St. Louis ? Scott Rolen’s first warm welcome in St. Louis came the day before his first home game with the Cardinals.

At a Steak N’ Shake restaurant, three men sidled over to Rolen’s table and wished him luck.

“All they talked about was the World Series and playoffs, that’s all they wanted to do,” Rolen said Tuesday. “That felt good. In Philadelphia, every once in a while, there were some other things said.”

Teammates told Rolen, acquired July 29 from the Phillies in the biggest trade deadline deal, to expect even better things at Busch Stadium. First baseman Tino Martinez recounted the numerous standing ovations he’s received during a so-so first half-season with the team, and so did pitcher Woody Williams, an instant hero since his 7-1 performance in the final two months of last year.

Fans gave Rolen a 35-second standing ovation before his first at-bat in the bottom of the first. Rolen grounded out to second on a 3-2 pitch with a runner on for the final out in the inning.

Manager Tony La Russa has witnessed a number of the warm welcomes and said they give him “goose pimples.”

“Even if you’re not him,” La Russa said. “Imagine what he feels like. He’s absolutely perfect for these fans, the way he plays the game.”

Rolen arrived in an 0-for-15 slump in his last four games and jokingly said he was expecting “hopefully a line drive up the middle” in his first at-bat. The first two games with the Cardinals, he totaled four hits.

“The last four, I feel like I didn’t give many at-bats away,” Rolen said. “Probably the two games I got the hits were the games I didn’t feel as good.

“I just want to keep doing what I’m doing and use the whole field. I don’t have control where the ball lands, but I can control my effort.”

Rolen also can control the number on his back. He switched from 16 to 27 for the start of the six-game homestand in an attempt to help himself and his team, which just returned from a 1-5 trip. He wore 17 with the Phillies, but that number used to belong to Dizzy Dean and is one of nine retired by the Cardinals.

“I tried to keep it as close to 16 as I could and I was trying to stay with it,” Rolen said. “After the 1-5 start, I thought you know what, it’s time. I kept my 7.

“My first team I was a 7 and my second team I’ll be 7 and I’m 27 years old. I apologize for all that, but that was my demented way of trying to come up with anything that made sense for a number.”

Rolen, who becomes a free agent after the season, isn’t worried about his contract situation. The Cardinals want to sign him to a long-term deal, especially after giving up third baseman Placido Polanco and young left-hander Bud Smith, who threw a no-hitter in his rookie season last year.

Cardinals general manager Walt Jocketty said he’d let Rolen get settled in before serious talks. In the last few years, Mark McGwire and Jim Edmonds have quickly fallen in love with the city and signed long-term deals.

“I think he wants me to be overwhelmed,” Rolen said. “That’s fine with me. I have no problem with that. I have no preference one way or another.

“My job is to go out and prepare and play the best I can.”