MLB.com is asking "Who was black baseball’s best pitcher?" Among the pitchers that the 19-member expert panel will consider to name in their top five is Satchel Paige, who, pitching in St. Louis and being one of baseball’s all-time characters, has always been one of my favorites. It’s impossible to really know who was best, let alone how they compared to the major leaguers of the day. But Richard …

In the spirit of Rob Neyer’s Monday Mendozas and Friday Filberts, we bring you Saturday Saturrias.

Perhaps Cardinal fans are a bit edgy these days waiting for Albert Pujols to sign an extension. Or maybe they just have long memories. When former Cardinal Brad Penny posted a seemingly innocuous tweet about his recent workout, JoeSportsFan’s Matt Sebek took umbrage, perhaps still upset that Penny’s injury left the Cardinals in …

According to Joe Strauss, Albert Pujols’s agent Dan Lozano had proposed a 10-year, $300 million framework. As Strauss notes, “Such a deal would eclipse New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez’s 10-year, $275 million contract signed three years ago as the game’s richest.”
But is a strategy to compare a new contract to Rodriguez’s wise? The reality is that if anyone attempts to compare Pujols to Rodriguez, the …

The Cardinals have already made some headlines this winter, with a few offseason accolades, some wise and unwise moves and, of course, the Great Albert Pujols Contract Extension Saga. The year ahead will certainly bring more happy and not-so-happy headlines. As part of the United Cardinal Bloggers’ January project, we present five headlines that we expect (not necessarily want) to happen during the coming year.

Carpenter, Freese land on DL — …

In our post on Albert Pujols’s contract comparables, we noted that one of many similarities between the Cardinals’ current first base slugger and their former one, Stan Musial, was the fact that each has played only for the Cardinals. As we wait for word on whether that unique player-organization dual loyalty will continue for Pujols and the Cardinals, let’s review those rare relationships that stood the test of time …

Now that Albert Pujols has set the deadline for c-day — contract day — for less than a month away, he surely has a target duration and amount for his extension in mind. But what? Given that he is probably the best player in baseball and is one of the few players who have played for only one team his entire career, and that clubs have extended their own …

Kudos to the latest Hall of Famers, Bert Blyleven and Roberto Alomar, as well as to those writers who smartly voted them in. They proved that, while the knowledge-based revolution may have stalled in St. Louis, it’s alive and well across the BBWAA — that, or the fear of being continuing to be labeled as anti-knowledge has cowed them. Either way, they made a wise decision in this non-member writer’s …

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Twelve bases amassing,
Eleven runs above average a’ fielding,
Ten games above .500 winning,
Nine batters k-ing,
Eight games completing,
Seven years a’ signing,
Six grands a’ slamming,
Five shining stars,
Four hundred home runs,
Three clutch men,
Two golden gloves,
And a vote for the finest rookie.

Jaime Garcia received one first-place vote for NL …

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Eleven runs above average a’ fielding,
Ten games above .500 winning,
Nine batters k-ing,
Eight games completing,
Seven years a’ signing,
Six grands a’ slamming,
Five shining stars,
Four hundred home runs,
Three clutch men,
Two golden gloves,
And a vote for the finest rookie.

Jaime Garcia received one first-place vote for NL Rookie of the …

On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Ten games above .500 winning,
Nine batters k-ing,
Eight games completing,
Seven years a’ signing,
Six grands a’ slamming,
Five shining stars,
Four hundred home runs,
Three clutch men,
Two golden gloves,
And a vote for the finest rookie.

Jaime Garcia received one first-place vote for NL Rookie of the Year and finished third overall, the first time …

On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Nine batters k-ing,
Eight games completing,
Seven years a’ signing,
Six grands a’ slamming,
Five shining stars,
Four hundred home runs,
Three clutch men,
Two golden gloves,
And a vote for the finest rookie.

Jaime Garcia received one first-place vote for NL Rookie of the Year and finished third overall, the first time a Cardinal received a first-place …

On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Eight games completing,
Seven years a’ signing,
Six grands a’ slamming,
Five shining stars,
Four hundred home runs,
Three clutch men,
Two golden gloves,
And a vote for the finest rookie.

Jaime Garcia received one first-place vote for NL Rookie of the Year and finished third overall, the first time a Cardinal received a first-place vote and finished …

As part of the United Cardinal Bloggers’ final project of the year , we present our top five Cardinal stories of 2010:

McGwire returns: For good or ill, Tony La Russa proved that bringing back Mark McGwire was worth dividing Cardinal Nation. In doing so, he embarrassed himself and the organization and put McGwire in a limelight in which he again showed that being honest was more difficult than hitting a …

On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Seven years a’ signing
Six grands a’ slamming,
Five shining stars,
Four hundred home runs,
Three clutch men,
Two golden gloves,
And a vote for the finest rookie.

Jaime Garcia received one first-place vote for NL Rookie of the Year and finished third overall, the first time a Cardinal received a first-place vote and finished that high since Albert …

On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Six grands a’ slamming
Five shining stars,
Four hundred home runs,
Three clutch men,
Two golden gloves,
And a vote for the finest rookie.

Jaime Garcia received one first-place vote for NL Rookie of the Year and finished third overall, the first time a Cardinal received a first-place vote and finished that high since Albert Pujols won …

On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Five shining stars,
Four hundred home runs,
Three clutch men,
Two golden gloves,
And a vote for the finest rookie.

Jaime Garcia received one first-place vote for NL Rookie of the Year and finished third overall, the first time a Cardinal received a first-place vote and finished that high since Albert Pujols won in 2001.

Albert Pujols …

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Four hundred home runs,
Three clutch men,
Two golden gloves,
And a vote for the finest rookie.

Jaime Garcia received one first-place vote for NL Rookie of the Year and finished third overall, the first time a Cardinal received a first-place vote and finished that high since Albert Pujols won in 2001.

Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina …

On the third day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Three clutch men,
Two golden gloves,
And a vote for the finest rookie.

Jaime Garcia received one first-place vote for NL Rookie of the Year and finished third overall, the first time a Cardinal received a first-place vote and finished that high since Albert Pujols won in 2001.

Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina won Gold Gloves in 2010. …

On the second day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Two golden gloves,
And a vote for the finest rookie.

Jaime Garcia received one first-place vote for NL Rookie of the Year and finished third overall, the first time a Cardinal received a first-place vote and finished that high since Albert Pujols won in 2001.

Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina won Gold Gloves in 2010. It was …

On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
A vote for the finest rookie.

Jaime Garcia received one first-place vote for NL Rookie of the Year and finished third overall, the first time a Cardinal received a first-place vote and finished that high since Albert Pujols won in 2001.