HOUSTON — With 2009 speeding to a close, discussions about the decade behind us are already popping up. Some baseball writers, like Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci’s have picked their Team of the Aughts, others have just explored who might be the Player of the Decade. Here we’ve been convicted of over-stating the Decade Triple Crown notion (scroll down).

Time to look at the bigger picture.

In the past week or 10 days, the St. Louis Cardinals have clinched the…

TOWER GROVE — A deserving All-Star and a surprise Gold Glove winner a year ago, center fielder Nate McLouth simply became a symbol this season.

The energetic lefthanded hitter, who had a breakout 2008 while with the Pittsburgh Pirates, will finish the season as a core member of the Atlanta Braves. Far from a rental, McLouth was traded to the Braves this season — and he has three more years remaining on his reasonable contract. That…