For the sports fans in the St. Louis area: the trilogy is now complete.

On Sunday October 1, the Cardinals completed their 2000 regular season with a victory over the Cincinnati Reds. With that win, the National League Central Division Champions finished the season with a record of 95-67. The team will return post-season for the first time since 1996: winning the most games in a season since 1987.

The Cardinals championship season capped off the finest ten months in the history of St. Louis sports. Since New Years' Day when the lights did remain on for the new millennium, Gateway City sports fans saw their NFL team win the Super Bowl, their NHL team earn the President's Cup, the two major local Universities qualify for the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, and their new semi-pro basketball team win the first-ever IBL Championship.

A quick reminder to you faithful readers: Savor these times. These may never come our way again. Other cities are envious with this success.

But it's time to look ahead with the immediate business at hand.

The Cardinals earned home field advantage for the first round of the National League playoffs by virtue of winning one more regular season game over their first round opponent: the Atlanta Braves.

You remember the Atlanta Braves, don't you? This is the National League team of the 1990's. This is the team that eliminated our Birds in 1996 after falling behind three games to one in that series. This is the team with the tomahawk chopping fans: of which most will not be in attendance in the first round in Dixie.

Oh, yeah there is one more thing. The Atlanta Braves are a very good baseball team.

Despite losing the season series to the Red Birds, the Bravos will enter this five game series as the favorite. Bobby Cox's troops are playoff tested and playoff tough. These guys will not get rattled regardless how raucous the opponent's crowd can get.

Atlanta can throw either a Cy Young Award winning right-hander or a Cy Young Award winning left-hander at you. Media lightning rod John Rocker has regained his focus and is now saving games. Chipper Jones is the 2000 version of Mr. October. Brian Jordan always gets pumped up against his old teammates. Catcher Javier Lopez was the 1996 NLCS MVP against St. Louis and has always played well against the Red Birds.

With all these weapons, one would think that the Red Birds are over-matched.

And that is precisely what Tony La Russa is hoping.

The Cardinals nay best described as a "dangerous" team. This team could advance deep in the playoffs. St. Louis has played well against those teams left in the tournament: including winning three of four in Dixie and a pre-Labor Day sweep over the Mets.

La Russa's Red Birds are a team to his liking: a veteran group that does know what it takes to win in the playoffs. #10 counts heavily on his veterans. Ironically, it may be a couple of youngsters that could tell the tale for the Red Birds fortunes in Round One.

The Cardinal Skipper announced Monday afternoon that 21 year-old rookie left-hander Rick Ankiel shall start in Game One against Tom Glavine. Ankiel has been the Red Birds best pitcher in September. My editor was the first to predict on my WGNU sports show last Thursday that Ankiel will start against the Braves and it must be at Busch Stadium. The young left-hander has a career 7-2 record at 250 Stadium Plaza. Having Ankiel pitch in Game One, gives La Russa a left-hander to come out of the bullpen in Games 4 or 5.

While Ankiel gets his shot in Game One, this post-season may be a crossroads for the baseball career of Eli Marrero. In Spring Training, #26 was penciled in as the team's top catcher. He lost the job to Mike Matheny. The veteran back-stopper seized the moment and put together a Gold Glove season behind the plate for the Birds. But Matheny is lost for the playoffs due to a freak accident. Marrero's career has been a disappointment. Yet he does have the chance for redemption to the fans and his Manager.

You may recall in 1982 Catcher Darryl Porter was criticized brutally during the regular season before he took charge in the post-season. In 1987, Tony Pena's play was deemed disappointing before catching a spark in those playoffs against the Giants and Twins.

Marrero has to look at this as an opportunity. Time will tell if he seizes the moment.

Just like the other local professional sports teams, the Cardinals will enter the post-season in a bit of a slump. Since clinching the Division Title on September 20, the Red Birds finished 5-5 in their last five games including losing the series in Chicago and the final series at home against Cincinnati.

The Rams earned playoff home field before losing their final regular season game to Philadelphia. The Male Sheep won the Super Bowl. The Blues earned playoff home ice before losing their final games to lowly Chicago. The Note were knocked out of the playoffs in the first round against a San Jose team that lost more games than they won.

The Cardinals can enter the post-season seeing the good and bad from the Rams and Blues. The bottom line is that the team better bring their "A" game to these playoffs. The Red Birds must win both games in St. Louis. Game One is particularly vital.

The Playoff Opener also will be an important game as many members of the local media will be in attendance. Many have not seen a live baseball game since opening day.

(If these local colleagues of mine, especially the TV pretty faces really wanted to see a baseball game, they could have joined me in the Press Box for the final regular season game against Cincinnati. For the second straight Sunday when Major League Baseball and the NFL scheduled games at the same time in St. Louis venues, the Cardinals were completely neglected by the majority local outlets. Aside from a member of a local college radio station, I was the ONLY radio person in the press box at the beginning and for the entire game on Sunday. Television talking heads were nowhere to be found at the ballpark until after the game once the baseball game reached late innings.

I find it very hard to comprehend that local radio and TV outlets that self-promote themselves as all-sports or brag about having the largest number of TV sports talking heads, could not find anyone to break away from the free buffet at the Trans World Dome to report on a baseball game with playoff seeding implications. Still, these wayward sons will be out in full force in Game One of the playoffs; as the baseball press box will resemble most churches at Midnight Mass.)

So it's time to play ball. First pitch Tuesday at 12:07 CST. October baseball in St. Louis cannot be beat. It is God's most perfect game in one of God's most perfect settings. This is truly a great time to be a St. Louis sports fan. It's time to enjoy the ride.

The trilogy is complete.