TOWER GROVE — One thing about a player being on base all the time: he gets loads of practice running them and has plenty of opportunity to excel — and fail. Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols showed this past week that he can pound out the headlines with more than just his bat; carrying a big stick does not require always walking softly.

In the span of a few games, Pujols showed the plus and minus of…

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 — 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…

TOWER GROVE — If there is a game so far in this season when Adam Wainwright deleted all of the fancy adjectives we’ve been attaching to ace in front of his name — de facto, budding, pro tempore, fill-in, stand-in and, my personal favorite, proxy — and just became the Cardinals’ ace it was his 126-pitch start Saturday against Houston.

He didn’t have his best stuff. He wasn’t dominant.

But he won with what he…

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…

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….

TOWER GROVE — As if being etched into the Cardinals’ future as their undisputed No. 1 prospect wasn’t enough, now Colby Rasmus’ potential as a big leaguer is being burned into his bats.

Venerable bat-maker Louisville Slugger announced this morning the signing of 10 players to bat contracts, and there listed among the likes of rookie of the year Dustin Pedroia, (should have been rookie of the year) Troy Tulowitzki, and Chris Duncan’s brother Shelley Duncan is the…

TOWER GROVE — Manager Tony La Russa did not bemoan his team’s lost five runs or even the possibility that rain washed away a potential victory for the Cardinals on Monday night. Nor did Albert Pujols seem particularly miffed that weather stole a solo home run from him. It happens, both said. Rules of the game, they said.

Mother Nature is an unforgiving official scorer.

Ask The Man.

In 1948, Cardinals Hall of Famer Stan Musial…

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…

(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…