On Wednesday night, nearly 50 million viewers across the fruited plain watched as the television show Survivor reached its long awaited conclusion. Throughout the summer, loyal fans watched feverishly as each contestant maneuvered, manipulated, and allied for power, prestige and protection. All with the ultimate goal to be the final survivor: and the perk of a million dollars and dozens of endorsement possibilities.

So the tribal council voted. Richard Hatch is the sole survivor and winner of the game.

Those in the know, the odds makers, considered Richard an underdog. He was not overly friendly or helpful to the others on the island. He was considered a "snake" to some, scheming to others and aloof by the remainder. Yet, Richard was creative and clever in the end to foster enough votes from the council to be crowned Final Survivor I.

In the "post-game"/ "post-survivor" analysis, those on the island and TV pundits agreed that Richard Hatch was a surprise winner. But he "knew how to play the game". One columnist said, "while the others were playing checkers, Richard was playing chess".

Perhaps Tony La Russa should invite Mr. Hatch as a guest speaker for his St. Louis Cardinals and the legion of followers throughout the Cardinal Nation.

Barring the end of the world or a 1929-type collapse, the Cardinals will win the 2000 National League Central Division title. They will qualify for the post season playoffs for the first time since 1996. The Red Birds will become one of the eight survivors of the regular season. They earned immunity to advance to the next round.

St. Louis will enter these playoffs as an underdog. Not many expected them to survive this far. You may recall there were more than a few "experts"(including this writer) that predicted either Cincinnati or Houston would represent the N L Central this fall.

Still, you wouldn't know if you listened to local squawk radio. The Cardinals are just like Richard Hatch. They are not perceived of having the traits/strengths to be the last team standing. Many fans and media alike are skeptical of this baseball team.

But in the baseball playoffs, just like Survivor, "thou who plays the best shall win".

In the next ten games, the Red Birds will travel to Atlanta then Florida and will host the New York Mets. After that, St. Louis will not play a team with a winning record for the remainder of the regular season.

Hence, an opportunity presents itself for the Home Team.

Over these next ten days, if the Red Birds can tread water, they can then conceivably pad their division lead, reduce their magic number, rest overworked/injured players, and arrange their roster/pitching staff for post season play against these inferior opponents. Plus it is possible their overall win/loss record may lead to a higher playoff seed with a September winning spurt.

If the playoffs started today, the Cardinals will meet Atlanta in the first round with the Braves holding the home field advantage. Today, the Western Division champion would also have a home field advantage should they meet the Red Birds in the second round.

This is not necessarily a bad thing.

Once a team qualifies for post-season play, in any sport, the regular season slate is wiped relatively clean. Let's say that the Red Birds do meet the Braves in round one. Both teams will enter the series with the exact number of wins: zero.

There is absolutely no doubt that Atlanta, the Mets, San Francisco or Arizona would be considered a playoff series favorite against the Cardinals. Still the games have to be played and anything can happen in a short series. If you don't believe me, just ask the St. Louis Blues and their local groupies about the pains of a short series. You may recall that San Jose did not defeat our local hockey heroes at all during the1999-2000 regular season before their first round upset.

Remember: Rudy was considered a favorite to be the final survivor also.

My advice to local baseball fans: enjoy the ride. Who knows where this will lead us?

My advice to the Home Team: prepare for anything and just play the game.

In five weeks, we will know the cast of characters for the National League playoffs. For Gateway City sports fans this should be another fun time for the region. Once again, the national media will be coming to town to cover these playoffs. Once again, the St. Louis entry will be considered a skeptical underdog.

But the Red Birds will be a playoff-bound skeptical underdog.

It's been a long summer for both the Cardinals and for Richard Hatch. The Red Birds game of survival is ready to begin while Mr. Hatch is going to Disney World.

Still the cunning Richard did teach a lesson that the Red Birds and their legion of fans should remember as the team heads into September:

The ultimate winner will not necessarily be the best team. But rather the team that will play the game the best.