Familiar face returns
ST. LOUIS -- Tony Womack was a Cardinal for only one season, but in that time he left a deep impression on his teammates and his manager. The speedster served as the Cards' leadoff man and second baseman in 2004, when the club won a staggering 105 games.
Womack's return to St. Louis was rather less celebrated than that of his '04 double-play partner, Edgar Renteria (now of the Red Sox), but skipper Tony La Russa was pleased to run into Womack again. Womack met up with several of his old mates on Thursday at Albert Pujols' charity golf tournament.
"I think his consistently high level of energy and tough competitive play," La Russa said when asked about his impressions of Womack. "He walked in and generated a lot of respect. He's a fun guy to be around, too. Very smart. He got a very nice reception yesterday from the people at the tournament."
Womack felt a bit slighted by the Cards this offseason, when they allowed him to depart to New York for a two-year contract.
"The last time I was here, we lost the World Series," Womack said. "We were there, though. It's too bad that we lost, but we had fun.
"In this game, you can't be surprised. I guess they had other plans. Their main focus was to sign Edgar and they put everybody else on hold."
Yankee memories: The Yankees' first visit to Busch Stadium in more than 40 years set La Russa to doing some reminiscing. The St. Louis manager grew up in Tampa as a Yankees fan, and particularly as a fan of Mickey Mantle. So it was something of a treat for La Russa, as an 18-year-old rookie in 1963, to meet Mantle at Yankee Stadium.
La Russa also got to witness one of Mantle's most memorable home runs -- in fact, a ball that Mantle himself reportedly called the hardest-hit ball of his career.
"It was against Bill Fischer and the Kansas City A's at the Stadium," said La Russa. "It was on the rise and it hit the (right-field) façade and bounced back to second base. It was the (11th) inning.
"Ed Lopat, the manager, was bench-jockeying him. The first time, (Mantle) laughed. The second time, he kind of smirked. By the time he got to the (11th) inning, he'd had enough."
The New York Daily News once rated the home run as the No. 15 classic moment in Yankees history.
The comeback train: Cal Eldred pitched two more innings for Double-A Springfield on Thursday night. It was the right-hander's third rehabilitation appearance as he attempts to come back from a viral infection that struck the lining of his heart.
This outing was a little less spotless than his first two, but ultimately successful. Eldred pitched a pair of shutout innings, allowing four hits with no walks and no strikeouts.
Also making his way back, third baseman Scott Rolen continued ramping up his workouts on Friday at Busch Stadium. Rolen may head out on a rehabilitation assignment on Monday when the team goes on a road trip. He would likely either go to Triple-A Memphis or Class A Palm Beach.
Strange place for a throwback? There's not a lot of regular-season Major League history in St. Petersburg, but the Cardinals will nonetheless wear throwback uniforms at Tropicana Field on Saturday, June 18. The Redbirds will don baby-blue outfits hearkening back to their 1982 World Series championship. After the game, they will autograph the uniforms and donate them to Tampa Bay's Rays of Hope foundation.
Today in Busch history: On June 8, 1967, future Hall of Famer Bob Gibson outdueled future Major League manager Larry Dierker in a 5-2 Cardinals win over the Astros. Gibson went the distance, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits. He struck out nine and did not issue a walk, and in typical Gibson fashion, he also singled and drove in a run. Thanks to Project Retrosheet (www.retrosheet.org) for the information.
Baby 'Birds: Bo Hart had three hits including a double and scored two runs, but Memphis lost, 6-5, to Omaha in 12 innings. ... Tyler Minges homered and Andy Schutzenhofer went 3-for-4 in Springfield's 4-2 loss to Wichita. ... Rayner Laya's squeeze bunt brought home the game's only run in Palm Beach's 1-0 win over Vero Beach. ... Rick Ankiel returned to the field for a pinch-hit at-bat after missing several days with a sore hamstring, but he couldn't help Class A Quad Cities in its 6-3 loss to South Bend. Matt Shepherd, Jarrett Hoffpauir and Juan Lucena had two hits each.
Easily garnering player of the day laurels is Palm Beach starter Eric Haberer, who pitched seven shutout innings. The left-hander from Southern Illinois University is 3-0 with a 0.43 ERA in three starts since a promotion from Quad Cities to Palm Beach. Haberer, St. Louis' third-round pick in 2004, has not allowed a home run in 76 1/3 innings this season.
Coming up: Saturday brings a matchup of two of the biggest and best left-handers in the game. Mark Mulder takes the mound for St. Louis against Randy Johnson, as the Cardinals and Yankees trot out their respective offseason trade prizes. The first pitch is scheduled for 2:15 p.m. CT.
Source: http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/
Womack's return to St. Louis was rather less celebrated than that of his '04 double-play partner, Edgar Renteria (now of the Red Sox), but skipper Tony La Russa was pleased to run into Womack again. Womack met up with several of his old mates on Thursday at Albert Pujols' charity golf tournament.
"I think his consistently high level of energy and tough competitive play," La Russa said when asked about his impressions of Womack. "He walked in and generated a lot of respect. He's a fun guy to be around, too. Very smart. He got a very nice reception yesterday from the people at the tournament."
Womack felt a bit slighted by the Cards this offseason, when they allowed him to depart to New York for a two-year contract.
"The last time I was here, we lost the World Series," Womack said. "We were there, though. It's too bad that we lost, but we had fun.
"In this game, you can't be surprised. I guess they had other plans. Their main focus was to sign Edgar and they put everybody else on hold."
Yankee memories: The Yankees' first visit to Busch Stadium in more than 40 years set La Russa to doing some reminiscing. The St. Louis manager grew up in Tampa as a Yankees fan, and particularly as a fan of Mickey Mantle. So it was something of a treat for La Russa, as an 18-year-old rookie in 1963, to meet Mantle at Yankee Stadium.
La Russa also got to witness one of Mantle's most memorable home runs -- in fact, a ball that Mantle himself reportedly called the hardest-hit ball of his career.
"It was against Bill Fischer and the Kansas City A's at the Stadium," said La Russa. "It was on the rise and it hit the (right-field) façade and bounced back to second base. It was the (11th) inning.
"Ed Lopat, the manager, was bench-jockeying him. The first time, (Mantle) laughed. The second time, he kind of smirked. By the time he got to the (11th) inning, he'd had enough."
The New York Daily News once rated the home run as the No. 15 classic moment in Yankees history.
The comeback train: Cal Eldred pitched two more innings for Double-A Springfield on Thursday night. It was the right-hander's third rehabilitation appearance as he attempts to come back from a viral infection that struck the lining of his heart.
This outing was a little less spotless than his first two, but ultimately successful. Eldred pitched a pair of shutout innings, allowing four hits with no walks and no strikeouts.
Also making his way back, third baseman Scott Rolen continued ramping up his workouts on Friday at Busch Stadium. Rolen may head out on a rehabilitation assignment on Monday when the team goes on a road trip. He would likely either go to Triple-A Memphis or Class A Palm Beach.
Strange place for a throwback? There's not a lot of regular-season Major League history in St. Petersburg, but the Cardinals will nonetheless wear throwback uniforms at Tropicana Field on Saturday, June 18. The Redbirds will don baby-blue outfits hearkening back to their 1982 World Series championship. After the game, they will autograph the uniforms and donate them to Tampa Bay's Rays of Hope foundation.
Today in Busch history: On June 8, 1967, future Hall of Famer Bob Gibson outdueled future Major League manager Larry Dierker in a 5-2 Cardinals win over the Astros. Gibson went the distance, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits. He struck out nine and did not issue a walk, and in typical Gibson fashion, he also singled and drove in a run. Thanks to Project Retrosheet (www.retrosheet.org) for the information.
Baby 'Birds: Bo Hart had three hits including a double and scored two runs, but Memphis lost, 6-5, to Omaha in 12 innings. ... Tyler Minges homered and Andy Schutzenhofer went 3-for-4 in Springfield's 4-2 loss to Wichita. ... Rayner Laya's squeeze bunt brought home the game's only run in Palm Beach's 1-0 win over Vero Beach. ... Rick Ankiel returned to the field for a pinch-hit at-bat after missing several days with a sore hamstring, but he couldn't help Class A Quad Cities in its 6-3 loss to South Bend. Matt Shepherd, Jarrett Hoffpauir and Juan Lucena had two hits each.
Easily garnering player of the day laurels is Palm Beach starter Eric Haberer, who pitched seven shutout innings. The left-hander from Southern Illinois University is 3-0 with a 0.43 ERA in three starts since a promotion from Quad Cities to Palm Beach. Haberer, St. Louis' third-round pick in 2004, has not allowed a home run in 76 1/3 innings this season.
Coming up: Saturday brings a matchup of two of the biggest and best left-handers in the game. Mark Mulder takes the mound for St. Louis against Randy Johnson, as the Cardinals and Yankees trot out their respective offseason trade prizes. The first pitch is scheduled for 2:15 p.m. CT.
Source: http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/
