Hello, e-Bay? Hi, this is Mike from St. Louis. I have these great seats for Games 6 and 7 of the National League Championship series and the same great seats for Games 3-4-5 of the World Series at Busch Stadium. Well, how much do you think...hello, e-Bay?

In five short games, the New York Mets defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series to qualify as the N L representative for the 2000 World Series. The Mets will try to duplicate the Florida Marlins feat of 1997: winning a World Series Championship as a Wild Card Team. For the first time in their careers, Bobby Valentine, Mike Hampton, John Franco, Mike Piazza, Robin Ventura, and Todd Zeile will get the opportunity to perform on the national stage in late October.

Meanwhile, the Home Team is collecting their belongings and heading back to the Gateway City. Back in St. Louis, those brave faithful fans who camped out all night downtown will start heading to their local post offices: hoping to receive their playoff refund check before Christmas (including this writer).

It wasn't supposed to end this way. The Cardinals are from the heartland of America; you know the good guys. Remember, the best Sports City in North America? St. Louis has the Rams, Chuck Berry, Bob Costas, the world largest Brewery and toasted ravioli.

New York is a dark and dirty town where everyone is in a bad mood. They have Regis Philbin, Spike Lee, Rush Limbaugh, Saturday Night Live and (yikes) Hillary Clinton.

The locals on squawk radio have been finger-pointing this NLCS since Game One when the lefty Hampton overwhelmed the Red Birds at Busch. Naturally the top target of the criticism is the Gateway City's Number One lightning rod, Manager Tony La Russa.

#10 has been criticized for the way he arranged the pitching staff for this series. He has been criticized for the way he has not used Mark Mc Gwire. He has been criticized for not challenging umpires on a marginal Hampton balk move illustrated by Fox Sports mouthpiece Tim Mc Carver. He has been criticized for his team's lack of aggressive play.

There is a rumor that La Russa is also being blamed for the traffic patterns during the presidential debates surrounding Washington University and the high price of gasoline in the St. Louis area. (Although I wonder where all these La Russa bashers were while the team was posting a 20-9 record in September and throughout the Atlanta series sweep?)

Sorry, folks I refuse to accept that the Cardinals NLCS elimination is the sole result of the moves or lack of moves of their manager.

The Cardinals elimination from this NLCS was truly a team effort.

It is a fair criticism that the Red Birds were not aggressive in this series with the Mets. St. Louis stole a total of three bases in this series: all by shortstop Edgar Rentarria, all in Game 2. New York Catcher Mike Piazza, with his 12% success rate of throwing out would be base runners, has to be thanking his lucky stars for this early Christmas present.

Still when a team commits two errors in a single inning on three different occasions to a team like the Mets, fingers should not be pointed solely at the manager. The Cardinals stranded thirty-nine runners on bases in this five game series. This team, that blasted a record 235 home runs during the regular season, could only muscle two against these Metropolitans. While the Red Birds outscored Atlanta 10-3 in the first inning of these Divisional Series, New York outscored the Home Team 12-5 in Inning One of this series. 39% of the Mets' NLCS runs touched home plate in the first inning.

But with that said, and all apologies to David Letterman (yes, another person based in New York): the Number One Reason why the Cardinals are not going to the fall classic:

The better team won the National League Championship Series. The Mets played better.

These Wild Card Mets played this series like true champions. New York committed three errors in Game One, but only more in the remaining four games. Leadoff man Timo Perez reached base ten times in five games. Edgardo Alfonzo knocked hits in all 2000 Post-Season baseball games. The no-name outfield of Perez, Payton, and Agbayani were effective in all facets of the Mets' game. Mike Piazza had a remarkable five game on-base percentage. This MVP Candidate went 7 for 16 at the plate with two home runs, three doubles, four RBIs, five walks and seven runs scored. NLCS MVP Hampton was dominant: earning two victories (including a complete game) in this series, not allowing an earned run and striking out twelve in sixteen innings.

Perhaps MIA slugger Mark McGwire said it best about the Mets after Game Five: "in a short series, it comes down to pitching. They (the Mets) shut us down".

Hopefully when the dust settles and the sting of elimination wears off, Gateway City baseball fans will come to appreciate the performance of these 2000 Cardinals. The sun will come out tomorrow. If you would have offered even the most optimistic Red Bird fan last winter a season of 99 wins (95 in the regular season plus 4 in the post season) with Mc Gwire playing in only half of them, a sweep of the Atlanta Braves, and a runner-up position in the NLCS, that fan would not have even considered door number two.

Executive of the Year candidate Walt Jocketty has put together a nucleus that should keep the team competitive for seasons to come. More importantly, thanks to the creativity (and perhaps generosity) of St. Louis management, the starting eight players are all under contract with the team. Unlike those 1997 Marlins, the 2000 Cardinals do not appear to be a one hit wonder. The first season that begins with the digit 2 for the Red Birds should be viewed as a success. The cupboard is not bare. These are all good things for the future.

So start spreading the news, the Mets are not leaving today. And, if the Yankees advance past Seattle, the World Series would produce the ultimate version of "New York, New York". Despite popular belief, Yankee fans and Mets fans do not like each other. The next two weeks could resemble the movie "Escape from New York".

Meanwhile back in mid-America, the Red Birds return home as local retailers are stuck holding inventory of now obsolete "St. Louis Cardinal World Series 2000" licensed merchandise. You know a bunch of stuff for an event that might have been.

Ah, Hello, e-Bay