ST. LOUIS | John Bale has had the baseball career of three men. He is 35 years old, and he has been drafted three times, traded twice, released once. He has pitched for teams in three countries. He has been a starter and a reliever, a starter again, a reliever again. He has twice injured himself while on the disabled list.</p><p>You might not think that a man who has been through all that could feel nervous at a baseball game. But Sunday was his first game of the year. And Bale would say that when he got the call to come into the game and rescue the Royals, butterflies were doing Latin dances in his stomach. And it felt great.</p><p>&#8220;I felt like a kid again,&#8221; he would say.</p><p>The situation: Kansas City led St. Louis by a run. Seventh inning. Two Cardinals on base. St. Louis&#8217; Rick Ankiel &#8212; who had mashed a double his last time up &#8212; was waiting at the plate. The Cardinals fans were buzzing. And the buzzards that have been hanging around the Royals of late were swirling.</p><p>Bale ran in from the bullpen, and he kicked at the rubber on the mound, and he enjoyed his nervousness. If you want to stick around baseball as long as John Bale, you almost have to enjoy the nervousness. Bale was first drafted by the Cardinals way back in 1994. And ever since then, he has bounced around &#8212; from St. Catharines, Ontario, to Hagerstown, Md., to Dunedin, Fla., to Knoxville, Tenn., to Syracuse, N.Y., to Sarasota, Fla., to Rochester, N.Y., to Norfolk, Va., and to Louisville, Ky. Somewhere in there, he also managed to sneak up to the big leagues for a few game &#8212; he even won a game for Baltimore in 2001 by pitching 2 1/3 scoreless innings against Tampa Bay.</p><p>After all that, he went to pitch baseballs in Japan for three years.</p><p>Back to Sunday. &#8220;First pitch strike,&#8221; Bale would remember thinking as he stared down at Ankiel. It&#8217;s funny, no matter how long someone pitches &#8212; no matter how many tricks they may learn along the way &#8212; some of the most important stuff is still what your high school coach taught you. So Bale threw an 88-mph fastball that caught the outside corner of the plate &#8212; a first-pitch strike.</p><p>&#8220;That was so big,&#8221; Bale said.</p><p>The Royals found him in Japan before the 2007 season and brought him back to pitch in the States. He actually picked the Royals over the Yankees, and Royals general manager Dayton Moore talked on and on about Bale&#8217;s talents. Unfortunately, Bale felt tightness in his shoulder and started the year on the disabled list. And while trying to come back, he strained his left gluteal. So he started off with a hurt shoulder and ended up with an injured butt. He pitched only 40 innings.</p><p>Last season, believe it or not, was even weirder. He made three starts and then, again, felt something was wrong with his shoulder. Then, when he was trying to come back, he had a bad rehab outing and was so frustrated he hit a door. The door did not mind. But he broke his left hand, and that kept him out for months. When he came back, though, he was spectacular. He pitched 10 times in September and did not give up a single run. The league hit .108 against him.</p><p>&#8220;When he throws that sidearm pitch,&#8221; Bale&#8217;s teammate Brian Bannister says, &#8220;man, it&#8217;s just devastating. It&#8217;s one of the most devastating pitches in baseball.&#8221;</p><p>On the second pitch Sunday, Bale threw that sidearm sweeper to Ankiel &#8212; a slider that dives away from lefty batters &#8212; and Ankiel feebly swung at it. Strike two. Bale could hear the crowd&#8217;s energy beginning to die down. That&#8217;s the best sound for a reliever &#8212; the sound of the other team&#8217;s fans losing hope.