Friday at last, of a seemingly very long week — guess the polar vortex and snow will do that. And, with just over a month until Cardinals pitchers and catchers report to Jupiter on Feb. 12, baseball still seems far away.

Not that there hasn’t been baseball in the news this week, with the results of the Hall of Fame voting revealed on Wednesday (and all the moralizing and lecturing and pomposity from too many of those who voted spewing out both before and after). Ahead of that, though, Graham Womack at Baseball Past and Present on Monday unveiled his fourth edition of the 50 best baseball players not in the Hall of Fame. It’s a long and great read, well worth the time for the information on each player (although three listed now are Hall of Famers — congratulations to Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas). There are several Cardinals on the list, including Ted Simmons at No. 26, Joe Torre at No. 34 (as a player, since he’ll be inducted as a manager in July) and Ken Boyer at No. 40 (and I was privileged to write about him for the project).

Speaking of Simmons, if you haven’t read The Sin of Being Second to the Best Ever by Derrick Goold yet, read it now.

Also, check out Legendary Cardinals Instructor George Kissell Deserves a Spot in the Hall of Fame from Stan McNeal at Fox Sports Midwest. Definitely would be a deserving honor for a man who did have, still has and will continue to have such an impact on the Cardinals and all those who have played for the team.

One last Hall of Fame-related note, since it involves an incoming inductee, Tony La Russa is on the Seattle Mariners short list of candidates to be team president, according to Bob Nightengale at USA Today. From Nightengale:

La Russa, when contacted, declined to specifically talk about the Mariners’ opening, but acknowledged that he’s interested in leaving his special assistant’s job with Major League Baseball, and join a team’s front office.

“I’m interested in getting to the competition upstairs,” La Russa said. “I’ve missed the competition since I left the field. I talked to the commissioner [Bud Selig] about it. It’s not a thing where you miss the dugout, but I miss the winning and losing.

“The situation has to be right.”

And the Mariners’ situation is ideal. They are loaded with money, pitching, minor-league talent, and now a prized $240 million investment in second baseman Robinson Cano.

Interesting to see what transpires in Seattle.

With the Winter Warm-Up next weekend, the Cardinals Caravans will be heading out as well — here’s the schedule for the Caravans.

Let us pause and remember Two-Time World Series Champion Ryan Theriot, who has now officially retired. Let us also remember that once upon a time we did pretend to like him … and thankfully it only lasted a matter of months. Although it forever will be entertaining to mention to Cub fans that he won his first World Series ring as a Cardinal — as well as that he’s a two-time champ.

If you’re looking for ways to fill the time until spring training and make sure you’re up on the latest Cards news and opinions everywhere on the Web, check out The (Revised) Definite Guide to the Cardinal Blogosphere from our pal Daniel at C70 At the Bat.

And, if you’ll be going to spring training, tickets for all games at Roger Dean Stadium go on sale tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. Central Time. Also, if you’re going, I’m jealous.


Christine Coleman is the lead writer for Aaron Miles’ Fastball. Follow her on Twitter, @CColeman802, or email aaronmilesfastball@gmail.com. Also follow @AMilesFastball for the latest updates and like us on Facebook if you don’t already.