Jeff Suppan is coming back to the St. Louis Cardinals.

He will be joining the team in Phoenix and hopes to be active early next week. He will be signing for the pro-rated minimum, his agent Scott Leventhal said.

Suppan has not officially signed yet because the Cardinals have to work out some issues with the 40-man roster.

He was released by the Brewers on Monday after going 0-2 with a 7.84 ERA in 15 games.

Suppan pitched for the Cardinals from 2004-06 and was 44-26 with a 3.85 ERA, the best 3-year span in his career. He was the MVP in the 2006 NLCS, winning Game 7 over the Mets.

Suppan signed with the Brewers as a free agent in December of 2006. He was 29-36 with a 5.08 ERA in Milwaukee.

He is 35. STLToday

The Cardinals aren’t stopping there though. No, rumor has it that they are in talks of signing even more has-been players. After being petitioned by fans to get Jack Clark off the air, the Cardinals have signed him to a year long contract as a bench player. Also, negotiations are well under way with Dizzy and Daffy Dean‘s corpses. They are expected to join the Cardinals for the Seattle series.

shep: do the cardinals have a single black player on their team?
Coworker: don’t think so
Coworker: well brendan ryan kinda
shep: lol

For those who might not understand why that is funny, pictured below is Brendan Ryan.

McGwire was from a different time in baseball. The ’80′s and ’90′s were full of ‘roided ballplayers and no one seemed to care. Major League Baseball looked the other way. Why should they care when players and owners were making money hand-over-fist? Baseball is a very different game now. If Albert Pujols was found to have used steroids it would be a huge blow to the game, especially in a time where they actually are looking for players who may use and it’s assumed that all players are not using. Baseball wasn’t always like that. Look at McGwire, Giambi, Conseco, Bonds. It’d be hard to look at those guys and not know. We did know, we just didn’t care.

That’s not to say that McGwire didn’t do anything wrong. Because other players were using doesn’t make it any less of an offense for McGwire to use. The past is the past though. I still contend that McGwire did more good for the game of baseball than he did harm. After the players strike baseball saw a huge drop in attendance. The home run race of 1998 got people interested in the game again. There was an excitement in the air that I never experienced prior or since. Everyone was excited to see McGwire and Sosa go at it. It brought people back to the game and made fans out of newcomers.

Some people are saying that McGwire is only coming because he thinks it will help his chances in the Hall of Fame. I disagree. He is now the Cardinals hitting coach and there is no way that he would be able to do his job without addressing the issue. He did it with class (a lot more class than how he handled his testimony before Congress). He has nothing to be ashamed of in that aspect. I respect him for finally owning up to his past. I think the matter is settled and all his focus should be on helping the Cardinals be the best they can be in the upcoming season.

The Cardinals’ front office has shown this past year that they don’t care to improve the team. They just want to take your hard earned money and pocket it instead of making a team that can win. What is even worse is now they are actively making trades that are bound to make the team worse. Why should I give over my hard-earned money to line the pockets of the front office instead of supporting a team that can win. If they were trying to improve the team and they were losing, that would be one thing, but they aren’t. John Mozeliak needs to be fired before he’s run out of town. I will not pay for a Cardinals ticket until the Cardinals organization get their acts together. They refuse to spend money, so I refuse to spend mine.

I remember I was at a game last year. It was about the 7th inning, which most fans of baseball know that the wave usually begins in the later innings, and the wave had not been started at that point. I look over to a man that was about 2 sections to my left and a guy stands up, looks around him, and starts yelling at his section to stand up. They do. It hits the next section and only about half of the people stood up this time. Then it hit my section. I make it a rule not to stand in the wave too early. There has to be just the right amount of people. The wave ended. He starts it back up, this time it goes another section before it dies. Not to be deterred, he starts it again and it goes even further. Excitement starts to build. This is when I decide to join in. He starts it again and now people on the other side of the stadium start to take notice. His section stands and sits rapidly. Then the next. Then my section. And it continues on. Will it continue? It does. It makes it all the way to the other side of the stadium. It jumps the gap! It continues on and reaches the origination section. The guy has accomplished his feat but that doesn’t make him stop. He continues the wave and it grows and grows with each turn around the stadium. Then almost instantly, the wave ends. The inning is over. For a brief moment, that guy controlled an entire stadium. People rise to their feet, but not for the wave. As Mike Shannon says, it’s time for a nice frosty cold one.

The commercials during the game were pretty boring. Nothing great. In fact, only two stick out in my head. The first Bud Light commercial in the office meeting was decent and so was the Hulu advertisement with Alec Baldwin. Other than that, the commercials sucked. AB went traditional with the clydesdales in an attempt to make people forget they are now owned by a foreign company. Too many horse commercials guys. One is enough. And did anyone actually see anything 3D in the 3D commercials? I know I didn’t. Maybe my eyes don’t work with the glasses. I’ll try them out again with tonight’s episode of Chuck. Also, did Hollywood forget that original ideas in movies are better than remakes? Transformers 2, The Land of the Lost, G.I. Joe… Yep, it seems so.

The halftime show I didn’t even watch. Why? I’ve never been a fan of Bruce Springsteen. I’m not Courtney Cox and this isn’t the 1980′s. I will admit, the short clips I did see were better than Paul McCartney’s half-time show, but that’s not saying much.

Overall it was a decent game, and while I didn’t have to hear Warner praise Jesus for his win (I guess he didn’t pray hard enough), I did have to hear Santonio Holmes explain how great he is and he wanted the ball for the last play because great players always want the ball so they can step up to make great plays. If his head was any bigger he might have floated out of Raymond James Stadium.

In a recent online chat Mr. Mozeliak fielded insults from disgruntled Cardinals fans. I am not defending the insults against Mr. Mozeliak, but he certainly should have taken the higher road and not responded with his own insults. He needs to understand that fans are unhappy with his job performance and instead of insulting them back he needs to explain his philosophy of waiting for the future. St. Louis has some of the best fans in all of baseball. We are very passionate about our team. If Mr. Mozeliak can’t understand this and handle these types of situations with some class and dignity, then he deserves the insults he receives, especially since he’s creating another disappointing season for Cardinals fans by “saving for the future.” The future won’t matter when you’ve driven away all the fans Mr. Mozeliak. When a team finishes 4th in the division we expect a little more action to make us contenders again, and when that happens we, rightfully so, get upset. Do not insult us. We pay your salary. We pay for the salaries of everyone in the organization, including players, we pay for the new stadium. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you. You can read the chat transcript via STLToday.

Increasingly perceived as a transcendent player, Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols overcame his team’s fourth-place finish and a Bunyanesque second half by Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard to earn election as the 2008 National League Most Valuable Player.

Pujols, who also won the award in 2005, becomes the first Dominican-born player to earn multiple MVP titles.

Pujols, 28, amassed 37 home runs and 116 RBI in a season hampered by a strained calf that forced him to the disabled list and a nerve condition that caused him to undergo surgery last month.

Universally perceived as an overachieving team in transition, the Cardinals stayed in contention for more than five months while drafting behind El Hombre’s daunting consistency.

Pujols had finished second three times in balloting during his eight-year career — twice to Barry Bonds and once to Howard in 2006. Just as Pujols won this time without reaching the postseason, Howard won previously by keeping the Phillies in contention. Though denied a second Gold Glove Award earlier this month, Pujols is recognized as one of the best defenders at his position in the game. He also led the NL in on-base-plus-slugging percentage (1.114) and reached 100 walks for the first time in his career.

Howard mashed 48 home runs with 146 RBI but was doubtless hurt by a .251 batting average and 199 strikeouts. No NL MVP has ever hit below .267.

Pujols’ margin of victory was more decisive than expected, perhaps suggesting a growing appreciation for a player long consigned to Bonds’ shadow and perhaps penalized for never leading his league in home runs or RBI. Still, Pujols has hit .334 and averaged 40 home runs and 122 RBI during his career.

Today (unless it gets rained out by the major storms hitting the area this afternoon) is opening day for the St. Louis Cardinals.  It should be an interesting season for the Redbirds, that’s for sure.  We have many new faces on the team, most of them young talent.  It’ll be nerve-racking to see how the Cards do this year with so many young players.

The time is approaching. You can hear it swimming through the air. Closer and closer. You hear a crack. A sound so familiar, but you can’t quite figure out where you’ve heard it before.

Time passes. The trees are bare. Then the noises get louder. This time the crack is accompanied by a thud. It sounds like a broom beating on an old rug. Again, it is a recognizable sound, but you still can’t figure out where and when you first heard it.

Time passes and snow covers the ground. The noise comes back, and this time, every one of your senses is bombarded by blurry visions, sounds, and smells.

The snow melts. The smells get stronger. You know what that smell is. It is a smell that you recognize as one of your first childhood memories. Visions of sunny days fill your mind. The sounds are back, and this time, you recognize them. You close your eyes and live in the moment. You look around. There are people everywhere. You smell stale beer. The kind of smell that could only come from years and years of spilt beer staining concrete. But this is not a bad thing. It reminds you of all the good times you’ve had, and the great ones to come. The noise is deafening. You hear people cheering. You hear loudspeakers, cracks, and thuds. A new smell comes over you. You inhale. When you do, memories of watching your dad cut the grass when you were little float forward. Yes, the smell of freshly cut grass overpowers the stale beer smell. Now the musty smell of wet dirt travels through the air to where you are. The loudspeaker explodes with sound. You hear names being called. People cheer. You feel like you are there. At that moment. At that place.

Time passes. The grass turns green. All those wonderful smells, visions, and noises come back. This time they are as strong as ever. It is time. You don’t have to imagine anymore.

The day comes. You stand in line, smiling. You talk with other people enthusiastically. You talk about how this is the year. You never give up hope. Neither do they. For all your differences, this is the one thing you have in common. The one thing that binds you, and fifty-thousand other people in the vicinity, together. Nothing can taint this feeling. Not talks of financial problems or drug problems. This is the perfect moment. You walk in. Your heart beats swiftly. You hear the loudspeaker. You hear those familiar names. This time it is real. You smell the great smells of stale beer, cut grass, and wet dirt. You hear cheering. You see the color that dominates the town. The color you are wearing on this day, at this moment. People continue to cheer. Thud! That?s all right. Everyone knows to lay off the first one. Then you hear it. CRACK! A line drive base hit. And the season is under way. What a great one it will be.
Dedicated to Baseball, and those that made it great. The ones that are alive in person, and those that are alive in our memories.

For the first time since 1960, there won’t be a Buck in a Cardinals broadcast booth this year.

Joe Buck, who had been doing the play-by-play for a few Redbirds games on FSN Midwest in recent seasons, has decided not to return in order to enjoy himself at the ballpark in a nonworking capacity.

“It’s nothing more than it feels like it’s time to make that change and to concentrate on some other things and basically go to Cardinals games as a fan,” he said Monday night. “I’m a fan, and I love to go down there with my wife and two daughters. The fun of that now is more appealing than anything to me.”

Despite Buck’s burgeoning career nationally at the Fox network, for which he is lead baseball and football play-by-play announcer, he had kept his ties to the Redbirds booth — where he got his start in big-league broadcasting in 1991 at age 21.

But he had been cutting back in recent seasons on his Cards workload, going from a busy schedule while filling in on radio while his father, Jack Buck, was ailing in 2002 to 31 FSN games in 2003 to 10 last season.

His departure ends a lengthy run of Bucks in the booth. His dad joined the club’s radio broadcast team in 1954 and was there every year except 1960 until falling ill after the 2001 season and dying the following year.

But Joe Buck said that family streak never was a reason he kept doing Redbirds games.

“I don’t think like that,” he said. “My dad’s career stands on its own. It was not a birthright of mine when I went there on a full-time basis in 1991, and it’s not a birthright now. There’s nothing written in stone that somebody with the last name of Buck has to be sitting in that booth.

“And really, we’re only talking about 10 games. … To do it just to say I’m on the list as one of the announcers is silly to me.”

FSN Midwest general manager Jack Donovan said Buck will be missed.

“We’re sorry to see him leave, but we were lucky to have him as long as we did,” Donovan said. “Unquestionably, he’s the best play-by-play guy in sports.”

Buck said the flexibility of FSN management, which allowed him to pick his schedule, was what had kept him aboard in recent seasons.

“The fact they let me do as many or as few as I felt I needed to do meant a lot to me,” he said.

He said there was another reason, too.

“I still continue to this day to feel indebted to the Cardinals for all they provided me,” he said. “I’m (not) the lead voice of the NFL and Major League Baseball on Fox if I don’t get that job (with the team), and if I don’t get that chance to grow up and learn about the game and learn about broadcasting in the Cardinals’ booth. Everything stemmed off that.”

Buck won’t be totally gone from Cardinals broadcasts, as he is scheduled to do a couple of their games for Fox. But those have a different tone than local telecasts because they air in the market of the opposing team as well as in St. Louis.

Donovan said Rick Horton, who does the commentary on KSDK (Channel 5) telecasts of Cards games, will help fill the gap created by Buck’s departure.

Horton will work with Dan McLaughlin (play-by-play) or Al Hrabosky (analysis) on about 10 FSN Midwest telecasts this season.

Horton also will continue as a regular on FSN Midwest’s Cards postgame shows.

Today we wear Cardinals’ Red, but it could have been Maroon’s maroon.

In 1884, St. Louis millionaire and baseball aficionado, Henry Lucas attempted to bring the National League to St. Louis. But his attempts were thwarted and the league did not grant him a team. Not to be out done, Lucas decided to draw upon his personal fortune and create his own league, which became the Union Association.

St. Louis’ team, the Maroons, were clearly the best team in the league and their owner, Lucas, did not hide the fact that he loaded the St. Louis team with as much talent as possible. While this made for a successful team in St. Louis, it did not bode well for the rest of the league. The Union Association lasted one season.

According to Christopher Gordon, Director of Library Archives at the Missouri Historical Society, soon after the league folded, Lucas’ luck continued to go down hill.

“He had built Union Park, which was the baseball stadium for the Union League. In the midst of all this, fireworks during a fireworks display, the stadium caught on fire and he had no insurance so the last of his money was wiped out,” said Gordon.

Let the rationalizing begin.

Barry Bonds’ day of reckoning drew much closer Thursday. Actually, it arrived.

The question of whose lineup will include the free-agent left fielder next season has become secondary to which judge will find Bonds on his or her docket.

At the end of a four-year investigation into rampant use of performance-enhancing drugs by elite athletes, the feds hit the game’s all-time home run king* Thursday with four counts of perjury and one of obstruction of justice because of lies he allegedly told a federal grand jury. Major League Baseball knew this train was coming but until now remained unsure when it would reach the station.

A marvelously gifted talent who has tarnished his career by showing contempt for teammates, media, the game’s integrity and the truth now stands formally accused.

Thursday’s federal indictment will cause Bonds’ supporters to trot out well-worn excuses, mail-order legal degrees and a race-based defense of a man who has never embraced anything other than himself.

But Bonds’ enablers have lost two legs from their stool. No more can they parrot that Bonds never has been indicted. Nor can they claim he has never tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance. Thursday’s indictment alleges that Bonds was among those who tested positive for “anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing substances.”

Of course, “he’s innocent until proven guilty” comes next with “selective prosecution” following closely behind.

Deniability, however, is becoming a more expensive commodity.

Where are the critics who derided the meticulous investigative book “Game of Shadows” as nothing more than a money grab by two San Francisco reporters, themselves once prosecuted for protecting their outstanding sources?

Bonds faces five counts punishable by up to 30 years in prison. Not exactly stuff to enhance one’s market value.

Note that Bonds isn’t being prosecuted for what he allegedly did (use illegal drugs to enhance himself) but for what he refused to do. Rather than admit that steroids contributed to his swollen head and bloated physique, Bonds

faded the truth. Bonds lied. (Allegedly, of course.)

There are those who still insist men never landed on the moon, that Elvis lives in a trailer home near Joshua Tree and that Lee Harvey Oswald was guilty of nothing but bad PR.

There are those who say Bonds did nothing wrong. And, even if he did, he did nothing beyond what many others did. Nothing, perhaps, except impugn the integrity of those who only sought the truth and of the game that might have conferred upon him the label of greatest player ever.

The much-anticipated and much-dreaded Mitchell Report is expected to come out within the next month, and every franchise trembles at what it might present. Bonds’ apologists hoped Sen. George Mitchell’s report would come out before any additional revelations surfaced against their hero. In that climate, Bonds would only seem the biggest drop within an ocean of cheats. Not now. Whatever follows serves as mere breakers. Bonds is the tsunami.

BB is subject to far worse than MLB’s wrist slap for first-time offenders. He stands to do serious time like his personal trainer, Greg Anderson, who was released Thursday after twice being incarcerated for remaining silent about his former client’s training habits.

The investigation already has ensnared New York Yankees slugger Jason Giambi. Giambi had enough common sense not to lie. He took a public flogging, admitted his mistake, was called before the Mitchell committee and has partially rehabilitated his reputation.

Bonds single-handedly turned sports’ most revered record into a traveling carnival act. Hank Aaron, who defined his career with dignity to the same degree that Bonds has defined his with sneering self-absorption, stayed home to “play golf.” Commissioner Bud Selig attended a handful of games before leaving the circus to attend Hall of Fame induction ceremonies. A record that should have elicited a summer-long celebration instead received a figurative asterisk.

Bonds’ most recent display of comic moral superiority occurred after the Hall said it would display the outfielder’s record-setting home run ball adorned by its purchaser with an asterisk.

Bonds threatened he would never set foot at the National Baseball Hall of Fame if the ball was displayed. With seven MVPs and 762 home runs, Bonds assumes he will one day be voted into the Hall by 75 percent of voting members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Just as he likely assumed Thursday would never arrive.

His apologists will say the process is just beginning.

They are wrong. It’s over.

The Cardinals will begin an intensive search today for general manager Walt Jocketty’s successor while still awaiting word from free-agent manager Tony La Russa about whether he will return to an organization suddenly in flux.

Citing a widening front-office split, Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. dismissed Jocketty, the longest-tenured GM in club history, during a Wednesday morning meeting at DeWitt’s Clayton home.

Jocketty had received no indication of a pending move regarding his status before DeWitt invited him to Wednesday’s 45-minute meeting.

Many within the front office were unaware of the move until the club issued a press release at about 3 p.m.

The move, which was first reported on STLtoday.com, occurred less than one year after the Cardinals secured their first World Series title in 24 years, but was more directly influenced by DeWitt’s installation of a new front-office model less than 13 months ago.

Jocketty’s refusal to embrace the new structure brought scrutiny that culminated in his ouster, according to DeWitt, despite a successful 13-year run highlighted by two World Series appearances and five trips to the playoffs the last seven seasons.