After the unmitigated disaster that was former Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire’s testimony in front of Congress on steroids and other performance enhancing drugs three years ago, the first baseman completely dropped off of the face of the earth, at least in terms of his relation to the game. Now, per USA TODAY, he’s instructing a small group of major and minor leaguers in hitting, and may re-appear in the game soon as a hitting coach.

The group of current major leaguers working with McGwire includes Rockies outfielder Matt Holliday, Cardinals Chris Duncan and Skip Schumaker, along with the Yankees’ Shelley Duncan, who violates the first rule of Big Mac’s Hitting Club by talking about Big Mac’s Hitting Club.

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Did Roberto Clemente profoundly predict his own untimely demise?

• Jonathan Papelbon & Manny Del Carmen sure know how to cheer up the rain-soaked faithful at Fenway Park.

• Jerry Manuel helps ease the pain of George Carlin’s passing.

• This minor league ballgirl is leaps & bounds above the rest.

• Big Brown’s big Belmont loss? Gotta be the horseshoes.

• Your next host of the Olympic Games - Birmingham, Alabama?

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You might remember DEADSPIN’s previous post about a man getting a DUI while driving a motorized cooler. Now leave it to Jason Isringhausen, “who has outfitted the Cards’ usual ice chest with an unusual upgrade,“ to give the motorized cooler its big break.

The Cardinals reliever recently brought a version of the motorized cooler to Busch stadium to be used by Redbird relievers. And he leaves it in the able hands of rookie reliever Kyle McClellan.

“My job as the rookie is to carry the drinks out in the cooler, so [Isringhausen] said I got to make sure I’m out there in style,” says rookie reliever Kyle McClellan, who has been driving the cooler out to the bullpen before every home game.

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Brooks can’t decide on dinner tonight - A Hardee’s Thickburger, or a bag of Flame-Broiled Burger King potato chips?

• You know why Marcus Vick is such a bust? He gets caught by bike cops.

• A Texas high school football coach takes a gamble on pawning his players’ equipment.

• $60 will get you a leg up on joining the Memphis Grizzlies dance team.

• Is Dallas Cowboy Ken Hamlin trying to corral some sex online?

• A St. Louis Cardinals draft pick gets called up - for combat duty.

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Summer’s coming up fast - schools are ending, vacations are beginning, and many more people will be heading out to the ballpark. Should be fun!

Unless you have peanut allergies. For in that case, being taken out the ol’ ball game could mean being taken out - permanently.

(Good grief - more peanuts!)

But baseball fans in St. Louis who suffer from such symptoms will no longer have to sweat it out in the stands, as a couple of area stadiums are establishing peanut-free zones. Read more…

• Bill Williamson of ESPN’s HASHMARKS tokes up word that Ricky Williams could have joined in on the fun of Cedric Benson’s big boating adventure.

• THE SIDNEY CROSBY SHOW skates over video of the Pittsburgh Penguins having some post-game fun with Flyers fans.

• HOME RUN DERBY knows how heated the Cubs-Cardinals rivalry can be, especially when it comes to rigging a jalapeno-eating contest.

• Did your mom sleep with Wilt Chamberlain? THE WORLD OF ISAAC offers this helpful quiz to find out.

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Albert Pujols had been pretty quiet this season, only going 2-for-14 & having his Opening Day home run washed out from the stat books. But the St. Louis slugger finally spoke up Wednesday night, hitting his first two official homers of the year in a 6-4 win over the Astros.

So, what finally go Pujols out of his slump? He may have been fired up from a pre-game confrontation with a Houston pitcher.

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