Heading to Washington

The series stands knotted at one game apiece, and the venue shifts to our nation's capital. It will be, in fact, the first playoff game seen in Washington D.C. in something like 60 years, which should serve as better notice of just how lucky we are to be fans of a team in perpetual contention than anything I or anyone else can write on the subject. If you're a baseball fan in the city of Washington D.C., you haven't seen a playoff game since the Great Depression, and not like the very tail end, right before Hitler decided to pull us out of it by being a huge douchebag. Kinda early on in the Depression, actually.

So, as I realise the game actually begins at noon and not the two o' clock start I had in my head -- seriously, I hate when games start this early -- I'll just leave you with that thought. That contrast, if you will. Things may not be outstanding all the time for those of us who follow the Redbird Way, but our team won the World Series just last year, and have been in the playoffs, well, pretty much every damned season for quite a while now. The Washington Nationals are bringing playoff baseball back to our nation's capital for the first time in almost 80 years.

It's good to be a Cards fan, no?

Now let's all go back to freaking out over just how monumentally important this game is. Pivotal is the word you're probably going to hear. (And use.) The good news is, the Cardinals have not only an experienced, brilliant pitcher on the mound today, they have a man who just might be magic taking the mound.

Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Carpenter is going to start a playoff game today. Life doesn't get a whole lot better than that. Your playlist for today is Johnny Cash's "When the Man Comes Around." That is all.

Wooo.