Ludwick taps into potential

ST. LOUIS -- Ryan Ludwick's older brother, Eric, was part of the deal that brought Mark McGwire to the St. Louis Cardinals, prompting the memorable if now tainted assault on the home run record in the late 1990s.

Now Ludwick is drawing attention for his Big Mac-style production. Every 11 at-bats, or 10.8 to be precise, Ludwick leaves the park.

"He's a stud," Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright said. "You don't hear anything about him from ESPN or any of the reporters or anything. But he's quietly having one of the best years out there."

Ludwick homered three times in the last two games of the St. Louis Cardinals' weekend interleague series against the Tampa Bay Rays, helping to salvage a 3-3 homestand that easily could have gone sour. He saw one pitch a day from Dan Wheeler, a slider and a fastball, and hit both of them over the fence, one a 10th-inning game-winner and the other cutting the deficit to a run.

That's just a tad better than his overall high-octane production of 11 homers in only 119 at-bats. That success rate has earned the 29-year-old Ludwick, once a second-round draft pick of the Athletics, regular duty for the first time.

"I think I may be becoming the player people thought I might be," Ludwick said. "Everyone in here gets smarter as they get older in this game."

Ludwick made his big league debut at 23 with Texas and had 10 homers and 25 RBIs in May of 2003 with the Rangers before his career was derailed by a knee injury that shelved him for chunks of 2003 and '04.

He languished in the minors or in the training room before the Cardinals picked him at the beginning of the 2007 season. Preston Wilson's knee injury combined with eye-popping numbers -- a .340 average, eight homers and 36 RBIs in only 29 games at Class AAA Memphis -- prompted a shot with the Cardinals.

There's been no looking back for a player who was twice a minor league free agent. Ludwick played all three outfield spots last year while hitting a career-best 14 homers with 52 RBIs, capitalizing when Wilson never recovered and ably filling the void from Juan Encarnacion's career-threatening eye injury in September.

At this pace, Ludwick's 2007 numbers soon figure to be in jeopardy. He was batting .336 with a .413 on-base percentage and 29 RBIs, tied for the team lead with Albert Pujols, entering a six-game trip to San Diego and Los Angeles, even though he was still a few plate appearances shy of qualifying for the league leaders.

He hit two homers Saturday in the No. 6 spot in the lineup, then batted cleanup for the 14th time this season behind Pujols on Sunday. He's two homers ahead of Pujols, having belted six in the last 10 games.

"I'm in no competition," Ludwick said. "He's one of the best right-handed hitters of all time. He's going to do his thing and I'm just trying to help the team out in any way I can."

Ludwick's defense is strong enough that manager Tony La Russa considers him one of three center fielder-quality players on the roster, along with Rick Ankiel and Skip Schumaker. All three are in their late 20s and playing regularly for the first time, although Ankiel gets an asterisk given his reborn career after starting out as a highly touted left-handed pitcher.

Ankiel leads the major leagues with seven game-winning RBIs and Schumaker earned his fourth with a game-winning RBI double in the ninth inning Sunday. Ludwick has a pair of two-homer games this season, has two walkoff long balls and is among the major league leaders with 24 extra-base hits.

"If you give him a pitch to hit, he's got a chance to do some damage," La Russa said. "He's a legitimate all-around player."

Ludwick said putting the injuries behind him is the biggest reason for his success.

"I've been healthy now, knock on wood, for 2 1/2 years, and I keep saying I was blessed with an opportunity and thus far I've made the most of it," Ludwick said. "If you're up there focused on helping a team win, things take care of themselves."