A little more than three weeks remain in the 2009 regular season, and barring a major collapse, the National League will feature the Cardinals, Dodgers, and Phillies. And, even though it's only a four game lead,  the Rockies have begun to pull away from the Giants in the National League Wild Card standings...so much so that the Marlins are only 1/2 game back of San Francisco.

The Cardinals and Dodgers are back and forth for the best record in the league with the Redbirds currently holding a one game lead, while the Phillies have fallen behind both teams by three games.

It'd be natural to assume that because it's September and because the Cardinals play in the baseball wasteland that is the National League Central that they'd be playing buttass after buttass to finish out the season, but looking at all three teams' schedules, it looks like the Cardinals have the toughest road between now and the finish line:

Cardinals

9 games vs. playoff contenders

3 games vs. the borderline Cubs

9 games vs. NL Central buttasses

Phillies

9 games vs. playoff contenders

12 games vs. non-contenders

3 vs. the last place Nationals

Dodgers

9 vs. playoff contenders

12 games vs. last place teams (Pirates, Padres, Nationals)

That's right. The Dodgers have 12 games remaining against last place teams. How about that shit?

But, even if the Dodgers finish with the best record in the National League, the Cardinals will face the wild card if: 1. they stay ahead of the Phillies, and 2. the wild card comes out of the West...which looks to be likely...albeit not a done deal...but likely nonetheless.

And, that would mean the playoffs would start in St. Louis with a Wednesday match-up with the Rockies. The Cardinals and Colorado would play Wednesday and Thursday here before heading out to Denver.

Brief aside: How fucking insane will Thursday October 8th be? You'll have a Cardinal playoff game. The Blues' home opener. And, Missouri hosting Nebraska. Set your DVR's and ask for Friday off now.

Moving on...

The Cardinals and Rockies would play Games 3 and 4 at Coors Field on Saturday and Sunday, and then they'd return to Busch Stadium on Tuesday the 13th for Game 5, if necessary.

Here's what I know about the Rockies: I don't know much about the Rockies.

But, I do know this: they came to St. Louis and swept a four-game series from the Cardinals in June. But, they swept the 2009 Pre-Holliday Cardinals. Something tells me the world would be a bit different for Colorado when Matt The Bat returns to Coors Field.

The Rockies have four pitchers with double digit wins, and even though they may not be household names (Ubaldo Jimenez, Jason Marquis, Jorge De La Rosa, and Aaron Cook), their numbers look much more impressive than, say, that of the Dodgers' rotation.

Their lineup features names that may not get Neil Everett and Stan Verrett all stiff on the Los Angeles edition of SportsCenter, but baseball nerds know that Troy Tulowitzki, Todd Helton, and Brad Hawpe can do some damage.

Now, if I had to have my pick of who I'd rather face in that moronic best-of-5 series (moronic because it drives me up the wall that after 162 games...a fluky best-of-5 determines who gets to baseball's final four), I'd rather face the Rockies over the Giants. The idea of facing Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, and an improved Barry Zito in a best-of-five doesn't sound appealing. But, that doesn't mean the Rockies will provide that San Diego NLDS hospitality Cardinal fans have enjoyed in beating the shit out of the Padres in 9 of 10 games during the '96, '05, and '06 NLDS.

As a matter of fact, I'd argue that this field of National League playoff teams will provide the strongest rosters this decade. A couple of years---2001 and 2007 come to mind---have featured some overall weak fields competing for the pennant. This October, teams full of tradition like the Cardinals, Dodgers, and Phillies---and maybe the Giants---will put incredibly talented rosters on the field...and as dominant as the Cardinals are right now, they'll have to navigate through some damn good rotations and lineups to get to their third World Series.

Personally, I'm expecting Ryan Howard to be coming home for the NLCS. Even though the Dodgers may finish with a better record, the Phillies' rotation  of Cliff Lee, J.A. Happ, Cole Hamels, and Joe Blanton is superior to Los Angeles, and their batting order is chock full of names and bats that will give Mr. Carpenter and Mr. Wainwright quite a test (Rollins, Victorino, Utley, Howard, Ibanez, Werth).

The Phillies' weakness, however, features the man who---next to Carlos Beltran and Brandon Inge---is shown more times than any other player when you think of great moments this decade in Cardinal baseball: Brad Lidge. His 7.11 ERA has Phillie fans freaking out.

Therefore...we shall create the dream scenario:

Cardinals and Phillies. Game 7. Busch Stadium. Bottom of the 9th. Tie game. Lidge on the mound. Pujols at the plate.

And, with one swing, Albert sends the Cardinals to Yankee Stadium for Game 1 of the World Series...setting up a showdown between the game's most storied franchises...but also a best-of-7 to determine the team of the decade.

If the Yankees take it down, they'd have two World Championships to go along with their four American League pennants. If the Cardinals take it down, they'd have two World Championships to go along with their three National League pennants.

It'll take some luck and good fortune to get a Bronx vs. St. Louis showdown for the first time since 1964, and if the Cardinals finish with the best record in the National League, it'd take some reversal of fortune statistically...as the two teams with their leagues' best records have only met once in the World Series since the new playoff format started up in 1995. But, that happened in 2001...which happened to be one of the best World Series ever...and happened to be a heartbreaking Yankees' Game 7 loss.

Carpenter, Wainwright, Pujols, Holliday, and Franklin vs. Sabathia, Burnett, ARod, Jeter, and Rivera. All-Stars galore. Future Hall of Famers as well. And, potentially two of the best teams of the decade going head to head for the right to be called the team of the decade.

Here's to a healthy September and a memorable October...

Log-in to post your comments, or you can email me at tmckernan@insidestl.com.