With more late-night games tonight and tomorrow plus an ESPN Sunday Night Baseball appearance, we have a lot of hours until St. Louis Cardinals baseball each day.

Here’s some news to get through today’s long wait.

First, ugly tux day continued to be quite the hit via social media last night. True, this all would be even more fun had they won yesterday — and somehow I think they’d have preferred winning as well. But so it goes.

Anyway, here’s a collection of the latest so you can judge for yourself who was the best dressed and worst dressed … if there’s any difference.

• Fox Sports Midwest posted the video from yesterday’s pre-game here.
• David Freese has the most coveted picture of all — the group photo. Matt Carpenter as Pee Wee Herman? Awesome. Tyler Greene in skin-tight red and white? Horrifying. Skip as a leprechaun? Um … I do love Rafael Furcal’s socks — hey, why not use what you already have? Are those his uniform pants too? And the three on the right — Yadi, Eduardo Sanchez and Fernando Salas — actually look really good.
• Here’s a close-up of Freeser and pretty-in-pink LB (with Tyler Greene creeping into the shot), with Matt Holliday (and a good look at the back of Adam Wainwright’s kilt) and with Pee Wee himself.
• The Cardinals Facebook page had an album with more individual shots — check that out here. Kyle Lohse, nice job! Lance Lynn’s bare chest … eek! And Tyler Greene … yeah. Nice legs?!

Moving on, there are more injury updates — Allen Craig and Kyle McClellan are headed to the disabled list, as reported by Joe Strauss in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Craig has a left hamstring strain and McClellan left yesterday’s game with right elbow pain. He may be out for quite a while:

McClellan, who required elbow ligament replacement as a minor league starting pitcher in 2006, may have suffered a second rupture Thursday. McClellan said the sensation this time was not as acute as what he experienced prior to his surgery, but he also acknowledged persistent discomfort and swelling of the elbow during the past two weeks. McClellan noted that performing even routine household activities caused throbbing in the area.

Strauss reports that Adron Chambers and Brandon Dickson are expected to take their roster spots.


Another Cardinal dealing with injury is, of course, Chris Carpenter. And he’s been spending time while his teammates are on the road taking in some baseball — in the form of his son Sam’s Little League games. And he’s a little surprised by the intensity, as was reported in the New Hampshire Union Leader from CC’s hometown:

“I’d never seen him play. He’s 9 years old, almost 10, and it’s crazy competitive. The coach is yelling. It’s been an eye-opening experience for me. I was like, wow, I don’t know what’s going on,” Carpenter said.

There’s definitely an irony to this, right — that he finds something competitive and intense? But he’s also trying to be a good dad and make sure Sam has a good experience:

“I was telling my son to just go out there and have fun. If he wants to pick grass and throw it up in the air, he can. He’s 9 years old. That’s what it’s all about. I don’t even have memories of playing baseball at that age. My memories are about hanging out with my friends and stopping at McDonald’s after a game or going out for ice cream.”

Check out the whole article — CC has some interesting things to say about kids and sports today.


Finally, are you graduating this spring? Whether it’s grade school, high school, college or even grad school (like Miranda), you’re invited to the Cardinals first Graduation Day at Busch Stadium on July 1. All graduates can participate in a pre-game parade around the field while wearing their caps and gowns. (That sounds a little hot for July.) Tickets for graduates are available for $15. Find complete details here.


Let the countdown to tonight’s game continue — only 14 more hours! Lance Lynn will be trying to bounce back from his first loss of the season (and hopefully be wearing a shirt). He faces off against Ted Lilly. Game time is 9:10 p.m. Central Time.


Christine Coleman is the senior St. Louis Cardinals reporter for Aaron Miles’ Fastball. Follow her on Twitter, @CColeman802, or email aaronmilesfastball@gmail.com. Also follow @AMilesFastball for the latest updates.