"When the Cardinals signed Lance Berkman to a one-year contract last December they hoped to obtain a veteran switch-hitter with enough legs to return to the outfield and enough clubhouse presence to enhance a chemistry that had grown stale bordering on sullen.

Not until Berkman arrived in spring training did general manager John Mozeliak fully comprehend that they had acquired a talent as adept at quoting Mr. Toad's Wild Ride and discussing the merits of hitting from the fetal position as he was citing the value of on-base percentage.

Even more important, the Cardinals soon realized that the trust they had placed in Berkman to show up in camp healthier and, hence, more productive than in his previous two seasons was well-founded.

Berkman's goal was hardly modest. He vowed to prove Mozeliak "a genius" for signing him as an $8 million reclamation project when many clubs thought the artist formerly known as Fat Elvis had become too addled and his bat too slow to resemble the player who averaged 36 home runs and 115 RBIs from 2006-08. Berkman's 39 home runs and 138 RBIs in 2009-10 barely moved the needle following a season split between the Houston Astros and as a New York Yankees rental."