Wong’s a junior out of Kamehameha-Big Island.

The last UH player to be a first round choice was pitcher Mark Johnson, who went 19th overall to Astros in 1996.

The highest Hawaii born draftee was Honolulu‘s Justin Wayne, out of Punahou and Stanford who went 5th overall to the expos in 2000.

For more on this developing story, stay tuned to KHON2 News at 5 & 6 o’clock.

The St. Louis Cardinals have chosen Saturday to announce to infielder Pete Kozma that he was briefly a member of their Major League roster, between May 18 and June 3. Kozma, who only remembered being told by a man in a melting Tony La Russa mask to stand in the on-deck circle while another manager announced which relief pitcher he would bring in, was surprised and relieved to learn that the bus on which he’d been kidnapped and blindfolded after an uneventful start at AAA Memphis was operated by the Cardinals organization and not, as he’d assumed, North Korean terrorists.

Shuttled between hotels and buses by a strongman identified tentatively as Cardinals first base coach Dave McKay, Kozma nevertheless doubled in his debut and walked three times without making an error. “The first place I was in looked kind of like Busch Stadium, but I know the Dear Leader [North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-il] likes spectacle. After that I just kind of assumed I was playing in some spectacular imitation of Major League Baseball. I resented being made an instrument of Juche propaganda, but I felt like I was being handled better than I have since I was drafted, to be honest.” 

After demoting Kozma to AAA Memphis the Cardinals announced they would be creating a new minor league level, AAAA, and promoting Kozma to it immediately, despite his .220 start in the Pacific Coast League. Clubhouse sources suggested the primary reason for the promotion was ideological impurity. 

Read More: Lance Lynn (P – STL), Colby Rasmus (CF – STL), Aubrey Huff (1B – SFG), Ryan Theriot (SS – STL), San Francisco Giants

Lance Lynn got off to a perfect start to his Major League debut when the St. Louis Cardinals played the San Francisco Giants in the final game of a series with the champs on Thursday, but the party was over when the Cardinals’ defense struggled to keep the rookie’s obligations to three outs per inning. A bobbled double-play ball by Ryan Theriot left Lynn in to face Aubrey Huff, who promptly deposited a pitch into the bleachers for a home run, and things just got worse from there. Colby Rasmus shined in the loss, hitting a triple and a grand slam to drive in six runs.

Aubrey Huff was the star for the Giants; he hit three home runs against three different pitchers, going deep against Lynn, fellow debut pitcher Maikel Cleto, and lefty Brian Tallet to drive in six runs of his own. Pitcher Jonathan Sanchez, who earned his fourth win of the season despite walking six and striking out just one, hit a strange double on a ball that fell between drifting outfielders Rasmus and Allen Craig.

I’m going to be honest: I can’t get behind the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. I’m not sure this is a controversial position, exactly, seeing as their televised assembly couldn’t have been less popular if it had finished with LeBron James waking up and realizing the whole thing had been a dream, or had it, but because my all-time favorite baseball team happened to have three MVP candidates itself—the 2004 MV3 Cardinals, with Albert Pujols, Jim Edmonds, and Scott Rolen, not to mention Larry Walker—I feel a need to make the distinction loudly and clearly. 

The primary distinction: Jim Edmonds was not an MVP candidate before he reached the Cardinals, and Scott Rolen just so happened to be a pariah in Philadelphia, which does not have a great relationship with its star athletes, aside from Chase Utley.

The secondary distinction: Stardom in the NBA is different from stardom in Major League Baseball. The Miami Heat as they exist in 2011 seem almost claustrophobically stacked with star players; after James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh there simply aren’t any more shots to go around, which is why their fourth-leading scorer has a third as many field goal attempts as their third-leading scorer. No matter how good Pujols, Edmonds, and Rolen were, Roger Cedeno always had to bat eventually, to my endless chagrin. 

Much as I’m rooting for Juwan Howard to finally get the monkey off his back and win that first NBA Championship, I’m going to have to root for Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks here. 

Read More: Brian Broderick (P – WAS), Washington Nationals, St. Louis Cardinals

Minor league starter Brian Broderick, a surprise Rule 5 pick by the Washington Nationals after a solid season at the St. Louis Cardinals’ AA affiliate, was returned Monday after two months of sparing use in the Nats’ bullpen. Broderick appeared in 11 games and finished with an ERA of 6.57; his groundball tendencies were out in full force, but he had trouble getting his high-80s fastball past Major League hitters.

Broderick was nowhere near the Cardinals’ Major League picture despite both matching Dave Duncan’s standing eHarmony personal ad for heavy-fastball pitchers and going 11-2 with a 2.77 ERA in his first exposure to the high minors. With a strikeout-per-nine of just 4.9 in Springfield he simply doesn’t miss enough bats yet, at least as a starter.

The Nationals fans at Federal Baseball did not seem especially concerned by the news, at first glance. With Mitchell Boggs being moved to the Memphis rotation on the same day it’s not immediately clear in what role Broderick will pitch; left-handed equivalent Nick Additon, who was recently promoted from Springfield, might be headed back down.

Read More: Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Royals, Tampa Bay Rays, Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds

The St. Louis Cardinals are four games back of the Cincinnati Reds in the early days of the 2011 NL Central race, showing the volatility of early-season MLB standings. The Houston Astros, meanwhile, join the Seattle Mariners and the Boston Red Sox as the only teams in Major League Baseball to trail their division leaders (the Baltimore Orioles and the 9-2 Texas Rangers, respectively) by five full games. 

The Red Sox and the 3-8 Tampa Bay Rays are the most nationally surprising disappointments so far, but there’s considerably more hinkiness there for the taking if you look through the first two weeks of baseball standings. The Orioles’ 6-3 start is nearly as surprising as the Rays’ 3-8 start, for instance; the Cleveland Indians have topped the AL Central race at 8-3, where the Kansas City Royals are themselves two games over .500.

It’s tough to learn much, that is, when teams have played 11 games. I wouldn’t start worrying about baseball standings until—well, until it becomes kosher to worry about Albert Pujols not hitting.  

JUPITER, Fla. – The Palm Beach Cardinals, Class-A Advanced affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, announced the roster for the upcoming season Monday afternoon in conjunction with the parent-club in St. Louis. The Cardinals open the season Thursday, April 7, at the St. Lucie Mets and open at home Saturday, April 9.

The 2011 roster is highlighted by two former Cardinals first-round picks, one each from the last two drafts. Right-handed pitcher Shelby Miller, selected by St. Louis with the 19th overall pick in the 2009 First-Year Player Draft, is expected to be featured prominently in the starting rotation after being honored as the Cardinals Minor League Pitcher of the Year last season. Miller, a 6-foot-3, 195-pound Houston, Texas native, posted a 7-5 record with a 3.62 ERA for Quad Cities (Class-A) in 2010, striking out 104 batters in 104.1 innings. He is rated as the No. 1 prospect in the St. Louis Cardinals organization by Baseball America and is listed as the No. 13 prospect in the nation.

Right behind Miller as the No. 2 prospect in the organization is infielder Zack Cox, the Cardinals first-round selection (25th overall) in the 2010 draft. Cox, who played in four Spring Training games this year with the Major League club, appeared in only four games with the Gulf Coast League Cardinals last season and had six hits in 15 at-bats. The 6-foot, 215-pound left-handed hitter set the University of Arkansas record with 102 hits and a .429 average in 59 games with the Razorbacks and was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 20th round in 2008. He was also the first Cardinals draftee since J.D. Drew back in 1999 to receive a Major League contract upon being signed.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Read More: Matt Holliday (LF – STL), Jon Jay (RF – STL), Allen Craig (LF – STL), St. Louis Cardinals

St. Louis Cardinals fans received the worst April Fools Day gift ever Friday, when it was revealed that Matt Holliday underwent an emergency appendectomy and would almost certainly hit the disabled list. Holliday, who hit a home run in the Cardinals’ Opening Day loss to the San Diego Padres, is likely to miss two to six weeks, judging from previous players who’ve had to undergo the procedure. 

Holliday, who signed a seven year, $120 million contract with the St. Louis Cardinals prior to the 2010 season, hit .312/.390/.532 with 28 home runs and 45 doubles in his first full season with the club, during which he missed just four games.

The likely replacements for Holliday, at least in the near term, are backup outfielders Allen Craig and Jon Jay, who were slated briefly to start in a right field platoon before the Cardinals signed Lance Berkman as a free agent. Craig hit .320/.389/.549 last season in 83 games with AAA Memphis, as well as hitting .246/.298/.412 across several Major League stints. Jay, a center fielder in the minor leagues and Berkman’s “legs” in 2011, hit .300/.359/.422 in a strong rookie season for the Cardinals last year. 

By Dan Moore – Managing Editor

Read More: St. Louis Cardinals

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Mar 31, 2011 - The St. Louis Cardinals return to action after an excruciatingly long offseason on Major League Baseball’s Opening Day, which, I am pleased to discover, came especially early this year. Game time is 3:15; if you can’t hit Busch Stadium in time for all the pomp and circumstance, St. Louisans will find it on Fox Sports Midwest at the usual place, while ESPN will carry it in some markets as part of their Opening Day Baseball Extravaganza. Chris Carpenter gets the start against the San Diego Padres; Jim Edmonds, whose lingering foot injury kept him from what would have been a truly fantastic comeback in St. Louis, will throw the first pitch, and hopefully lay out for the first dive.

FSM watchers will get, according to the P-D, a get-pumped-about-the-season feature about baseball in St. Louis, among other pregame material, starting at 11:00. I hope you weren’t planning on going to work, or anything, though if you must you’ll at least be able to get the radio signal again—the Cardinals are back on 1120 KMOX, after years in what appeared to be a radio station broadcasting from Myanmar. 

St. Louis (KSDK) – The St. Louis Cardinals projected to attract at least 3.2 million fans this season, the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association (RCGA) estimates that the economic impact of the 2011 Cardinal season on the St. Louis region will be $313.6 million, according to a economic impact analysis conducted by the RCGA’s Chief Economist Ruth Sergenian.

As the 18th largest metro area, with a 2010 attendance of 3,301,218, St. Louis ranks fourth, behind only the Yankees, first in population, and first in attendance at 3,765,807; the Phillies, fifth in population, and second in attendance at 3,647,249; and the Dodgers, second in population, and third in attendance at 3,562,320.

“Based on projected Cardinals regular season attendance of 3.2 million fans, the team will generate an estimated $155.3 million this year in direct impact and another $158.3 million in indirect regional economic activity. This figure is based on Busch Stadium’s operations spending and fan spending.” Sergenian said.

The economic impact model measures how spending tied to an event has multiple impacts and ripples throughout a region, thereby benefiting households and firms within the region. The major sources of spending are on-site expenditures (e.g. ticket prices, concessions, merchandise) and off-site expenditures (e.g. dining, retail, lodging, transportation). Historically, out of town visitors constitute some 40% of Cardinals attendance, and their spending on dining and lodging provides a significant added boost to the regional economy.

The Cardinals rank 11thon Forbes magazine’s latest list of the most valuable baseball teams with a value of $518 million, up 6% from last year. Forbes magazine last week released their annual valuations of Major League Baseball’s 30 franchises.

KSDK

(Bloomberg) - The St. Louis Cardinals are more valuable this season in terms of value of the team.

Forbes Magazine says the team is worth about $518 million, a six-percent increase from last season. That ranks the team 11th of all Major League Baseball teams. In 2010, Forbes ranked the Cardinals in eighth place.

The New York Yankees remain at top of the list at $1.7 billion. The Cardinals Central Division rivals the Chicago Cubs are number four, valued at $773 million. The Pittsburgh Pirates are at the bottom of the list with a value of $304 million.

Bloomberg Business News

Lance Lynn made his first appearance of Spring Training 2011 Wednesday afternoon, appearing after a less-than-stellar debut from Jake Westbrook, and did not disappoint, throwing three scoreless innings in the Cardinals’ 3-2 win over the New York Mets. The result? Some classic Dave Duncan kind-of-impressed Crash Davis speak. 

How close can Dunc get to the edge of complimenting Lance Lynn’s pitching? Witness a master at work: “I was impressed with the way he handled himself… his mound presence was good… the pace of game was good… you can’t argue with the results.” Just as he gets to the point where he is forced to confront Lynn’s results, he throws the burden of judgment on you, the viewer. Perfect. 

The Cardinals’ ostensibly youth-averse braintrust deserves no little slack for this perceived fault a year after putting Jaime Garcia in the Major League rotation less than 40 innings removed from elbow surgery, but it’s clear that Lynn has an uphill battle to starting 2011 in the rotation. But maybe that’s just Tony La Russa’s way—I don’t think he’s comfortable unless there’s some uphill battle to be fought. 

PALM BEACH, Florida (AFP) – Pitchers Chris Carpenter and Mitchell Boggs both had to leave the the St. Louis Cardinals’ Major League Baseball pre-season training game Tuesday against Florida with injuries.

The Cardinals are already without 20-game winner Adam Wainwright, who underwent surgery on his elbow earlier this week and is expected by doctors to be sidelined for up to 15 months.

The Cardinals got another scare when Carpenter injured his left hamstring in his spring training debut.

Carpenter allowed one hit in 2 2/3 innings when he said he felt a tug on his hamstring. He called for a trainer and then left the game.

Boggs left in the fourth inning with a lower back strain after getting one batter out.

Raul Valdes is the starter, and Bryan Augenstein and Blake King are among the relievers set to follow him up, but Spring Training 2011 is officially in session—the St. Louis Cardinals will play the Florida Marlins Monday at 12:05 CST at Jupiter, Florida’s Roger Dean Stadium. The Post-Dispatch reports that Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday, and Lance Berkman will start, which should give Valdes and King more run support than they are historically accustomed to. 

Berkman is starting (and playing in the outfield) after struggling to loosen up a sore elbow over the weekend. David Freese, recovering from ankle problems that claimed much of the 2009 and 2010 seasons, won’t play, although he expects to be back in at least a limited capacity well before Opening Day. 

Among the pitchers in today’s action, Valdes and Augenstein are at least ostensibly candidates for the fifth-starter spot vacated following Adam Wainwright’s elbow injury. Fernando Salas, set to pitch third, is likely to break camp in the Major League bullpen, while Eduardo Sanchez remains one of the Cardinals’ top relief prospects. Blake King and Francisco Samuel are hard-throwing relievers whose control problems have oscillated between “serious” and “legendary.” 

Follow all the action along with an extremely active game thread at Viva El Birdos.