On the heels of winning the World Series, the Cardinals organization has something else to look forward to.

As the Cardinals celebrated their 2006 World Series title on Monday night at the annual baseball writers banquet, Commissioner Selig announced that new Busch Stadium will host the 2009 All-Star game. As reported by the Post-Dispatch:

"One of the nicest parts of this job," Selig said at the banquet, "is going from city to city, and it's polite to say wherever I am that the city has great fans. But I'll say again, this is a remarkable baseball town with really an extraordinary tradition. There can't be a better baseball town in America. So I'm announcing tonight as a measure of our appreciation that in 2009 the All-Star Game will be played here."

St. Louis last hosted the All-Star Game in 1966 in a game best remembered for being played on a sweltering day with a temperature of 103 degrees and typically high July humidity. Since then, baseball's midsummer classic has made its way around North America, but not to St. Louis.

Barry Bonds is linked to another drug scandal. This time, the drug in question is amphetamines.

Unlike a positive steroid test, under the new drug policy in MLB the indentity of a player who tests positive for amphetamines a first time is not publicly released. That doesn't mean that leaks don't occur. And that doesn't mean that other players can't be linked to a failed test (remember Palmerio dragging Tejada into the mix). As initially reported by the AP:

According to the report, Bonds attributed the positive test results to a substance he took from the locker of Mark Sweeney, his teammate with the San Francisco Giants. The report said Bonds would not appeal the results of the test.

Later, Bonds clarified the situation with Sweeney, while not admitting or denying that he used the banned drug. As reported seperately in the AP:

"He is both my teammate and my friend," Bonds said in a statement Thursday. "He did not give me anything whatsoever and has nothing to do with this matter, contrary to recent reports.

"I want to express my deepest apologies especially to Mark and his family as well as my other teammates, the San Francisco Giants organization and the fans."

This adds to the already difficult contract negotiations going on with Bonds. As further reported:

Bonds' reported positive test could be another snag in contract negotiations with the Giants. The sides reached a preliminary agreement on a $16 million, one-year contract Dec. 7, but the seven-time NL MVP still hasn't signed the deal or taken the mandatory physical that is part of the process.

The parties have been working to finalize complicated language in the contract that concerns the left fielder's compliance with team rules, as well as what would happen if he were to be indicted or have other legal troubles.