The Cardinals and long-time manager Tony La Russa recently agreed on a contract that will bring him back for the 2011 season, as well as a mutual option for 2012. What does this mean for Cardinals fans? Well, it means more classic double switches, more pitchers batting before Brendan Ryan (although I still haven’t decided if that’s a bad thing—ZING!), and maybe even another Glenn Beck rally if he’s feeling political, like when he went on record saying he supported the supremely racist Arizona immigration law. Seriously, Tony? All that aside, what we will definitely see is an influx in Tony’s favorite guilty pleasure, and I’m not talking about taking naps at stoplights at 3 AM. I’m talking about atrocious 30-something infielders. T-Bone adores picking up players well past their prime, assuming they had a prime in the first place. The requirements for this list are simple, and the same criteria Tony uses: they have to be well over 30 with an OPS below .700 (the lower the better). Here are four players that TLR should keep his eye on, some of which might actually play for the Cards next year or played for them in the past…

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As if walking off the field under his own power didn’t make him seem like a total badass, Logan Morrison proved how tough he really is by starting both games of Monday’s double-header, less than 24 hours after being drilled in the face by teammate Emilio Bonifacio’s foul ball.

Late last night I reflected on what happened to Morrison by invoking my memories of how a similar incident ended the career of Juan Encarnacion in 2007.  Thankfully(and surprisingly), Morrison escaped the scary incident without any serious injuries- just a golf ball sized lump beneath his left eye and some serious seam marks.

Based upon the video replays of Morrison wearing a foul ball to the face, and considering the photo(pictured above) that he posted on Twitter last night, I expected that he might hit the 15-Day DL, or at the least be held out of Monday’s games- I mean come on, the guy took a batted ball to the face!

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For anyone who has ever played serious baseball, it is common knowledge that when in the on-deck circle, it is important to always be paying close attention as a pitch is delivered.  As a hitter, not only should you be attempting to time the pitcher’s release point, but you also should be paying close attention to avoid serious injury on a sharp foul ball.

However, even when paying attention, an on-deck hitter is still susceptible to being drilled by a foul ball- just ask former Cardinals’ outfielder Juan Encarnacion.  In late August of 2007, Encarnacion was struck in the left-eye socket by a foul ball off the bat of teammate Aaron Miles- an injury that ultimately ended Encarnacion’s career and that has been described by Cardinals’ medical director Dr. George Paletta as, “The worst trauma I’ve seen. Absolutely.”

Fortunately for Florida Marlins’ rookie Logan Morrison, it appears that he will ok after taking a foul ball to left side of his face in the 10^th inning of Sunday’s victory against the Atlanta Braves.

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