TOWER GROVE — While we check around the house to see if anything has been shaken loose, shaken up or shaken down, here are some riffs from the ballpark:

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When David Eckstein became a Cardinal, the team discussed with him a way to increase his arm strength. The shortstop who had a “playable” arm — manager Tony La Russa’s word — and a max-effort motion improved his arm during his three seasons as a Cardinal by going…

DOWNTOWN — After the blog entry earlier this month about Stan Musial’s “lost” home run and possible rained-out Triple Crown, an army of eager researchers joined the quest for documenting the existence of the weather-erased homer or bust this local myth. My inbox was loaded with tips, suggestions, information, questions (did I think to check the New York papers?), offers to help and links. Many, many links.

And then, one day, I received this email…

GRAND CENTER — Albert Pujols looms as the fourth hitter for the Cardinals in the next inning, but he won’t have his favorite Houston closer around to test. Brad Lidge collected his first save for the Phillies this afternoon, and he’s left his intro music and his role to Houston’s new closer.

And quite a closer he is.

Jose Valverde had 47 saves for Arizona last season, and he finished 14th in the MVP voting….

TOWER GROVE — The Post-Dispatch’s mirthful Mr. Joe Holleman offers up his “nine favorite baseball movies” in this morning’s paper and invites readers to cast votes for their favorites.

Hard to quibble with Holleman’s bulletproof lineup of movies, especially ”Bingo Long”, though the book is better, if you can find it. Major League is clearly No. 1, and Major League 2 is underrated, especially with Omar Epps turn as Willie Mays Hayes.

That said, what would…

TOWER GROVE — A little more than a year ago, the Cardinals’ starting rotation was stringing together a ludicrously long streak of scoreless innings. The starters’ ERA for the month was less than 1.00, and dropping because of what one righthander was doing to the Minnesota Twins.

Opposite Johan Santana and facing a lineup that included MVP Justin Morneau and batting champ Joe Mauer, this Cardinal pitcher kept throwing up zeros. He held the Twins to…

JUPITER, Fla. — Back in 2005, Ryan Ludwick had his best shot yet at the big-league club. He was on the team coming out of spring training, had survived the surge of a young turk named Grady Sizemore and was going to get a chance to hit into more playing time and see where more playing time took him.

And then, after 41 at-bats with Cleveland, the following transactions took place on May 31:

CLE – Activated OF JUAN GONZALEZ…

FORT MYERS, Fla. — After Brad Thompson has had a particularly difficult inning or just returned from a disastrous at-bat, Aaron Miles will eye the righthander from down the bench. Thompson knows he’s watching, waiting … for the fume.

It just hasn’t been there this spring.

“OK, I like it,” Miles tells him. “I like it.”

Thompson admits he’s been known to be a bit hotheaded on the mound or in the dugout. His body…

JUPITER, Fla. — He crossed up catcher Yadier Molina once with a fastball when Molina expected a slider, but otherwise Cardinals starter Kyle Lohse showed he’s on pace to make a regular-season start after an abbreviated spring training.

“Go out there and break the ice,” Lohse said Saturday afternoon. “I wasn’t as sharp as one could expect. As a competitor, you want to be near perfect and I wasn’t that.”

But he was effective enough.

Lohse threw about 65 pitches,…

JUPITER, Fla. — Sitting back in his office here at Roger Dean Stadium on Thursday, manager Tony La Russa was asked if he would take the swing Albert Pujols has right now into April.

“Shoot,” La Russa said, “I’d take where he was two weeks ago.”

Pujols has received plenty of attention this spring, but mostly for the tattered remains of a tendon in his right elbow, not for the damage he’s done at the plate. The Cardinals MVP has…

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Weeks ago, when Adam Wainwright first lined up against Johan Santana for the latter’s debut as a New York Met, the Cardinals righthanded bemoaned his chance to face the lefty and Cy Young winner as a hitter.

He wanted to see the changeup. Not swing at it. Just see it.

Get a feel for it. Watch from the best angle possible how Santana sells it.

On Saturday, Wainwright did more…