Cardinals a pennant back in 2006. The Cardinals righthander has held the Los Angeles…

TOWER GROVE — More than a year ago, Walt Jocketty, freshly installed as the Cincinnati Reds general manager, used an odd word to describe an upcoming series against the St. Louis Cardinals. He said he and manager Dusty Baker had chips on their shoulders. That they each had a “vendetta”.

Turns out it wasn’t that weird of a word choice at all. It was prophetic.

In 2009, the National League Central has only gotten spicier when it…

TOWER GROVE — Asked Sunday morning if his lineup would look a little different if the St. Louis Cardinals were playing a team out of contention, manager Tony La Russa paused, rolled his eyes toward the ceiling, and finally acknowledged: Probably.

If he didn’t offer a complete answer, he’ll start today.

Of the five teams either in the playoffs or in the playoff picture (looking at you Colorado and Atlanta), the Cardinals are the only team that…

DENVER — The last race left for the St. Louis Cardinals before the end of the regular season may have come to a sudden end Saturday night, too, as Adam Wainwright gained a hearty endorsement for his Cy Young candidacy.

It came from arguably his chief rival for the award: teammate Chris Carpenter.

“If that game right there doesn’t solidify him as the best pitcher in the league, then I’m can’t imagine what would,” Carpenter said, goggles…

DENVER — St. Louis Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan, as he is often apt to do as a Dugout Socrates, answered a question with a question.

“Let me ask it to you in this way,” he said the other day in Houston. “If we were to face Roy Oswalt at his best today and then face him again next week, is facing him today an advantage for us?”

The answer-and-question was in response to an inquiry about the pluses and minuses…

HOUSTON — The National League continues to march toward what feels like a foregone conclusion, with even Wild Card-leading Colorado having opened a sturdy lead this past weekend. With less than two weeks remaining in the regular season, very little is left to be decided. The division leaders appear set. The best-record derby holds some appeal, but doesn’t carry the juice of a bona fide pennant duel. The grope for shock-value candidates shows how academic…

TOWER GROVE — St. Louis Cardinals starter John Smoltz returns to the rotation tonight a few days earlier than expected and into a situation that isn’t entirely surprising, he explained the other day. A veteran of these September marches to the postseason, Smoltz admitted he would “stoked” to pitch in the game that cinched a postseason berth.

But slumps happen, he said. And instead of being a clincher tonight, the Cardinals need him to be a stopper.

The…

TOWER GROVE — There are many examples of a player storming toward his leagues Most Valuable Player award with a strong September that, in most cases, elevates his team to a postseason berth.

See: Ryan Howard.

Enter Tim Lincecum.

The San Francisco Giants righthander Lincecum struck out 11 and muscled his team to a pivotal victory Monday night against the Wild Card-leading Colorado Rockies. Lincecum skipped his previous start because of back trouble and returned to throw the…

TOWER GROVE — One look at the between-the-legs, behind-the-back fielding tricks that St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Brendan Ryan does during practice and it’s easy to see the influence of his beloved Los Angeles Lakers and the reflection of their Showtime ways.

Or, so it would seem.

Sure some of the inspiration for Ryan’s acrobatics comes from the basketball court and his older brother’s suggestion that he should enjoy his game the way Magic Johnson enjoyed his game,…

TOWER GROVE — A year ago at this time, Mannywood was sweeping the nation as the Los Angeles Dodgers and their flamboyant outfielder were surging toward a playoff berth. Manny Ramirez, acquired in a stunning deadline deal with the Boston Red Sox (with an assist from Pittsburgh), had 43 RBIs and 14 home runs in his first 42 games as a Dodger. He had propelled the team to a 24-18 record since his arrival and…