There were those who said the Cardinals  would be crazy to let Dick walk, that they should simply pony up whatever ransom Scott Boras was planning on asking for to keep Ankiel in the only uniform he had ever worn. There were even those, god help us, who yelled for the Cardinals to deal Colby Rasmus while his value was at its highest. After all, the team already had a center fielder for the next six or seven years; why keep the kid around? 

Tonight we witness The Return. 

Well, actually, those capital letters may be a little misleading. See, Ryan Ludwick is coming off the DL tonight, which is a pretty damned dramatic thing. However, seeing as how this team seems to constantly be welcoming some player or another back from injury, surgery, purgatory, or mental illness, it's probably just a plain old lower-case return. 

So far this year, Greinke's record stands at 6-1, with an ERA of 0.51 in 53 innings. Let that sink in for a second. The man actually lost a game with an ERA of half a run. He's striking out ten hitters per nine innings, and has yet to allow a single home run all year. Those are the sorts of numbers you expect to see on a baseball card from the mid-60s, not 2009.
 

So far, though, that hasn't happened. Look at the performance Mitchell Boggs turned in the first time he started in place of the Cards' injured ace. Before Boggs, P.J. Walters came up and battled in his first major league start, overcoming a pretty serious case of nerves to post a representative line against the Cubs in Wrigley.

Pitching against Chicago on April 25, Boggs threw 5.2 innings of effective ball, giving up a single unearned run on six hits, walking one and striking out three.

Five days later, against the Washington Nationals, Boggs was impressive, striking out nine Nats in six innings. He did get hit around a bit, but showed an ability to miss bats that had never really been apparent before. His last time out, Boggs fought mightily against himself, walking five Pittsburgh Pirates in only 4.1 innings, but kept the Cards in the game, with only two runs allowed.

But what's been most impressive about Boggs so far this season is just how far he seems to have come since last year.

What's that? You say you aren't familiar with P.J. Walters Day? Well, it's only the best damned day of the year...

In honor of the major league debut of the young Cardinal rookie today, I present to you this 2008 P.J. Walters card by Bowman.