TOWER GROVE — The Bird Land Community Top 21’s top 10 is completed, and we’re just about halfway through the annual ranking of St. Louis Cardinals prospects by readers here at the blog. The overarching lessons of the first 10 are two-fold: Voters have adopted the perceived franchise emphasis on winning now/contributing now and the Cardinals system, as a whole, is significantly diluted, even lacking.

Second baseman Daniel Descalso, who had one of a handful of…

TOWER GROVE — Judging from some of the comments at the tails of the first three Bird Land Community Top 21 polls, one question continues to perplex many voters: What age is too aged to be a prospect?

There is no real answer.

The St. Louis Cardinals, as described by farm director Jeff Luhnow, have studied how high-end players — the top-notch, elite, standout prospects — reach the majors in their early 20s, and how they excel…

TOWER GROVE — Maybe it’s the time of year, what with the season just ending and the playoffs still going on. Maybe it’s how the season ended, with a St. Louis Cardinals team riding high expectations and fizzling when it mattered most. Maybe it’s a fanbase adopting the win-now attitude shown by the front office.

Maybe it’s just a lack of patience.

Whatever the reason, the Bird Land Community Top 21 is two votes old and already…

CREVE COEUR — It didn’t take long for the Bird Land Community Top 21 to throw its first curveball. Not that it’s a surprise lefthanded starter Jaime Garcia won the No. 1 spot in the readers’ rankings of St. Louis Cardinals’ prospects. It’s just wasn’t close.

That was unexpected.

Garcia pulled away from first-round fireballer Shelby Miller and had more than twice as many votes. As of last check — a few seconds ago — Garcia had…

TOWER GROVE — The No. 1 spot on any St. Louis Cardinals top prospect list was so obvious the past three seasons that no poll was necessary. We just skipped it. Installed Colby Rasmus at the top. And moved on with the poll. No need to state the obvious. Albert Pujols starts at first base, bats third. Rasmus was No. 1. Next question.

Halfway through this season this year’s Top Anything Prospect Poll figured to be the…

TOWER GROVE — Even though his team has gone unbeaten in 11 consecutive series and will be visiting a division rival that is 24 1/2 games back in the race, manager Tony La Russa will have that familiar, unsettled, and caustic sensation in his gut before tonight’s game at PNC Park.

Blame those Baseball Gods.

As if delivering a sermon from the mount atop the NL Central standings, La Russa has invoked the phrase “baseball gods” at…

TOWER GROVE — The way Todd Wellemeyer describes it, he joined the St. Louis Cardinals at a vulnerable time in his career. He could not figure out why good stuff was getting bad results. He had just been hammered by the Detroit Tigers in consecutive games against them, and he was about to face the Tigers for a third time in four appearances after being a Cardinals’ waiver claim out of Kansas City’s pitching staff.

He…

TOWER GROVE — Five thousand at-bats into his career, baseball great Babe Ruth had already shattered home run records and set the gobsmacking standard with his 60 homers in 1927. He had also been a two-time 20-game winner as a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox.

Five thousand at-bats into his career, the Splendid Splinter Ted Williams had his .406-average season and two Triple Crowns. Five thousand at-bats into their careers, Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg…

TOWER GROVE — A few seasons ago, the St. Louis Cardinals veteran relievers Russ Springer, Ryan Franklin and Jason Isringhausen presented what one of them called a save-your-bullets approach to spring training. The theory, as Springer explained, was their high-mileage arms had only so many throws left, why waste those precious “bullets” on live batting practice or exhibition baseball when there was a whole season ahead of them?

The fewer throws they made in March, the…

TOWER GROVE — The St. Louis Cardinals have trailed their opponent 49 times this season entering the ninth inning. And 46 times whoever the Cardinals are facing goes on to win the game. Earlier this season the conclusions were often as quick as they were inevitable.

Three times — three times in 49 — the Cardinals have rallied to win.

All three have been since Matt Holliday arrived.

The Cardinals concluded a lengthy and wet day at the…

TOWER GROVE — Today’s 10@10 begins with an anecdote, before diving into the Tool Chest: Every indication late Wednesday night was St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Mark DeRosa had no interest in leaving the ballpark until he had a swing that satisfied him. Late after the game, DeRosa was dressed to hit the cages and talking like a batter in need of some work.

Albert Pujols encouraged him to go home. Take a break. Get the swing…

TOWER GROVE — An early game in Florida — Brunch with Land Shark — and an early flight to Cleveland have conspired to produce a reduced 10@10 this morning. Hope it hits the high points.

1. Rookie Colby Rasmus takes a nine-game hitting streak into today’s game against the Florida Marlins, the rubber game of a three-game series. True to his reputation and his trends from the minor leagues, Rasmus warms up when the weather does. Rasmus…

TOWER GROVE — The St. Louis Cardinals showed a pulse offensively Tuesday night in Florida, but it still wasn’t enough as they failed to score more than three runs for the 12th time in 16 games. They have produced the fewest runs and the fewest baserunners in baseball since the beginning of May. They have the lowest on-base percentage (.276) this month in the National League.

But, hey, they conjured their fourth three-run inning in the…

DOWNTOWN — Embracing his lineage as another strong-armed Texas power pitcher, St. Louis Cardinals first-round pick Shelby Miller described himself as not only ready to try his fastball in professional baseball but also ready to sign.

“My career, my future ahead of me is professional baseball,” Miller said in a conference call with reporters tonight at Busch Stadium. “College is not my future right now. The Cardinals have a lot to offer.”

The Cardinals selected Miller with…

DOWNTOWN — The St. Louis Cardinals broke with one tradition when they took a high school pitcher with their first pick in the draft, and now they must be willing to break with another to get their pick into the system.

Shelby Miller, a strapping righthander with a Texas-oil-burning fastball, has committed to Texas A&M and VP/farm director Jeff Luhnow acknowledges that it will not be easy or quick to finalize an agreement with the Brownwood,…