TOWER GROVE — Cardinals forever rehabbing lefty Mark Mulder was supposed to take the mound for Triple-A Memphis tonight in what could have been his final minor-league start before returning the major leagues. And, in a coincidence only a sportswriter could love, a certain righthander, Danny Haren, was starting tonight in Fenway, fittingly floating into town in the wake of the Cardinals visit.

Well, Haren happened — to the tune of seven shutout against Boston.

The…

TOWER GROVE — Long before Kevin Youkilis settled into the box and started the waggle of his hips and wiggle of his bat that would end it in the 13th inning, Sunday’s game at Fenway Park was a classic.

Not many games have as much packed into them as Sunday’s Cardinals’ 5-3 loss.

By coincidence, as the game went on and on and on and became more and more compelling, I was digging through some…

TOWER GROVE — The last bundle of mail exchanged between readers and the Cardinals vice president of player procurement and farm director Jeff Luhnow featured some of the finer-tuned questions in this couple weeks of PostCards.

Of specific interest to readers is the idea of cost-benefit analysis when it comes the draft. There were many questions about it over the past two weeks and I tried to capture the repetition by selecting a few representatives….

SOUTH GRAND — The second (big) batch of questions posed to Cardinals vice president and draft director Jeff Luhnow will be up shortly. Got to give the guy time as he flew from Texas to Venezuela to Jersey to Florida to … well, wherever his passport and scouting reports will take him, apparently.

In the meantime, you’re stuck with this, no exclamation points earned or needed.

Solid wave of mail hit the PostCards address in…

GRAND CENTER — There were only eight games scheduled Monday around the majors, and not one had the look of must-see TV.

Once San Diego Padres righthander Jake Peavy was scratched from his start against the Cardinals, the day lacked a bona fide ace — though Tampa Bay’s James Shields would qualify if he had the Q-rating to match his ERA. Only two of the eight games featured two teams with winnings records pitted against…

DENVER — Not too far from where Coors Field is now, just down the Boulder Turnpike headed toward Boulder Valley and the mountains is the “Scenic Overlook” that was a landmark of my youth. It’s a quick pull off Highway 36 and it offers a panaromic view of the signature Flatirons and the valley.

It’s also high enough to be one of several places you could tune in KMOX.

Had the phrase existed years ago…

DOWNTOWN — For parts of four decades Cardinals’ pitching coach Dave Duncan has been a coach at the big-league and this season is his 29th a pitching coach, the most by any person every to hold the position. Manager Tony La Russa is fond of saying that most of the game is pitching and that Duncan handles all of the pitching decisions.

So when La Russa goes into Cooperstown, Duncan will surely go …

Fishing….

(THE FILIBUSTER) JUPITER, Fla. — The only times Cardinals manager Tony La Russa has batted the pitcher eighth is when his team has been struggling and, cynics argue, when it offers a red herring, a distraction from the performance on the field.

The manager might quibble with the cynics — always does. But while he believes it’s the best way to build a National League lineup, he concedes he has only done it when his team is scuffling. Earlier this…

DODGERTOWN, Fla. — On the first pitch he saw in his first game back since leaving his first game as a Marlin with a hamstring injury, Cameron Maybin roped a single.

And so continues a minor subplot around baseball this spring.

The arrival of the Center Fielders, Class of ‘05.

Maybin, taken 10th overall in 2005 draft, was the first of six center fielders taken in that first round, several of whom could be the opening day starters…

JUPITER, Fla. — The hot dog was essential to Monday’s endeavor. If they didn’t have a hot dog, they didn’t have a punchline. No punchline, no appeal. No appeal, no commercial. No commercial, no campaign. And on and on. It was all about the hot dog, that ballpark diva.

So it made sense today at the Cardinals training facility when, amid the forest of cameras and grips and reflector screens and ad company reps, some stepped…