ST. LOUIS -- Mark McGwire sees one positive to the knee injury that has sidelined him for a month.

	McGwire

"It's boring not playing, but you know what, I've really found out I'm going to love coaching," he said Sunday before the St. Louis Cardinals played the Atlanta Braves. "This is going to be my second life in baseball."

McGwire, who hasn't played since July 6 due to a severe case of patella tendinitis, said he's able to better deal with this injury than the heel and foot problems that sidelined him in 1993 and '94.

"Now, I know how to play the game, and now I'm watching and learning how to help people out," McGwire said. "It's pretty neat."

So he's not been reduced to a 6-foot-5, 250-pound cheerleader. McGwire said he dispenses occasional advice from his seat on the bench "in subtle ways." He feels a lot more comfortable doing that because he's not in the lineup.

"It's tough when you're playing the game," McGwire said. "I'm from the school where you take care of your own business, so I don't watch anybody. Not playing, you can watch everybody."

McGwire likes what he's seen from Will Clark, who's starting at first base in his absence. Clark has homered in four of his five games as a Cardinal and is 9-for-14 with seven RBI; he was 3-for-4 Sunday.

"He takes a lot of pressure off me, as far as trying to rush things back," McGwire said. "Because you have a veteran there and he's been in the playoffs, and it's just good."

The Cardinals lead second-place Cincinnati by six games in the NL Central following their 6-4 loss to the Braves.

"It's pretty simple to diagnose it," McGwire said. "We're in the driver's seat. The only team that's going to beat us is ourselves."

There's no timetable for McGwire's return, and he likes it that way. He's been encouraged by his progress lately, and is walking without pain.

"There's never been a date, and then somebody puts a date out there, and if you don't come back by the date, the medical staff and the training staff look bad," McGwire said. "There's always setbacks. I thought I was coming off the 15-day (DL) and I had a setback in Arizona, so you don't know.

"Sometimes I think in hindsight, did I play a little too long on it? Nobody can ever judge me on not playing through pain."