Babies Got Backe

The Astros deserve so much more. Here's a team that was six games under .500 at the All-Star break and waffled over trading Carlos Beltran to a contender like our man John K on America's continuing involvement in Iraq. But it's a war, man, and the 'Stros soldiered on through the second half of the season, against their better judgment -- against anyone's better judgment -- and came up with a wild-card berth.

And now? Andy Petitte's on the shelf and Roger Clemens and Wade Miller have to wait 'til games #3 and #4 to make a mark. So the Astros are throwing out two guys named Pete Munro (who starts the big game tonight) and Brandon Backe (whose success has a pitcher has been so waaaaayyyy out of leftfield that he, uh, actually started in that position). Didn't work well in the first game as Backe went backe to the clubhouse, but maybe Munro can pull a Tim Wakefield and make some noise in the big postseason start.

I don't like his team's chances, though. And that's a no-brainer. My god, can the Cardinals rake. It doesn't even matter how many times Carlos Beltran can go yard. It doesn't matter that year's comeback kid Chris Carpenter went down for the rest of the season. It doesn't matter that Scott Rolen's performance against L.A. was worthy of a Mr. Yuk sticker. St. Louis is so good off the bench and in the bullpen than all of the puzzle pieces are right there. And this team's cauldron bubbles over with personality like the '93 Phillies or the '87 Twins -- you can't root for the Astros without feeling a little sorry for them, but you can get right behind the Cardinals.

And either way -- though a World Series berth for the Cardinals has been written in stone since May -- this'll be the first time a NL Central team will advance to the World Series since the introduction of the wild card. And that feels electric, considering how much pride people have taken on hating on the NL Central over the last couple of years. St. Louis has angels in the outfield and divine right on its side. Watch Edmonds-Pujols-Walker destroy the Yankees for their fallen Astros comrades. Watch them do it for the also-rans and never-weres in Pittsburgh and Milwaukee and Cincinnati. And watch them do it for the good of baseball.