Cardinals Thinking About Baseball Again

The Cardinals were in a daze the week after pitcher Darryl Kile’s June 22 death, losing five of their first seven games after the tragedy, but as they’ve begun to come to grips with their loss, the wins have returned--St. Louis won four in a row before dropping Friday night’s game to the Dodgers, 6-5.

“We’re doing better as a group--we’re just getting through it,” center fielder Jim Edmonds said. “I don’t think we’re looking to Darryl for inspiration, but it’s brought the team closer. All we can do is stick together.”

The first three days after Kile’s death were the hardest, Edmonds said, far more difficult than anything he could have envisioned.

“This team is so close, and to see tears in your teammates’ eyes

As emotional and heartbreaking as the June 26 memorial service for Kile in Busch Stadium was, it did wonders for the healing process. Music returned to the Cardinal clubhouse, and players began focusing a little more on baseball.

“After the service, we had some closure--it gave us a sense that we could move on, concentrate on our jobs,” Edmonds said. “Darryl wasn’t a guy who didn’t want to play. If this had happened to someone else, he would have been the guy in the middle of the clubhouse saying, ‘Let’s go.’ ”

Kile’s No. 57 jersey, his cap, batting helmet, spikes and batting gloves remain in his locker in the St. Louis clubhouse, and the Cardinals are wearing black patches with Kile’s initials and number on their sleeves. Kile is gone; he will not be forgotten.

“It’s nice to see people healing from some very tragic circumstances,” Dodger Manager Jim Tracy said. “But you know something? You learn how to cope with it, how to get beyond it, but it never goes away.”

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Dodger General Manager Dan Evans is being praised in both local and national publications for all of his deals and acquisitions that have helped the Dodgers this season.

Hard to believe this is the same GM who was shown up at last December’s winter meetings by Cincinnati GM Jim Bowden, who refused to begin a meeting with the Dodgers until senior vice president Tom Lasorda was in attendance.

Asked if Evans now commands more respect, Tracy said, “He should have back then, and if he didn’t, I feel sorry for the party that treated him lightly. He believes in his convictions, and he believes in himself. What he’s doing is very special.”

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Dodger right-hander Darren Dreifort, rehabilitating from elbow reconstruction surgery, threw 36 pitches in the bullpen and 30 more during live batting practice Friday afternoon, a session that left Tracy “very encouraged.” Tracy said there’s a good chance Dreifort, who began throwing hard sliders Friday, will begin a minor league rehabilitation assignment within a month.

“It’s coming along,” said Dreifort, who hasn’t pitched in more than a year. “It hasn’t been a roller coaster. It’s been a steady progression, and that’s how you want it to be.”

TODAY

DODGERS’

HIDEO NOMO

(9-5, 3.28 ERA)

vs.

CARDINALS’

WOODY WILLIAMS

(6-3, 2.39 ERA)

Busch Stadium, St. Louis, 1 PDT

TV--Channel 11. Radio--KXTA (1150), KWKW (1330).

Update--Nomo is 7-0 with a 2.76 ERA in his last nine starts. Cardinal right-hander Matt Morris made the National League All-Star team, but Williams may be having a better season.

Mike DiGiovanna