TOWER GROVE — In a recent conversation, St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa politely declined to discuss anything about Albert Pujols and the MVP award until Albert Pujols had actually, officially won the MVP award. La Russa explained that the Cy Young Award voting had taught him a lesson.

He wondered, “What number will they come up with this time?”

Bruised by what they felt was a surefire cinch that either Chris Carpenter or Adam Wainwright would…

ST. LOUIS — Told this afternoon that while he’s been out on the road defending the St. Louis Cardinals’ lead in the NL Central, someone went and fixed the light bulbs that made the “I” on “BIG MAC LAND” glow, the mayor of this year’s All-Star Game, Albert Pujols, had one response:

“Best thing you can do is knock it down again,” he said.

Pujols joined the seven other Home Run Derby contestants in a press conference…

DOWNTOWN — One of the kaleidoscope of statistics kept throughout the year in baseball are “Park Factors”, a comparative way to judge how hitter-friendly or pitcher-supportive a ballpark is from year to year. The stat is based on comparing how different the hitting, the slugging and the pitching is for teams at said ballpark compared to how those teams fair on the road.

The ratio reveals the ballpark’s characteristics.

Busch Stadium III, while not the national park…