Root, Root, Root for the Home Team

Young is his name, and after six seasons in the minor leagues, young he remains.

Dmitri Young turns 23 this week, and he likely will spend his birthday helping the St. Louis Cardinals play for the National League championship.

The Cardinals made Young eligible for the playoffs by promoting him from triple-A Louisville on Aug. 28 rather than Sept. 1, the day rosters expanded.

“Right now, I’m soaking up all the information I can on a team full of veterans,” Young said Saturday from his hotel room in San Diego. “Ozzie, Willie McGee, Eck Man, Honeycutt, Gaetti. Just seeing the way they carry themselves and help out younger guys is something to see.

“One day if I’m a veteran, I can help young guys the same way.”

The switch-hitter is strictly a pinch-hitter for now, but next spring he probably will be given first shot at first base.

The widely discussed plan is for first baseman John Mabry to move to third next year. Third baseman Gary Gaetti is signed only through this season, but he has played a key role in the Cardinals’ drive to the playoffs.

“I certainly hope I’m the first baseman but I won’t believe it until the first spring game, and ultimately the first game of the season,” Young said.

Any contribution Young makes in the playoffs rest with his bat because he has never been one to let his bat rest. He led the American Association with a .333 batting average this season, and led the Mexican Pacific League with a .356 average last winter.

By all accounts, Young, who played four years on the Rio Mesa High varsity and set several Southern Section records, could have hit major league pitching two or three years ago.

Yet the Cardinals brought him along slowly.

“They were waiting on him to mature,” said Larry Young, Dmitri’s father. “He has grown up tremendously in the last year and a half.”

Larry, a commercial airline pilot, has become a personal trainer in his spare time and helps his son stay in shape.

“Initially he was not receptive to it,” Larry said. “He had to grow up first.”

Dmitri, notorious for showing up for spring training overweight, opened eyes this year after working out in the off-season.

“The training helped me out a lot, especially coming back from Mexico,” he said. “I’m not sure whether I’ll play winter ball again, but I’ll definitely work out during off-season.”