TOWER GROVE — Former Cardinal Joe Torre, a Hall of Fame manager by any stretch of the definition, is one of 10 former players announced this afternoon as finalists for induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame through the new veterans’ selection process.

Cooperstown announced the list Tuesday, and the 10 finalists will be considered by the Veterans Committee for induction in July 2009. They will need to get 75 percent of the vote from…

DOWNTOWN — Back in my early days at the P-D covering hockey, the selection of the “Three Stars” at each game was, loosely, my responsibility. Toward the end of the game, a quick straw poll was taken of the other writers in the box. Sometimes the selections were obvious. Sometimes they weren’t. Sometimes they drew compliments. A few times they sparked debate. My name was on the box score, so I took it seriously.

(Ask Chris Kerber…

JUPITER, Fla. — A year ago at the Civil Rights Game, a Cardinals fan — a man Adam Wainwright knew only through his father — approached the Cardinals righthander about giving him a gift. He wanted him to have a baseball, a prized ball, one of two he owned.

It was signed by Johnny Sain.

The phrase scrawled in Sain’s handwriting near his autograph says it all:

“First to pitch to Jackie Robinson. Last to pitch to Babe Ruth.”

“I…

JUPITER, Fla. — Todd Wellemeyer scored the 1 o’clock start, but the other two righthanders competing for a spot in the rotation set the tone for the day early. Mike Parisi and Brad Thompson both pitched well in the intrasquad scrimmage, combining with Russ Springer to throw a shutout.

At least according to the unofficial scoring.

Not that the score was the reason for their pickup starts.

“They had reasons for being out there,” pitching coach Dave Duncan…

JUPITER, Fla. — On the first day the sliding drill appeared at spring training and Hall of Fame base thief Lou Brock strolled onto the Cardinals campus, the club is still waiting to see if the stolen base shows up as an option for this season.

Last season, the Cardinals stole the third-fewest bases in the majors — 56, or only Yadier Molina’s one ahead of the San Diego Padres in the National League. Two players…

MURPHY PARK — At the urban baseball field that now bears his name, Cardinals’ Hall of Famer Lou Brock told the gathered kids this morning that he was once like them. He was once “introverted”, sitting there on the other side of the fence, shy and hesistant.

He watched others do until he decided do something, too.

“Once I was sitting behind a fence,” Brock said. “I was 7 years old. I was in ninth grade once….

TOWER GROVE — Those Boston Red Sox, darlings of the literati, have inspired libraries of books. The New York Yankees, titans of the game and Fifth Avenue fit right down to their Tiffany-designed logo, have earned  a warehouse of  tomes all their own. So, it’s not wonder that the most-chronicled rivalry  in the game is the Hub vs. the Bronx.

But  does best-covered mean best rivalry?

That is the question posed by a reader in Hawaii on…

TOWER GROVE — We temporarily interrupt the natural course of this mailbag to represent the many and different sides of the All-Star Game’s Pujols’ Pickle. After yesterday’s blog and yesterday’s coverage, the inbox at postcards@post-dispatch.com was loaded with questions and comments.

Today, comments. Back to questions tomorrow.

The fanbase is not as one-sided as so many of the chat rooms and message boards implied. Some side with La Russa, though all would have liked to see their mighty…

Got a Cardinals question for Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold? Submit it to  postcards@post-dispatch.com and look for his answers throughout the 2007 season here in his PostCards blog.

Q: Historically, there have been many former Cardinals at spring training as guest coaches. Who were the guest coaches this year?

– Michael A. Reynolds, Arkansas.

DG: The usual cast of Hall of Famers were around camp this spring, with Lou Brock, Bob Gibson and Red Schoendienst there. George Kissell made a…

MEMPHIS — When he came into spring training, Cardinals center fielder Jim Edmonds outlined a plan to be ready for opening day and said that the only way he would be in Sunday’s starting lineup would be if every last thing went exactly right.

A wobble here, an ouchy there and he’d miss the target.

“It still is that close,” Edmonds said after starting in center field and going 1-for-1 in Saturday’s 5-1 victory against Cleveland here…