Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - The St. Authentic Ahmad Bradshaw Jersey . Louis Cardinals made a bold move a week before the trade deadline, acquiring outfielder Matt Holliday from the Oakland Athletics. St. Louis will also receive cash considerations in the deal and will send third baseman Brett Wallace, pitcher Clayton Mortensen and outfielder Shane Peterson to the Athletics in exchange for the pending free agent. Holliday was leading the Athletics with 54 runs batted in and is batting .293 with 11 homers in 94 games. He is 16-for-36 with three homers and 12 RBI in nine games since the All-Star break. In his first game in a St. Louis uniform, he was the Cardinals most potent offensive threat, going 4-for-5 with a double, an RBI and a run scored in the teams 8-1 win over Philadelphia. "Matt is an impact player who gives us an instant added threat in the middle of our lineup," said Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak in a release. "These types of opportunities are rare. The price to complete this deal was steep, but our organization feels that it should greatly improve our chances to compete for a postseason berth. I want to thank both ownership and our scouting and player development staffs for enabling us to be in position to bring a player with the credentials of Matt Holliday to the St. Louis Cardinals." The 29-year-old Holliday was in his first season with the Athletics, who acquired him from Colorado last November in a deal that sent Huston Street to the Rockies. "Im extremely excited," said Holliday. "I feel very blessed to be back in a pennant race, on a great team, a great organization." A three-time NL All-Star, Holliday has a career average of .316 with 139 homers and 538 RBI in six big league seasons. He was the NL MVP runner-up to Philadelphias Jimmy Rollins in 2007 after leading the Rockies to the World Series with a .340 average, 36 homers and 137 RBI -- all career bests. The move now gives the Cardinals another deep threat. First baseman Albert Pujols headed into Friday nights game at Philadelphia already leading the majors with 34 home runs. "Hes the greatest player in the game," Holliday said of Pujols. "I enjoy watching him play and now I get a chance to play with him and be able to watch him every day. Im excited about the opportunity. Im anxious to learn and be around him." Eligible to become a free agent at the end of the 2009 season, Colorado had reportedly offered Holliday $68 million guaranteed over four years before making the trade. Wallace, the top prospect involved in the deal, was the Cardinals first-round pick in 2008 and has already reached the Triple-A level. He was hitting .293 in 62 games with Memphis after starting the season in Double-A ball. Mortensen, a 24-year-old right-hander, was 7-6 with a 4.37 earned run average in 17 starts at Memphis. Peterson, 21, was hitting .284 in 18 games at Double-A Springfield after starting the season in the Florida State League. Tom Brady Jersey . Thats because he often plays – and acts – much younger. "You look at a guy like Rex and he is still having fun out there like a 19-year-old kid like me," Boston rookie Tyler Seguin told NHL.com. While it is easy to forget Recchis advancing age – especially because he has been highly effective this postseason as a second-line forward -- there is no way to forget what he has done for this Bruins franchise in the past three seasons. BenJarvus Green-Ellis Super Bowl Jersey . Running backs carry their teams. Wide receivers almost single-handedly pull off a victory. Osi Umenyiora Super Bowl Jersey . - NBA Commissioner David Stern says he doesnt plan to talk to Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy about critical remarks Van Gundy made about him -- he will speak to Magic team executives about the comments. New England Patriots Jersey . The discovery opens up a new avenue for treating chronic hepatitis C infections (HCV). HCV affects 200 million people worldwide and can eventually lead to cirrhosis or liver cancer. Eli Manning Jersey Youth . Lincecum (3-3) allowed five hits and walked three, but held New York off the scoreboard and snapped a two-start losing streak. Aubrey Huff went 3-for-4 with a double, while Mike Fontenot and Pat Burrell drove in runs for San Francisco, which has won the first two in this three- game series.NEW YORK - The percentage of black players in the major leagues dropped again on opening day this year even as the sport again received a top overall grade for racial diversity. Baseballs grade for gender hiring declined slightly, according to the annual study released Thursday by Richard Lapchicks Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports at the University of Central Florida. Baseball received an A for racial diversity in hiring, the same grade as last year, and a B-minus for gender, down from a B. Its overall grade remained a B-plus. "Jackie Robinsons dream was to see more African-Americans playing, coaching and in the front office," Lapchick said. "While this year there has been a slight decrease in the grade for racial and gender hiring practices, there has been a long-term consistent and dramatic increase in the role of people of colour and women regarding who runs the game." The percentage of black players dropped to 8.5 per cent on opening day this year, down from 10 per cent at the start of last season and its lowest level since 2007. The percentage of Latino players dropped from 28.4 per cent to 27 per cent -- baseballs lowest since 1999s 26 per cent. "This has been a concern of Major League Baseball aand leaders in the African-American community," Lapchick said. Patriots Jersey. "However, the 38.3 per cent of players who are people of colour also make the playing fields look more like America with its large Latino population." While Major League Baseballs central office received an A-plus for racial diversity and an A-minus for gender diversity, the 30 clubs fared more poorly. The number of black and Latino managers dropped from 10 at the start of the 2010 season to six, and the percentage of black and Latino coaches dropped from 31 to 29 per cent. No blacks were team chief executives or presidents and only Houston Astros president of business Pam Gardner fell into that category. Black and Latino general managers dropped from five to four, and at the team vice-president level percentages declined for blacks (9.8 per cent last year) and women (18.2 per cent). For the VP level, teams received a C-to-C-plus for racial diversity and an F for gender diversity. "MLB has made great strides with diversity in who runs the game, and today is one of the best in sports." Lapchick said. "However, there is clearly room for improvement, especially regarding hiring more women into professional positions." ' ' '