Jupiter, Fla. ? Will Clark helped put the St. Louis Cardinals over the top on their 2000 NL Central championship team. Now he’s trying to help ease Albert Pujols’ transition to full-time first baseman.

Clark showed up Thursday at Roger Dean Stadium to begin six days of tutoring. He minimizes his spring-training role and potential impact.

“Albert can give me pointers at the plate,” Clark said. “It’s just one of those things where you shift from one position to another and it always helps if somebody has some success over there or experience, and just can give you a tip here and there.

“And that’s basically what I’m going to do.”

Manager Tony La Russa said Clark, who won a Gold Glove at first base, was being too modest because of all the fine-tune work involved. He thinks highly enough of Clark, who made an impact on and off the field in 2000 when he hit .345 with 12 homers and 42 RBIs in 51 games after a trade from the Orioles, that he’s considering having him address the team.

“Some guys like to get in under the radar screen, and other guys are ready to jump out there,” La Russa said.