St Louis Cardinals

After it was widely assumed that the St. Louis Cardinals would head to Memphis carrying 26 players, the management decided to finalize the Opening Day roster by relegating Joe Mather to Triple-A Memphis.  Mather, who had been relatively inconsistent with his swing through the Jupiter campaign, finished the Grapefruit League with a lowly .227 batting average.

With David Freese looking like the clear favorite to grab the third baseman job in the absence of stud Troy Glaus, Mather's swing issues hurt him down the stretch with regards to grabbing the final roster spot.

The Cardinals didn't lose any key players in the off season, and look to have a surprisingly strong starting lineup for opening day.

The lineup for opening day will be lacking the former all-star Troy Glaus, but he is expected to return sometime in May. So, at third base will most likely be David Freese, who according to the Cardinals staff, has had an exemplary spring training and preseason.

So let's go around the horn.

C: Yadier Molina.

1B: Albert Pujols.

2B: Skip Schumaker.

SS: Khalil Greene.

3B: David Freese.

LF: Chris Duncan.

The Cardinals finalized their opening day pitching staff by optioning flame-thrower Chris Perez to Triple-A Memphis. This move leaves the Cardinals with 12 healthy pitchers heading north for opening day.

The Cardinals elected to keep Brad Thompson as a second long-relief pitcher, not because his performance merits a trip north over Perez's, but mainly because of the shaky performance by long-relief pitcher Kyle McClellan. 

Manager Tony LaRussa was quoted as saying, "I'm sure he'd rather pitch in the big leagues, but he knows he's highly regarded, and he's young."

Opening day is approaching, and with all the question marks in the Cards’ lineup, there is one thing that seems to be for certain. It’s the starting rotation. For the first time in a long while, the birds have their designated rotation intact, and healthy.

The results so far this spring have most of Cardinal Nation excited about the first pitch on Monday April 6.

The St. Louis Cardinals will most likely end up second to the hated Chicago Cubs again. The Cardinals do have the lineup and the talent, but overall, the Cubs are better.

Albert Pujols is poised for a big season and we all have to watch out for Todd Wellemeyer this year as he shocked us last year with a 13-9 record and a 3.71 ERA. Adam Wainwright will head the staff as he had an 11-3 season, though mostly injured in the season, he pitched in 20 games and if was healthy would've have St. Louis a playoff push.

There was some great news out of yesterday's ball game. Too bad it was overshadowed, at least in part, by the news that came out afterwards.

When it is all said and done, and his career is over, Albert Pujols will be the best hitter to ever play the game of baseball. He is 29 years old, had 2 MVP awards, and World Series ring, two National League pennants, and a 7-time all star. Here are some of his career statistics-

• Batting Average- .344
• Hits- 1,531
• Doubles- 342
• Home Runs- 318
• RBI's- 977
• Slugging Percentage- .624

Walking into the Busch Stadium hours before the actual ballgame started, I ran into home run territory with my younger brother to witness greatness.

The year was 1998 and Mark McGwire was the show.

Crack after crack, baseballs soared into the air, falling into us: a sea of ecstatic fans. Thousands of fans congregated to see the spectacle, even at just batting practice.

Batting practice. Less people attended Montreal Expo games.

I was only 10 years old, but I knew this was something special. Something I could relate to future generations.

The St. Louis Cardinals took both split-squad games from the Orioles yesterday.  Let's take a look at who had a hand in the victories.

In the first game, Cards won 6-5.  It wouldn't have been quite that close, but Chris Perez struggled in his outing, giving up two runs before recording the save. 

Bob Gibson was one of the nastiest, most dominant pitchers of his generation. Pedro Martinez was also one of the nastiest, most dominant pitchers of his generation.

The similarities don't stop there.

They're both right handed pitchers. They both were considered head hunters. They also both wore the number 45.

They also, arguably, both can lay claim to the greatest season by a pitcher ever (post-1900, of course). Bob Gibson in 1968. Pedro Martinez in 2000.

The case for Bob Gibson

Bob Gibson's 1968 season by the numbers: