ST. LOUIS -- Woody Williams' jersey hangs in the office of manager Tony La Russa's office, a sure sign of the regard in which La Russa holds the former Cardinals right-hander. And the affection was returned by Williams, not only towards the skipper but for pretty much everything about playing ball in St. Louis.

Yet Williams is now a Padre, as the Cardinals decided to go a different direction with their rotation this past winter. After three-plus seasons that seemed much longer than that -- in a good way, mind you -- Williams is wearing a San Diego uniform.

On Thursday, he made his first visit to Busch Stadium since leaving the Cardinals. And it was a strange sensation, even though he's spent quite a few more years playing for other teams than playing for St. Louis.

"What's weird is, I brought my son in here earlier and we walked out the tunnel, and everything looked different," said Williams. "It looked the same, but backwards. I said, 'This is supposed to be on this side, we're supposed to be going this way.'

"I felt like I was left-handed."

Unfortunately, Williams can't pitch with his right or left arm right now. He's on the disabled list with a strained left-oblique muscle, the same injury that plagued him for much of the 2002 season. Williams was scheduled to start Friday at Busch, but had to be scratched.

"He said he was disappointed he wasn't gonna be pitching," La Russa said. "I said, 'I'm not.' I don't want to be pulling against him. He's too special. He was real special. That's why his jersey's up. Real special."

La Russa called Williams in the Padres clubhouse Thursday afternoon, but as of early in the day, Williams hadn't been able to take the time to drop in on his old mates. Of course, some of his closest friends from his days with the Redbirds are also gone.

Williams still has a soft spot for the Cards, and he still keeps up with how they're doing.

"I get in trouble from my teammates watching the Cardinals," he said. "I kept telling them I was gonna pitch against them, but I can't use that excuse anymore.

"I keep up with certain guys. Mike (Matheny, now with the Giants) and I were close, and I watch him. I watch Tony Womack (now a Yankee). Sometimes friendship in the clubhouse is different from friendship outside. Every now and then you get guys that really combine it."

Williams said over the winter that he was stung a bit by the limited amount of communication that the Cardinals had with him once they decided not to re-sign him. However, he bears no ill will these days, and looks on the 2005 team with admiration.

"It's just amazing how good Walt (Jocketty, general manager) is at what he does," Williams said. "The face of the team changes every year, and every year they're very competitive and knocking on the door of the playoffs or have the capability of being there. They let three or four of us go that fans and media and everybody said, 'Oh, you can't do that.' But you know what? They can. Because they figure it out every single time."