TIGERS + CARDINALS = GOOD BASEBALL

Even on nights when I am off, I tend to retire early. Last night, though, after a couple of meetings, I came home and enjoyed a great climax to the National League Championship Series, which the St. Louis Cardinals won in the ninth inning over the New York Mets.

And you've got to give credit where credit is due: Mets' Left Fielder Endy Chavez pulled off an amazing plan in the sixth inning...just look at the picture above:

[St. Louis' Infielder Scott] "Rolen pulled the next pitch deep to left and Chavez, a defensive whiz starting because Floyd has an injured Achilles' tendon, raced back to the fence as fast as he could.

In one motion, the 6-foot Chavez jumped with all his might and reached his right arm up and over the 8-foot wall as far as it would stretch. His mouth wide open, he snagged the drive in the tip-top of his glove -- the white of the ball showing atop the webbing like a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Chavez banged into the padded blue wall, buckling a couple of panels, but landed on his feet and came up firing back into the infield.

Jim Edmonds, who had walked, had already rounded second, so second baseman [Jose] Valentin relayed to first for a spectacular double play that ended the inning with Albert Pujols and the bewildered Cardinals watching from the top step of the dugout in amazement."

It will be an interesting Midwestern World Series, as the Cardinals will face the American League champion Detroit Tigers. Although it will be two great teams facing off, I'm certain that the folks at FOX Sports aren't looking forward to what could be a serious drop in ratings. The fact that teams from neither New York or Los Angeles are involved are causing blood pressures to rise a bit among the network's administration, as they are afraid they will be airing a bunch of "make-up" commercials for the drop in ratings.

But for true baseball fans, this promises to be an interesting World Series. As I'm in Tigertown...oh, I meant Lakeland...I can't help but root for the Tigers.