By now you probably already know where you’re going to be come 8:37 CST Wednesday night, don’t you?
We all do.
The onset of what we all hope will be another October to remember is now just over 24 hours away and 
while many of us will spend the first half of this week remembering the hardships this Cardinals team has faced the last couple of weeks, others have moved on.
I invite you to do the same.
Sure, there’s plenty to be concerned about. I’ll let somebody else fire off 800 words alarming you of our weaknesses, our concerning trends and the fact that we’ll face two lefthanders right out of the gates starting Wednesday night.
You know damn well that’s not the kind of insight you’ll be getting from me anyway.
For the optimists among us, or better yet, for those that can still enjoy the game and this team for so many reasons that don’t pertain to situational hitting, pitching trends and sabermetics, now is definitely a time to give thanks and to simply be stoked.
Our beloved Redbirds start the second season tomorrow night, a thrill and a privilege that us fans have come to expect each year but should never take for granted.
Let memory serve that from here on it, anything set to transpire is entirely possible.
Sure, you can listen to the pundits all you want. The Dodgers have a good bullpen, we have no clue who will be our starter in game four, Pineiro has never looked as hittable this year as he does now and there’s plenty of reason to believe the winner of the other NLDS will be waiting for either St. Louis or LA with baited breath.
We all know that forecasting what will happen these next few weeks just isn’t that easy.
There’s plenty of reason to believe the Yankees will steamroll their way back to the fall classic. 
We thought this in 2006 as well. That year New York won one game against Detroit.
There isn’t an Angels fan anywhere entirely confident that their 97 win season won’t be quickly erased again by Boston. However, Red Sox fans remember getting swept in the first round in 2005.
The defending champs enter their third straight postseason. No reason to believe they won’t handle the road-weary Rockies, but it was these same Rockies who bulldozed the NL East Champs just two years ago.
The Dodgers have plenty of reasons to feel good about them self, but practically nobody alive can remember the last time the Cardinals haven’t had LA’s number in either the regular or postseason.
So what about us? The Cardinals have brought much worse teams to the October dance this decade and have produced unforeseen results. The Cards have also had a history of untimely injuries, meltdowns and hitting droughts this time of year to leave even the most dedicated fan searching for answers.
The 2009 team that will end St. Louis two-year-long playoff drought this week is unlike any other squad that will line up on the base path before first pitch Wednesday night.
They are a team that, for each asset, appears to have a liability. For each unavoidable strength in the lineup, there appears to be a glaring weakness. For each promising starting pitcher, there appears to be a shaky arm to follow coming out of the bullpen.
Let it be known, everyone else in this postseason tournament is feeling the exact same way about their chances.
And for now, that’s about all we all really know. That’s about all we really have to know.
October baseball is a completely different brand of the sport. The games seem eternal, the at-bats seem longer, and the scrutiny of each hurler’s pitch count will be dissected beyond belief. There will be many a moment when we as fans will be convinced that we know what will happen next and what should happen after that.
But we 
simply do not know. Nobody does.
This isn’t March Madness. There is no one seed in each bracket. There is no sure thing. Hell, there really is no favorite in either league.
It is baseball’s postseason. It’s a time to live and die with every pitch, a time to buy extra antacids and a time to forego whatever sleeping strategy you had implemented during the past six months of this season.
It’s a great time to be a fan, don’t lose site of that.
Starting tomorrow at 8:37, it’s time to soak it up.