GRAND CENTER — It was about 300 at-bats ago center fielder Rick Ankiel made his debut as a major-league outfielder, and tonight’s home run was his 18th since he made his return on August 9, 2007.  Track that statistics from that day forward and Ankiel ranks with baseball’s best sluggers — and one sudden star coming to town this week — in such numbers as homers, RBIs and slugging.

From August 9 until the start of…

TOWER GROVE — A day after watching on television as Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen riddled the Houston Astros with sinister curveballs for his fourth save of the season — another in a line of what were no-sweat saves — I was in Houston and asked Isringhausen why so many curves?

“I think it was only five,” Isringhausen said. “Not that many. But now if it jinxes me, I know who to blame. If it’s going…

DENVER — After a meeting with the Cardinals team doctor Wednesday morning, lefthanded starter Mark Mulder will be shut down for at least a week to calm what’s being called a “mild rotator cuff strain”, the team announced in a press release this afternoon.

Mulder experienced what was described as “shoulder fatigue” during his start Monday in Memphis. He was scheduled for one start on his rehab assignment, and then the Cardinals were going to…

DENVER — Cardinals lefty Mark Mulder is on his way to St. Louis — not to throw a bullpen or workout at the facilities at Busch Stadium, but to meet with the team’s doctor about his twice surgically repaired left shoulder.

Manager Tony La Russa said in the debriefing of Mulder’s rehab start Monday night in Memphis it mentioned the lefty “felt some shoulder fatigue.” Mulder will meet with Dr. George Paletta on Wednesday morning…

DOWNTOWN — As this Sunday night game careens toward a save situation, it’s fitting that we talk late picks who made it to the majors. Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen wears No. 44 because that’s where he was drafted by the New York Mets — as a position player promptly flipped into a pitcher, a Gen-K pitcher.

That was the spirit of the PCQ asked with last week’s mailbag.

The highest Cardinals’ draft pick to make…

DOWNTOWN — The promotion of Cardinals righthander Mike Parisi to the major leagues inspires a buzz of palace intrigue — Is Anthony Reyes on his way out of the organization by way of Triple-A? Will Joel Pineiro’s back spasms allow him to make his start as scheduled Monday in Colorado? But Parisi’s imminent debut with the Cardinals has a historic ring all its own.

The 2004 Draft Class, finally, has arrived.

The Cardinals much-maligned College…

DOWNTOWN – Not too often the Cardinals wake up on the last day of April with a chance to make a little franchise history. But that’s the case today.

The Cardinals won their 17th game of April last night against the Reds. It came in a 7-2 victory that saw manager Tony La Russa tinker just enough with his lineup to add depth of power and watch it work. That win tied a franchise record for…

SOUTH GRAND — Starting with a possible trade partner that probably doesn’t have what the Cardinals are looking for and ending with a question about the chances of a fan-favorite outfielder trying on an infielder’s glove, this week’s edition of the mailbag is loaded with all manner of things middle infield.

Oh, and there is also an advocacy of a four-man rotation.

Reliever Russ Springer is back. Rico Washington gave everyone a great story. And…

HOUSTON — Earlier this afternoon on the outskirts of New Orleans, Cardinals’ minor leaguer Nick Stavinoha — a familiar name in those parts because of his turn as a slugger at LSU — put two bits of news on the Zephyr Field scoreboard. First, he drove in Triple-A Memphis first run in a 2-0 victory. And then a short time later …

Well, here’s how the official release from the New Orleans Zephyrs put it:

Stavinoha,…

DOWNTOWN — Admitting that he’s been bothered by a sore elbow since the end of spring training and that it has lessened his ability to pitch in recent outings, Cardinals reliever Russ Springer went on the 15-day disabled list Saturday morning with an inflamed nerve in his right elbow.

“Time to let it cool off a little bit,” Springer said moments ago. “It’s not a surgery-type thing. … We’ll let it totally cool off.”

To…