Notes: Gold Glovers Honored
Edmonds, Rolen, Renteria and Vina receive awards
By Matthew Leach / MLB.com
May 17, 2003
ST. LOUIS -- It never gets old.
Scott Rolen has won four Gold Gloves, and it's just as big a thrill to him as it ever was. Rolen, Fernando Vina, Jim Edmonds and Edgar Renteria received their Rawlings Gold Glove awards before Saturday's Cubs-Cardinals game.
"I don't really play the game for personal accolades," Rolen said. "It's not why I'm out here. But a Gold Glove is kind of an unselfish award, in my opinion. It feels pretty good to win a Gold Glove."
Rolen has streaks and slumps as a hitter, as St. Louis fans have already seen this year. But his defense remains consistent, and that's no coincidence.
"I try to play every pitch," he said. "You can't take a break. You go up to the plate, if you've never seen a guy (you can) take a pitch. Say, 'I'm not swinging.'
"You can't do that on the field. Because when you quit playing one pitch, that ball gets hit to you, and you let nine guys down -- and the pitcher on the mound who's working as hard as he can."
What may be most remarkable about Rolen and his three colleagues, however, is that they could have been joined by two more winners. Mike Matheny won a Gold Glove in 2000, and Tino Martinez is widely considered an elite defensive first baseman.
"It's pretty cool," Rolen said of playing on such a strong defensive team. "And there could have been five or six. Could have been six very easily here.
"I think it's the best (defense) in baseball. That's a biased opinion. But I think defense starts in the middle of the field, with your catcher, your middle infielders and your center fielder, and we have three of those four as Gold Glove winners. And the fourth (Matheny), could have, should have."
All OK: The Cards have several dinged-up position players, but they were all in the lineup on Saturday. J.D. Drew, who has been bothered by a sore back and continues his recovery from offseason knee surgery, will probably sit Sunday against lefty Shawn Estes. Albert Pujols' left hamstring remains tricky, but he was in good enough shape to play. And Vina was able to play through his sore right ankle, which was hit by a Matt Clement pitch on Friday.
Then again, Vina is pretty much always able and willing to play.
Manager Tony La Russa, when asked what it would take to keep Vina out of the lineup, said, "a break" -- as in a broken bone.
More Marrero: Eli Marrero was back in the clubhouse again Saturday, continuing the painstaking process of rehabilitating his sprained right ankle. Marrero has begun doing movement exercises with the ankle, but he is on crutches and forbidden from putting any weight on it. He's dying to test it out, but resisting the temptation.
"It's like an itch," he said. "You want to scratch it so bad."
Baby 'Birds: Triple-A Memphis continues to show signs of life. The Redbirds thumped Oklahoma, 7-1. Three Memphis players had three-hit games, Nerio Rodriguez gave up one run in eight innings and Jimmy Journell pitched a perfect ninth. ... Double-A Tennessee was pounded by Chattanooga, 17-6. Nick Stocks took the loss, giving up seven runs in five innings. ... Single-A Palm Beach ripped Clearwater 9-3 as Cristobal Correa notched his first win. ... Single-A Peoria completed a strong day for the system with a 10-5 win over Clinton. Reid Gorecki, Travis Hanson and John Santor each had two hits and two RBIs.
The player of the day was Palm Beach's Shaun Boyd, who went 2-for-5 with two doubles, two runs and an RBI. Boyd, 21, was the Cardinals' first-round draft pick in 2000. The second baseman and leadoff man is batting .263 with a .351 on-base percentage and 12 steals in 15 attempts.
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