Happy Friday.

Locally, the MLB season ends Sunday afternoon at Busch Stadium. I'm going to get a jump on the weekend by presenting my "Bits" style review of the Cardinals' 2010 season. And offer my opinions on the best and the worst of what we saw in 2010:

Best player, or MVP: Albert Pujols. Same as it ever was. Consistently the best there is in the game right now. Pujols leads the NL in homers and RBIs, is tied for 1st in slugging, is 2nd in onbase percentage, and is 4th in batting average. He's also batting .348 with runners in scoring position. And all of that production has come without a leadoff hitter to put sufficient traffic on the bases for Pujols. And he still supplies above-average fielding at 1B. Pujols is worthy of winning the league's MVP award, but that will probably go to Cincinnati's Joey Votto.

Runner-up team MVP: Matt Holliday. Sure, he pressed at the beginning of the season, trying to justify his big contract. Which happens in baseball. It's not unusual. Holliday batted .135 with runners in scoring position through May 6 but has hit .307 with RISP the rest of the way. Among all NL outfielders, Holliday ranks 3rd in homers, 3rd in RBIs, 2nd in batting average and 2nd in both OBP and slugging. In short, the most productive NL hitter among outfielders that don't have their stats inflated by playing 81 games at Coors Field. (But wasn't Holliday a "Coors creation" himself earlier in his career? Answer: no. In 436 career at-bats at the pitcher-friendly new Busch Stadium, Holliday is batting .333 with a .427 OBP and a .603 SLG, with 27 homers and 97 RBIs.)  And according to every defensive metric, he's been one of the best LFs in the majors. Holliday is a gamer. I don't recall the guy giving away many (if any) at-bats.

Team Cy Young: This is another obvious choice -- Adam Wainwright, who has an excellent chance of finishing 2nd to Roy Halladay in the league's Cy Young race. Wainwright ranks 2nd in the NL in ERA (2.42) and wins (20). He's 2nd in complete games, and 3rd in innings, strikeouts and fewest base runners per nine innings. Yes, he had a mediocre stretch later in the season. But his season's body of work was outstanding. Tenacious pitcher. Terrific pitcher.

Most Disappointing Player: infielder Felipe Lopez. Like a lot of folks, I had a positive reaction to his bargain-price, low-risk signing back in spring training. It made a lot of sense at the time. Switch hitter, can play multiple positions, had a record of playing well for the Cardinals in 2008. And a low salary. But he turned out to be a wreck, batting .139 in his final 115 at-bats as a Cardinal before the club got fed up with his tardiness and released him late in the season. There's always risk involved in taking a chance on Lopez, who has hopped from team to team. But I did not think it would turn out as horribly as it did.

An experiment that came to a bad end: Skip Schumaker playing second base. I don't enjoy writing that, because Schumaker is one of the best guys in baseball. And someone who takes the game, and his performance, with maximum seriousness. But I think this is a good example of defensive-related worries causing undue stress at the plate. Though he raised his batting average as the season went on, his slow start prompted a move out of the No. 1 spot. And though he's worked like crazy to become a good 2B, it just hasn't happened for him. He was better defensively in 2010 than he was in '09, but we're still talking about a defensive performance that ranks near the bottom of MLB second basemen.

Worst Team Trend: That would be the Cardinals' frustrating ability to rise up and play their best ball against the best teams, only to slack off competitively and embarrass themselves against the league's junk teams. The "off" button was pushed too often, and that's among the reasons why this baffling team gave way to the first-place Cincinnati Reds, who consistently dominated the lousy teams. Unlike the Cardinals.

Most Frustrating Player: that's shortstop Brendan Ryan, a superb, high-energy fielder who saved runs for the ground-ball pitching staff. But what's up with the batting line of .222 / .278 / .291 ? Ryan should be better than that, but his incessant tinkering with his batting stance and approach has severely damaged his consistency. Own worst enemy, and all of that.

Most Frustrating Pitcher: Kyle Lohse. Just ask him. Here's a wish for healthier, better days in 2011. Because I believe Lohse wants to do well.

Rookie of the Year: Jaime Garcia, who emerged from "prospect" status to true asset with a 13-8 record and 2.70 ERA. He learned so much this year in his first real MLB experience. What a bright future Garcia has.

Worst Trade: We've been through this many times before, so we won't waste a lot of time on this, but when GM John Mozeliak gave up OF Ryan Ludwick as the cost for obtaining starting pitcher  Jake Westbrook, the Cardinals lost a plus power bat for the No. 2 hole, or the No. 5 hole. And the lineup -- and the clubhouse -- were further diminished. The move created some lineups that featured No. 5 hitters such as Pedro Feliz, Nick Stavinoha, Randy Winn, et al.

Best Coach: Pitching coach Dave Duncan, as always.

Most Underrated: Hiccups are inevitable for bullpen regulars, but RH relievers Kyle McClellan and Jason Motte had outstanding seasons.

Worst Team Habit: Through Thursday, the Cardinals have lost 107 runners on the bases  this season. Pathetic.

Most Mysterious Failure: No-name pitchers, obscure pitches, rotten pitchers, batting-practice caliber pitchers. Why are the Cardinals frequently so helpless and clueless against these types of pitchers? Addiction to video study has something to do with it, but the pattern  is preposterous.

Worst Reality Check: I absolutely hate to say it, but Brandon Phillips had a point. And I am disgusted that I have to say that. But at least about the "whiny" part, was BP really that far off?  I don't believe in my 30 years of sportswriting I've seen something like this: an underachieving team that got embarrassed at crucial times of the season by the likes of Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Washington and Chicago -- only to be offended and highly insulted when select media and fans called them out for it. Here's how it works: this is the big leagues, boys. If you don't take care of business against teams you should handle and people respond by ripping you, then you have to wear it. If you don't like to be questioned or criticized, then win the games that matter when your season is on the brink. Jack Clark went a little too far in what he said about the Cardinals, but so what? The whining directed at Clark may have made the Cardinals' testosterone levels rise, but the bottom line is this -- La Russa and his men shouldn't worry about defending their honor against Clark. You want to defend your honor? Then beat the freaking bottom feeders of the NL. And the Cardinals didn't do it. Not even close. Hey, but at least they put Clark in his place, right? Is there a trophy or a parade for that? We'll check into it.

Biggest Non-Controversy: Mark McGwire as the hitting coach. After his hiring and steroid confessional set off shock waves in baseball press boxes across America, turning Oscar Madisons into high priests of morality, we expected McGwire's presence to create a season-long circus maximus. But McGwire sent the wolfpack away by being open and accessible and friendly during spring training interviews. And during the season McGwire did his work without disruption. He was pretty much left alone to work in peace. There's a legit debate over the quality of his work as a coach, but that's a different discussion.

Worst In-House Controversy: Tony La Russa and Colby Rasmus. The personality of the urban hard-wired manager and the young and laid-back country-boy center fielder caused a lot of sparks. The kid asked for a trade. The manager eventually eased up and played nice as soon as the issue spilled over into the public, raising familiar questions about TLR's patience with young players. My opinion on the kerfuffle: Rasmus has to apply his skills more consistently. La Russa has to realize that some young players respond more favorably to encouragement .

Most Surprising Controversy:  TLR getting into it -- on full display -- in the dugout with Pujols, and later Chris Carpenter. It's one thing for the irritable La Russa to take out his frustrations on the media and bully reporters in those embarrassing post-game displays on Fox Sports Midwest. But having flash-fire conflicts with the team's resident leaders? Wow. All parties were adamant in down playing it, but there were ruffled feathers in this particular bird cage.

Best Aspect of La Russa's managing: This wasn't one of his better seasons overall. But his problems with Rasmus aside, TLR actually did pretty well with the young players this season. He was an enthusiastic supporter of rookie David Freese at 3B, was pleased to give playing time to rookie OF Jon Jay, put Garcia in the rotation, and worked Allen Craig into the mix. He was supportive of those players, and eventually came around and made peace with Rasmus. We would have liked to have seen more playing time for Tyler Greene, but still ...

Worst Aspect of TLR's managing: he'll dispute this, but clearly this team did not respond to his leadership when things started to go bad beginning in the middle of August. And make no mistake about this, TLR is the leader of this pack. If he comes back in 2011, he'll be working on ways to improve in this area, just as he did after 2003, turning an unhappy clubhouse into a positive one by 2004.

Best Series: The last hurrah, at Cincinnati, Aug. 9-11. In an imposing show of force, the Cardinals swept the Reds and moved into first place in the NL Central. It was electric; the Cardinals went in there and wanted blood. They were completely sharp, locked in, fired up. And then after silencing Phillips they ... well ... we're still trying to figure out exactly what happened. But they faded. And Phillips got the last laugh.

Worst Series: Too many to mention. Take your pick. But I'll bend the terms a little and offer this one up: after sweeping the Reds the Cardinals returned home. After a day off, they defeated the Cubs on Friday Aug. 13. Then they lost the last two games of the series, which halted their momentum. Then the Cardinals staggered into Milwaukee and lost two more games for a four-game losing streak -- which would grow to five with a loss against the Giants -- that completely squandered the positives of that triumph in Cincinnati. The season was never the same after that.

Most Pleasant Surprise: Though he tailed off over the final two months, Jon Jay enters the final three games with a .300 BA, .359 OBP and a .422 SLG. I don't think many people expected that from the rookie, who was viewed as something of a borderline MLB prospect.

Most Negative Surprise: Actually this is shocking ... did you think it was even possible for the Cardinals to lose 12 of the final 18 games started by Wainwright and Carpenter? I didn't. It was beyond the scope of my limited thinking...

Worst Injury: Freese, who had batted .296 and delivered 36 RBIs in his first 240 ABs of the season. The Cardinals expected Freese to make a full and healthy return from an ankle injury -- one of the prime reasons why they agreed to move Ludwick. But Freese's ankle collapsed and he never returned. It was a double wallop to the lineup: no Ludwick, no Freese.

Worst Moment: backup catcher Jason La Rue getting kicked in the head by the irresponsible gutless Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto. The ensuing concussion ended La Rue's career. La Rue may have retired anyway, but that isn't the point. And MLB's horribly inadequate punishment for Cueto only added cursing to the concussion. MLB discipline is a joke.

Worst Pitching Injury: Brad Penny. Nine starts for $7.5 million. Last seen on May 23. It happened so long ago, I don't even remember what the injury was ... except that the Cardinals said he'd probably be back in three to five weeks. Ummm... no. Where the hell is this guy? Was he kidnapped? Is he living on Bora Bora?

That's about all I have for now ...

If I think of some others I'll throw them in later.

Thanks,

B