Note: This is the first in what hopefully will be a recurring series of anecdotes from my life as a baseball fan and a person working within the game.

As I may or may not have mentioned in this space before, I grew up a Red Sox fan, and to a lesser extent a Braves fan (big league sports didn’t really exist in Florida then, except for the Dolphins and Bucs, so everybody just really picked teams to follow; one of my best friends was a Blue Jays fan). Team fandom pretty much goes out the door once you have a beat, so those alliances are long gone for me in 2012, but from childhood till about age 28 I lived and died with the fortunes of the Red Sox. Two years after I stopped following them, they won the World Series, but that’s neither here nor there.

Anyway. Though I grew up in Florida and lived there for the vast majority of my pre-adult years, we spent one year living in Norman, Okla. — my ninth-grade year, from summer of 1988 to summer of 1989. I had seen the Red Sox play in person once or twice before, but obviously from Florida there weren’t a lot of chances to do so, other than Spring Training.

From Oklahoma, though, it was another matter. Arlington was about a three-hour drive away, and so I began lobbying my parents to make the trip down when the Sox came to town. Bless them, they said yes, and we began making plans to drive down for a Sunday afternoon game at old Arlington Stadium.

And then I started paying attention to the pitching rotations. And counting five days and five days out. And it became clear that we were in for a treat. It was this game. Follow the link, check that pitching matchup, and come back for the rest.

That’s pretty cool. It was the first time the two Texas legends had pitched against each other, and in Texas, no less.

I don’t remember a whole lot of very specific details about the game itself, aside from Palmeiro’s homer, the outcome and the thrill of being there for a historic occasion. I do remember being very close to the Rangers’ bullpen, which was along the third-base line, and seeing (and hearing) Nolan Ryan warm up. That’s still one of my most vivid memories, ever, at a ballpark. Even at 42 (holy cow, FORTY TWO YEARS OLD, and he was still four years from being finished), Ryan could absolutely bring it, and being up close to see him fire laser-beam fastballs and evil breaking stuff was really cool.

But that’s not the reason I thought of this game today. Oil Can Boyd has been in today’s news, and not in a good way. Once again, news about the Can is sad, which is unfortunate for a whole lot of reasons, not the least of which is that he was a really good and entertaining pitcher, and it’s a shame we didn’t get to see him pitch for longer.

After the game, my parents once again humored me by coming with me to wait outside the Red Sox clubhouse so I could try to get autographs as the players went to the bus. Clemens signed but barely stopped. Dwight Evans, my favorite player at the time (and one of my all-time favorite players still to this day), signed. For the most part it was tough going, though.

Then a woman approached us… enthusiastically. I was, being a 14-year-old fan, decked out in Red Sox gear. And she came up to us and acted like we were dear, long-lost old friends. She practically yelled how happy she was to see any other Red Sox fans at the park, that people gave her a hard time in the stands, and just generally chatted us up for a while.

She was very friendly, very animated, and had an accent that made it clear she wasn’t from Boston. I think she actually may have hugged me, but if she didn’t, rest assured she may as well have. She asked us where we were from, what we were doing there, all that. She saw my baseball cards that I was waiting to get signed.

Then the conversation started to wrap up, and she started heading toward the clubhouse. And she asked me for my Oil Can Boyd card. She was his sister, she told us. She took the card, took it in, and Can signed it and personalized it. She brought it back out with a smile and put it in my hands.

I’ve been an Oil Can fan ever since, and I’m still pulling for him in whatever he does next.

-M.

All:

The time has come, and for once I have very little idea of what to say or write. As of today, I’m no longer the Cardinals beat writer for MLB.com. I’ve handed the reins to Jenifer Langosch, who has covered the Pirates for us for the past five years, and I begin my new journey writing more national and analytical pieces for MLB.com.

Here’s Jenifer’s hello to all of you, and I hope you’ll take a minute and go read it. I would wish her luck, but she doesn’t need it. She’s going to do great work and I’m eager to read it.

I don’t really have a lot to add that I haven’t already said. This blog isn’t going away, and neither is my twitter feed. The focus will obviously be a bit different, though I’m sure some folks would argue there’s never been much of a focus to OYNAG or my twitter feed anyway. We’re not moving to New York for another couple of months. For the coming weeks, I’m going to be feeling out what exactly it is that the new job is going to look like.

But I just wanted to pass along, one more time, my thanks to everyone for making a truly amazing chapter in my life what it was.

-M.

Hello, all… First a little housekeeping:

* We have an official, formal date for the transition on the beat. Jenifer Langosch will take over in nine days, on Feb. 3. I’ll start writing in my new capacity that day. This blog should continue to exist, as should my twitter feed, but as of Feb. 3, I will no longer be MLB.com’s beat writer. If this is all news to you, check this entry for the story. We will probably be moving in April.

* Tonight at 9 p.m. CT, MLB Network will run a special on MLB.com’s top 100 prospects. Spoiler alert: there are some Cardinals on the list. So come to Cardinals.com about that same time for more on them. My good friend and longtime colleague Jonathan Mayo does great work with the prospect stuff for us, and you should definitely check it all out.

And now, on with the music.

This post gets later and later every year, which I apologize for. But hey, maybe I win some sort of prize for the last top-10 of 2011 list of any kind, anywhere.

Anyway, first a disclaimer/explanation. Actually, I’ll just re-run what I wrote in the intro to this piece last year:

If you’re not interested, just stop reading now. Won’t hurt my feelings. Head over to Cardinals.com for the news on Jason Motte’s contract and all the other stuff we’ve had there in recent days and weeks. … I know this is a baseball blog, but as I’ve made clear over the years, I also always intended it to be a little more than that. So thank you for indulging me. And most of all, thanks for reading all of it — blog, stories, everything — and for taking the time to comment and keep me on my toes. 

In past years, my wife and I have done two separate posts. This year, she has simply emailed her list, which is a top-11 (I DO WHAT I WANT, she notes). So here it is. I’m not sure we’ve ever had so little overlap in our favorite albums in a year:

1. Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit–Here We Rest
2. TV on the Radio–Nine Kinds of Light

The Cardinals have confirmed a Wednesday afternoon report that they have agreed to terms with right-hander Jason Motte. The deal is worth $1.95 million according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com, who first reported that a pact was in place.

That would exactly split the difference between what the club offered and what Motte requested when arbitration figures were submitted earlier this month.

Motte, who emerged as the club’s closer late in 2011, requested $2.4 million. The club offered $1.5 million. As a matter of policy, the Cardinals do not divulge contract terms.

Motte was the only unsigned arbitration-eligible Cardinal. As a result, the team will avoid arbitration for the 13th straight winter. The team has not gone to a hearing since 1999, when it won its case against left-hander Darren Oliver.

-M.

Greetings from the 16th annual Winter Warm-Up. Not a lot of action just yet but I wanted to get a couple of things out there before things really crank up.

* Adam Wainwright will be at Pappy’s Smokehouse on Sunday (tomorrow) from 12-2 p.m. CT to raise money for the Catch A Dream Foundation. In his own words, he will be “cooking, signing, hanging out, etc.” Catch A Dream is a really neat organization — I wrote a feature on Wainwright’s association with it a couple of years ago, which you can check out at this link. And, I mean, Pappy’s is really, really good.

* Rafael Furcal has been added to today’s schedule, and in fact he’s signing in about 15 minutes. Furcal is signing from 10 am – noon CT today.

* Finally, a note on the coverage, because I’ve been asked a lot. This weekend, my successor, Jenifer Langosch, will be handling the bulk of the coverage at Cardinals.com. It’s a great opportunity for her to meet a lot of people with the club and really dive in, and I’m sure you will enjoy her coverage this weekend (and over the coming weeks, months and years).

However, in the interim, I’m still the beat writer. I’ll still be writing, tweeting, etc., about the Cardinals for another couple of weeks or so. And even after I make the handoff, I’ll likely be sort of the backup Cardinal beat writer for a while, at least until Spring Training starts. So don’t be surprised to see plenty of Cards stuff from me for the next month or so.

And, finally, the playlist is my six favorite songs of 2011 (not in order) (the top albums post, btw, is coming soon):

Jay-Z and Kanye West, “No Church in the Wild”
Foo Fighters, “These Days”
Black Keys, “Little Black Submarines”
Drive-By Truckers, “Mercy Buckets”
Buffalo Tom, “Don’t Forget Me”
Jason Isbell, “Tour Of Duty”

-M.

A story:

Ten years ago right about now, I was a columnist for MLB.com, based in New York. I’d never worked a beat before, never spent any significant time in a clubhouse before. I was 27 years old and definitely punching above my weight class, so my superiors decided that perhaps I could use some seasoning. The company had an opening in St. Louis, and it seemed like a good fit.

Three weeks after my first conversation with our editor-in-chief, I was on a plane to West Palm Beach, covering my first Spring Training on the Cardinals beat. I had no clue what I was doing. I was totally untrained, and should have been more nervous than I actually was. The idea, I thought, was to get two or three years of seasoning, then get back to columns.

Two or three years became five, became eight, became 10. I met my wife (and her cat) and then we got married (not to the cat). We got a dog and bought a house. I made friends. I learned just how hard and rewarding it is to cover a beat, and learned a great deal about being a professional. I covered two World Series champions, three MVP seasons, and at least two future Hall of Famers. I started tweeting and blogging. I covered two player deaths — two too many.

And now, after 10 seasons in St. Louis, I’m leaving the beat, effective next month. As of the Winter Warm-Up, I’ll be handing over the reins to a really talented, dedicated replacement. I assure you the beat will be in excellent hands, and the announcement on who is taking that job will follow this announcement closely. You won’t have to wait long, and you won’t be disappointed in the choice.

As for me, I’ve been promoted to a job I’ve dreamed about for a long time, serving as a national writer/columnist (title to be determined, actually) for MLB.com. My wife and I will be leaving St. Louis within the next three months or so (the exact time frame remains a bit flexible), bound for New York. I’ll still be writing baseball, I’ll still be working for a company I absolutely love, and I’ll still be in St. Louis sometimes. But this job, this consuming, amazing, overwhelming job, will soon be in someone else’s hands.

The main thing I want to say, as I head east and transition to a new role, is thank you. Thank you to everyone who has read Cardinals.com and read this blog. Thank you to everyone in the St. Louis media, and in the city, who has been so good to me.

Thank you to my wife, Erin, for patience, support, dedication and general amazingness. None of the rest of this matters nearly as much as you, and I try never to forget that.

Thank you to Joe Ostermeier, R.B. Fallstrom and Dave Wilhelm, who gave me guidance when I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. Without your kindness, patience and direction, I probably wouldn’t have lasted two years, never mind 10.

Thank you to Derrick Goold and John Marecek, who have become two of my best friends and who have helped keep me sane over the years. Each is as good as anybody around at what he does, and Derrick in particular has made my work better every day by upholding an extremely high standard in his own work. This market is lucky to have them, just as I’m lucky to have them as friends and colleagues.

Thank you to Rick Hummel and Joe Strauss, two of the best in the business, who set a standard that I strived to match. Thank you to Bernie Miklasz and Frank Cusumano, who have promoted me more, and spoken more kindly of me, than I could ever deserve. Thank you to Brian Bartow, Chris Tunno, Melody Yount, Terry Rodgers, Jim Anderson and Brad Hainje for always being good to me no matter how much I asked of them. Thank you to Stephen Norris, Conor Nicholl, Daniel Berk, Lee Hurwitz, B.J. Rains, Michael Bleach and Austin Laymance, who gave the best they had as associate reporters, committed to making Cardinals.com the best site it could be. Thank you to all of the players, coaches, front office people and manager (yes, I covered one manager in 10 years) who treated me with respect and courtesy.

Thank you to the many other friends I have made, both in the press box and outside, who have made Erin and me feel at home. We’ll miss all of you. And anyone I didn’t name, it’s because I’m forgetful (surely you know this) and not because you’re not important.

I’m ready, and excited, for the next gig. It’s what I’ve been seeking for years. But I’m also more than a little sad. This has been not just a rewarding job but a defining one. Y’all have humored me when I’ve gone off on tangents, kept me honest when my work has slipped, and always reminded me that I have this job because people care about the team I’ve covered. It’s a job and a period in my life I will always treasure and will never forget.

I’m not entirely sure how to wrap this up. I never really covered Jack Buck. He passed away in my first year on the beat. But I do know that I can’t say it any better than his sign off, so here goes:

“So long, for just a while.”

Thanks, everybody. I’ll miss you. Stay in touch.

-M.

OK, folks…

I’m officially on vacation, so any questions you have on here won’t be answered till I’m back on duty in a little over a week. But I promised this, so here it is. Most of the other questions that people had, I answered directly. But these were the ones that came up over and over again in the hours after it became known that Albert Pujols was headed to Anaheim.

* What happens at first base?

That’s Lance Berkman’s job, barring something very surprising. Allen Craig will move into right field when and if he’s ready, but that’s obviously a question mark. Which means that the Cardinals are looking at outfield help.

* What happens to the money they would have spent on Pujols?

You may not like hearing this, but there’s no guarantee they spend it all right away. The Cardinals tend not to be an emotional organization. They’re definitely freer to pursue some solutions in their areas of need — shortstop (already done, or all but done), left-handed relief, the outfield and the bench. It wouldn’t be shocking to see them stop short of spending all of that $20 million or so that would have gone to Pujols in 2011 right away, and leave the flexibility to do something during the season.

* Will the Cardinals receive Draft pick compensation? If so, how much and when?

Yes. They will receive the Angels’ first-round pick, plus a supplemental first-round, or “sandwich” pick.

* Are Jimmy Rollins and/or Rafael Furcal now in play?

Well, you know the answer to this one now. Rollins was always a long shot, though, because of the length of contract he’s seeking.

* What about Hanley Ramirez?

Well, we can put this one to bed too. But, again, wasn’t going to happen. Ramirez is not a good shortstop, and he’s getting bigger, slower, and less suited to play the position. Plus he’s coming off a very disappointing offensive year. Plus he’s owed $46 million or so over the next three years.

* Well, then, what about Carlos Beltran?

OK, now you might be on to something. Beltran, if he can play any center field, is an intriguing option. He’s represented by Pujols’ agent, Dan Lozano, but that doesn’t necessarily need to be an obstacle. While the talks were difficult, it’s my understanding that they were never really acrimonious. Plus, if there’s a good fit, it would be foolish for team or agent to let that sort of thing get in the way. Beltran is far from a certainty, but he fits a lot of the profile of what the Cardinals need: someone who can play center and right field and bat from the right side (he’s actually a switch-hitter).

* And Prince Fielder? You’re probably going to say no there, too. OK, why?

Yeah, you knew the yes/no answer here. As for the why, well, the Cardinals didn’t especially like offering as much as they did to Pujols, but he’s a franchise icon, a once-in-a-generation player. In short, their offer wasn’t just made for baseball reasons. Fielder is a terrific player, but they’d only be bidding for baseball reasons. Besides, there’s no guarantee that Fielder, who’s significantly younger than Pujols, comes any cheaper than Pujols did.

* OK, one more: Yoennis Cespedes?

No and no. I talked to someone at the Winter Meetings with a very close knowledge of the Cespedes situation, and I was told in no uncertain terms that the Cardinals are not expected to be any kind of player for the Cuban outfielder.

* What about Pujols’ Hall of Fame plaque?

This one could be interesting. It’s highly likely, extremely likely, that Pujols’ BEST years on the field happened in St. Louis. He’s unlikely to rack up the MVP awards, the All-Star game appearances, the overall numbers, over the next 10 years that he did in the previous 11. But on the other hand, he’s likely to hit all of those big round numbers — 500, 600, maybe 700 homers, 3000 hits, etc — wearing an Angels cap. So it’s difficult to know for sure. Obviously if Pujols’ decline is sharp and rapid, he’s more likely to go in as a Cardinal. If he remains a star-level player over all 10 years of his new deal, that’s less certain.

And for those of you unaware, this is the Hall of Fame’s call. It sometimes consults with the player, but the Hall makes the call.

* What does this mean for Matt Adams?

Not a lot just yet, I’d say. If they sign somebody for multiple years to play 1B or the outfield, that might change. Craig is going to play, so if they were to sign an outfielder for 3 years or something, clearly moving Craig to first base (for example), that might block Adams. But for now, Adams’ ETA was never any sooner than Sept. of 2012 anyway, and Lance Berkman is only on a one-year deal.

* Any chance of a stopgap first baseman? Casey Kotchman/Carlos Pena/etc?

Sure, there’s a chance, but it’s unlikely. If they’re only going to bring in one player, it’s much more likely to be an outfielder than a first baseman.

* When and where will Pujols talk?

This is another that of course has already been answered. But if you want to read his comments, check Angels.com for all sorts of coverage from Saturday’s news conference.

And, finally, the playlist. And, yeah, it’s themed.

Band Aid, “Do They Know It’s Christmas”
The Waitresses, “Christmas Wrapping”
Run-D.M.C., “Christmas In Hollis”
Bruce Springsteen, “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”
Bob Seger, “The Little Drummer Boy”

-M.

Everyone…

I’m in the midst of working on a couple of stories on today’s events, and as I promised on Twitter, I’m also going to put up a blog post answering the most common questions about the Albert Pujols situation. In the meantime, though, I wanted to throw this out there because I think it’s really cool.

The Gathering, a church in St. Louis, is asking that if you are parting with your Pujols shirts, jerseys, etc., that you please not just throw them away (or worse). Donate them. The church will be collecting any items and donating them to a clothing pantry in the Los Angeles area. It’s a way to make some good out of what is obviously sad, frustrating day for a lot of Cardinals fans. You can bring the items by 2105 McCausland Ave. during regular business hours on Sunday.

Here’s a link for a bit more info.

-M.

Cardinals
1. Furcal SS
2. Craig RF
3. Pujols 1B
4. Holliday LF
5. Berkman DH
6. Freese 3B
7. Molina C
8. Jay CF
9. Punto 2B
Jackson P

Rangers
1. Kinsler 2B
2. Andrus SS
3. Hamilton CF
4. Young DH
5. Beltre 3B
6. Cruz RF
7. Murphy LF
8. Napoli C
9. Moreland 1B
Holland P

-M.

Neither Rafael Furcal nor manager Tony La Russa sounded especially optimistic about Furcal’s status after the Cardinals’ shortstop came out of Monday night’s game due to discomfort in his left hamstring.

The club initially called the condition “tightness,” but Furcal referred to it more as a “pull.” He is not expected to play in either of the team’s remaining two regular season games. Furcal first felt something amiss when he singled in the fifth inning, and noticed that it was worse as he ran toward second base on a subsequent double-play ball.

“I was running, I felt it, and I tried to go to second,” he said. “I felt it a little bit, and I thought, ‘OK, I can do it.’ And then when I tried to go hard…”

Furcal did not rule out playing on Tuesday, but he did not sound overly confident. La Russa meanwhile was more direct.

“He’ll miss a couple games,” the manager said. “He’s got a little tug in his hamstring, so I don’t see him playing the next two games here.”

Nick Punto, who came in for Furcal, would likely get the bulk of the playing time in his absence on Tuesday and Wednesday.

-M.