If the Cardinals heed Manager Gene Mauch of the Phillies, they won't be misled by the Pirates' slower start this season. "Pittsburgh definitely is the team to beat", Mauch said here the other day. "The Pirates showed they could outclass the field last year. They have the same men, no age problem, no injuries and they also have Vinegar Bend Mizell for the full season, along with Bobby Shantz". Tonight at 8 o'clock the Cardinals, who gave the Pirates as much trouble as anyone did in 1960, breaking even with them, will get their first 1961 shot at baseball's world champions. The Pirates have a 9-6 record this year and the Redbirds are 7-9. Change in pitchers. Solly Hemus announced a switch in his starting pitcher, from Bob Gibson to Ernie Broglio, for several reasons: 1 Broglio's 4-0 won-lost record and 1.24 earned-run mark against Pittsburgh a year ago; 2 The desire to give Broglio as many starts as possible; 3 The Redbirds' disheartening 11-7 collapse against the Phillies Sunday. Manager Hemus, eager to end a pitching slump that has brought four losses in the five games on the current home stand, moved Gibson to the Wednesday night starting assignment. After Thursday's open date, Solly plans to open with Larry Jackson against the Cubs here Friday night. Harvey Haddix, set back by the flu this season, will start against his former Cardinal mates, who might be playing without captain Kenny Boyer in tonight's game at Busch Stadium. Boyer is suffering from a stiff neck. Haddix has a 13-8 record against the Redbirds, despite only a 1-3 mark in 1960. Pirate Manager Danny Murtaugh said he hadn't decided between Mizell and Vern Law for Wednesday's game. Mizell has won both of his starts. Nieman kept in lineup. After a lengthy workout yesterday, an open date, Hemus said that Bob Nieman definitely would stay in the lineup. That means Stan Musial probably will ride the bench on the seventh anniversary of his record five-home run day against the Giants. "I have to stay with Nieman for a while", Hemus said. "Bill White (sore ankles) should be ready. With a lefthander going for Pittsburgh, I may use Don Taussig in center". "Lindy McDaniel threw batting practice about 25 minutes, and he looked good", Hemus said. "He should be getting back in the groove before long. Our pitching is much better than it has shown". The statistics hardly indicated that the Pirates needed extra batting practice, but Murtaugh also turned his men loose at Busch Stadium yesterday. Six Bucks over. Until the Bucs' bats quieted down a bit in Cincinnati over the weekend, the champions had eight men hitting over. Despite the recession, Pittsburgh came into town with this imposing list of averages: Smoky Burgess, Gino Cimoli, Bill Virdon, Bob Clemente and Dick Groat, each , Dick Stuart, Don Hoak and Bob Skinner . Bill Mazeroski with and Hal Smith with were the only Pirates dragging their feet. Perhaps the Pirate who will be the unhappiest over the news that Musial probably will sit out most of the series is Bob Friend, who was beaten by The Man twice last season on dramatic home runs. Friend is off to a great start with a 4-0 record but isn't likely to see action here this week. "We're getting Friend some runs for a change, and he has been pitching good", Murtaugh said. "Virdon has been blasting the ball. No plunkers for him". Six Bucs over. The Pirates jumped off to an 11-3 start by May 1 last year, when the Redbirds as well as the Dodgers held them even over the season. On last May 1, the Cardinals stood at 7-6, ending a two-season fall-off on that milestone. In 1958, the Birds were 3-10 on May 1. A year later they were 4-13. Since 1949, the St. Louis club has been below on May 1 just four times. The '49 team was off to a so-so 5-5 beginning, then fell as low as 12-17 on May 23 before finishing with 96 victories. The '52 Cards were 6-7 on May 1 but ended with 88 triumphs, the club's top since 1949. Then last season the Birds tumbled as low as 11-18 on May 19 before recovering to make a race of it and total 86 victories. Since 1949, the only National League club that got off to a hot start and made a runaway of the race was the '55 Dodger team. Those Dodgers won their first 10 games and owned a 21-2 mark and a nine-game lead by May 8. The club that overcame the worst start in a comparable period to win the pennant was New York's '51 Giants, who dropped 11 of their first 13. They honored the battling Billikens last night. Speakers at a Tipoff Club dinner dealt lavish praise to a group of St. Louis University players who, in the words of Coach John Benington, "had more confidence in themselves than I did". The most valuable player award was split three ways, among Glen Mankowski, Gordon Hartweger and Tom Kieffer. In addition, a special award was given to Bob (Bevo) Nordmann, the 6-foot-10 center who missed much of the season because of a knee injury. "You often hear people talk about team spirit and that sort of thing", Benington said in a conversation after the ceremonies, "but what this team had was a little different. The boys had a tremendous respect for each other's ability. They knew what they could do and it was often a little more than I thought they could do. "Several times I found the players pepping me up, where it usually is the coach who is supposed to deliver the fight talk. We'd be losing at halftime to a good team and Hartweger would say, 'Don't worry, Coach -- we'll get 'em all right'". The trio who shared the most-valuable honors were introduced by Bob Broeg, sports editor of the Post-Dispatch. Kieffer, the only junior in the group, was commended for his ability to hit in the clutch, as well as his all-round excellent play. Mankowski, the ball-hawking defensive expert, was cited for his performance against Bradley in St. Louis U.'s nationally televised victory. Benington said, "I've never seen a player have a game as great as Mankowski did against Bradley that day". Benington recalled that he once told Hartweger that he doubted Gordon would ever play much for him because he seemed to be lacking in all of the accepted basketball skills. After the coach listed all the boy's faults, Hartweger said, "Coach before I leave here, you'll get to like me". Mrs. Benington admired Gordon's spirit and did what she could to persuade her husband that the boy might help the team. As Hartweger accepted his silver bowl, he said, "I want to thank coach's wife for talking him into letting me play". Bob Burnes, sports editor of the Globe-Democrat, presented Bob Nordmann with his award. Bevo was congratulated for his efforts to stay in shape so that he could help the team if his knee healed in time. Within a week after the injury, suffered in St. Louis's victory in the final game of the Kentucky tournament, Nordmann was sitting on the Bill's bench doing what he could to help Benington. On the clock given him was the inscription, "For Outstanding Contribution to Billiken Basketball, 1960-61". Other lettermen from the team that compiled a 21-9 record and finished as runner-up in the National Invitation Tournament were: Art Hambric, Donnell Reid, Bill Nordmann, Dave Harris, Dave Luechtefeld and George Latinovich. "This team set a precedent that could be valuable in the future", Benington pointed out. "By winning against Bradley, Kentucky and Notre Dame on those teams' home courts, they showed that the home court advantage can be overcome anywhere and that it doesn't take a super team to do it". St. Louis University found a way to win a baseball game. Larry Scherer last night pitched a no-hit game, said to be the first in Billiken baseball history, as the Blue and White beat Southeast Missouri State College, 5-1, at Crystal City. The victory was the first of the season for the Billikens after nine defeats and a tie. The tie was against Southeast Missouri last Friday. Scherer also had a big night at bat with four hits in five trips including a double, Len Boehmer also was 4-for-5 with two doubles and Dave Ritchie had a home run and a triple. St. Louis U. was to be in action again today with a game scheduled at 4 against Washington University at Ligget Field. The game opened a busy week for Washington. The Bears are set to play at Harris Teachers College at 3:30 tomorrow and have a doubleheader at Quincy, Ill., Saturday. Happy hitting If it's true that contented cows give more milk, why shouldn't happy ball players produce more base hits? The two top talents of the time, Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays, have hit the ball harder and more successfully so far this early season than at any period in careers which, to be frank about it, never have quite reached expectations. And that's meant as a boost, not a knock. Mays and Mantle, both 10-year men at 30, have so much ability that, baseball men agree, they've never hit the heights. Their heights, that is. Mantle, the bull-necked blond switch-hitter, had one sensational triple-crown season, 1959, when he batted and also led the American League in home runs, 52, and rbi's, 130. Like the Yankees' slugger, Mays, the terror of the Giants, has had seasons that would be considered the ultimate by most players, but not by -- or for -- Willie. His best years were 1954 when he hit with 41 homers and '55 when he belted 51 home runs, drove in 127 and stole 24 bases. Now, apparently happier under new managers, Mays and Mantle, the perfect players, are behaving as though they're going to pass those previous peaks. Labor relations Yes, we know, they're professionals, men paid to play, and they shouldn't care how they're handled, just as long as their names are spelled correctly on the first and fifteenth of each month. The truth is, though, that men react differently to different treatment. For that matter, Stan Musial is rare, possessing the disposition that enabled him to put out the same for seven managers, reserving his opinions, but not his effort. Mantle, it's apparent, resented Casey Stengel's attempts to push and prod him into the perfection the veteran manager saw as a thrilling possibility. The old man was almost too possessive. Stengel inherited DiMaggio, Rizzuto, but he brought up Mantle from Class C to the majors, from Joplin to New York. With the speed and power of the body beautiful he saw before him, Ol' Case wanted No. 7 to be not only the best homerun hitter, but also the best bunter, base-runner and outfielder. Stengel probably preached too much in the early days when the kid wanted to pop his bubble gum and sow his oats. Inheriting a more mature Mantle, who now has seen the sights on and off Broadway, Ralph Houk quietly bestowed, no pun intended, the mantle of authority on Mickey. The Major decided that, rather than be led, the slugger could lead. And what leadership a proud Mantle has given so far. The opinion continues here that with a 162-game schedule, pitching spread thin through a 10-team league and a most inviting target in Los Angeles' Wrigley Field Jr., Mantle just might break the most glamorous record on the books, Babe Ruth's 60 homers of 1927. Four for Alvin Mays' day came a day earlier for Willie than for the kids and Commies this year. Willie's wonderful walloping Sunday -- four home runs -- served merely to emphasize how happy he is to be playing for Alvin Dark. Next to Leo Durocher, Dark taught Mays the most when he was a grass-green rookie rushed up to the Polo Grounds 10 years ago this month, to help the Giants win a dramatic pennant.