After a rough start down in Houston the St. Louis Cardinals picked up right where they left off in April. With Tyler Greene leading the charge.

Second baseman Tyler Greene showed all those offensive skills Sunday that have labeled him still a prospect although he more often than not has been suspect at the big-league level.

Greene, mostly a reserve who was starting at second base against Houston LHP J.A. Happ, clubbed two homers and a double and drove in four runs as he bumped his average to .256. He stole one base and nearly had another and he also turned in a nifty double play in the field as the Cardinals captured the finale of a three-game series from the Astros, 8-1.

First baseman Allen Craig, knocked out for two months last May when he slid into a railing here and suffered a broken right kneecap, got his revenge on Minute Maid Park by homering and doubling and knocking in three runs.

As the Cardinals stopped their losing streak at three games and the Astros’ winning streak at five, RHP Adam Wainwright did what he always does against the Astros. Wainwright, winning his second straight, held the Astros to one run on seven singles in seven innings and struck out seven. It was Wainwright’s 10th win in 11 career decisions against the Astros and his earned-run average for that body of work is 1.54.

But what Greene did certainly was less expected than the feats of the other two. In fact, he did what no other Cardinals second baseman ever has done.

According to SABR research, Greene is the first Cardinals second baseman to have as many as four RBI, three hits and two homers and at least one stolen base in the same game.

“Hopefully, I was able to earn a couple of days out there (in Arizona),” said Greene. “Everybody wants to be out there every day. You just take whatever circumstance you’re given and do the best you can with it.”

A few notes

–1B Allen Craig is hitting .375 and slugging .750 after his first four games, including three doubles and a homer, after leaving the disabled list. “I can’t wait for the year I can see 500 to 600 at-bats from that guy,” said hitting coach Mark McGwire.

–RHP Adam Wainwright is getting closer to the form he displayed in 2009-10, when he won 39 games for the Cardinals before losing last season to an elbow operation. After pitching poorly in his first three starts this season, amassing an unsightly 9.88 ERA along with three losses, Wainwright is 2-0 and 2.70 since then, including a one-run, seven-hit allotment over seven innings on Sunday. “You could see he had a good feel for all his pitches. I don’t think (Wainwright) is very far away now,” manager Mike Matheny said.

–CF Jon Jay turned in his sixth spectacular play of the three-game series when he avoided LF Matt Holliday, who had pulled up, and made a sliding catch on Justin Maxwell‘s drive to left center in the fifth inning.

–Injured 1B Lance Berkman ran in the outfield for some 10 minutes before the game and said his strained left calf “felt a lot better than the other day. Marked improvement.”

–Matheny had pondered giving 34-year-old SS Rafael Furcal a day off Sunday. But too much was happening for Furcal and not enough was happening for the Cardinals.

–Furcal, matching Lou Brock in 1974, had led off six straight games with hits and he had scored in the first inning after five of them. Matheny said, “He was excited about getting in there and facing a lefty (J.A. Happ). And there’s no question that everybody’s pretty excited about winning a game here.” The Cardinals won but Furcal’s streak was snapped with a first-inning fly out.

–St. Louis has scored in the first inning for eight games in a row.

–The Cardinals’ five homers in Monday night’s game were their most since hitting six on July 5, 2007, against Pittsburgh.

–Beltran needs two stolen bases to become the eighth player in major-league history with at least 300 steals and 300 homers.

–Westbrook followed his most difficult outing of the season — a 6-3 home loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates — with his most dominant. He has as many quality starts through this season’s six outings as he managed in the first 16 in 2011

The Society of American Baseball Research (SABR) will host the second annual SABR Day on January 29. This year’s SABR day especially significant, for it kicks off the 4oth year of the organization.

SABR Chapters around the country, and world, will host meetings and events and talk a little baseball. Late January is, as you know, a lull in the baseball news cycle. Most of the free agent signings are complete, with the marquis names having either returned to their former teams or found new employment. Teams have put the final touches on their rosters in preparation for Spring Training, barely 3 weeks away. And the NFL playoffs have reached the penultimate weekend, with Conference Champions determined but the Super Bowl still a week away.

It’s the perfect weekend to stoke the Hot Stove one final time.

In 2010 37 chapters met in 34 separate events with a total of 712 members attending. That figure is probably lower than the actual total turnout; for example, in my local chapter approximately half of those in attendance were not formal members of SABR.

As was the case last year, individual agendas will vary depending on the preferences of that particular chapter. Last January my local chapter was lucky enough to spend over an hour in a question and answer period with the Director of Baseball Operations for our local Major League team, and this year we are scheduled for 30 minutes with one of the Assistant General Managers. The local St Louis Chapter (Bob Broeg) hosted a luncheon, which included a discussion panel of members of the local media, as well as prominent bloggers, who talked about the rise of blogging and social media in covering baseball and its impact.

There’s a lot to offer the casual baseball follower, and a treasure trove of information for the SABR-inclined fan, at at these chapter events 2 weeks from now.

Details on SABR Day can be found at the SABR website, as well as a list of chapters. Not every chapter has their own website, but contact information for each chapter can be found at the aforementioned link.

So celebrate SABR Day with your local passionate baseball friends. You’ll thank us for the suggestion.

For Immediate Release
I-70 Baseball – Springfield, MO

I-70 Baseball Announces First Writers Conference

I-70 Baseball is proud to announce the organization of the first Midwest Baseball Writers Convention to be held on February 12, 2011 in Springfield, MO.

Baseball writers from around the country are being invited to attend the first ever conference, aimed at creating a networking opportunity for writers to exchange ideas and meet with industry professionals that can assist them in expanding their reach within their industry.

Attendees of the conference will be allowed full access for the day to the various displays inside of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. In addition, guest speakers will grace the auditorium stage at the venue to discuss various topics.

Confirmed Speakers at this time are:

- Representatives from the Society of American Baseball Research (SABR) will be on hand to discuss their organization and offer the ability to setup membership that day.

- Rob Rains will be on hand with copies of his book “Cubs Win, Cubs Win, or do they?”

- Tim Danielson of BaseballDigest.com will be on hand to discuss the collecting industry and the impact on

- A Sabermetric expert will be on hand to discuss statistics in today’s game and their place in journalism

- Experts on New Media and it’s reach into mainstream society

Other authors, professional athletes, and experts in their field have been contacted and we are finalizing the full list of guest speakers and celebrity guests.

In addition, I-70 has asked the United Cardinal Bloggers and the Baseball Bloggers Alliance for their involvement and we anticipate a large group of writers to attend the event, giving the unique opportunity for face-to-face interaction and relationship building going into the 2011 Major League Baseball season.

The conference will be an exciting time for writers to meet each other, learn more about their craft, and build their content to an all new level.

In addition, there will be a private dinner for guests and writers at Ebbet’s Field in Springfield, MO the night before the event on February 11.

Contact Bill Ivie, Founder of i70baseball.com, at bill@i70baseball.com for more information or to reserve your spot today. Attendance will be limited.

You can visit I-70 on Facebook here.
The official Facebook page of the conference is located here.