PREPARE FOR THE PLAYOFFS VIA WEB

Forgive me if you're not a sports fan, but this week's column is dedicated to the Boys of Summer. They're still hot -- especially the St. Louis Cardinals -- during this crisp, fall weather.

We're lucky enough to have tickets to a playoff game this week. That seems apropos, since this was the first year we were fortunate enough to get opening day tickets. Being married to a sports fanatic for 20 years does have its price. I've become a bit of a sports nut myself.

The Cardinals swept the Atlanta Braves, which means they will face the New York Mets. The series starts in St. Louis for two games because the Cards have a better record.

First stop, let's look to see what Major League Baseball has to offer in these waning days of the season.

* www.majorleaguebaseball.com

This is a great site to learn more about the four teams left in the playoffs: the New York Mets, the New York Yankees, the Seattle Mariners and, of course, the Cardinals.

Maybe I'm biased, but the site seems geared to the East Coast teams. The main stories are on both New York teams, and even the St. Louis game on Saturday has this headline: "Braves can't shake slump in playoffs." It should have said: "Cardinals steam roll Braves," but hey, I'm prejudiced.

There is a nice story on Jim Edmonds, called "Jim Dandy." The story is well deserved since Edmonds with 8-for-14 against the Braves with two home runs, a record four doubles and five runs scores.

You can listen to an audio clip from Coach Tony La Russa about Edmonds.

You can also click back to the story on the Cardinal win. The headline? "Cardinals complete surprisingly easy sweep of Braves." There's nothing wrong with being underrated. Just look at the Rams.

On the front page of the site, you can also check out the upcoming schedule for the games. St. Louis will play at home Wednesday and Thursday (7 p.m. start times). Games Three, Four and Five will be played in New York. The series returns Oct. 18 and 19 to St. Louis with games Six and Seven. Some friends were dismayed to see that third game in St. Louis (if needed) would be played at 3 p.m. because the American League plays at night. All the rest of the games are night games. What's the deal?

The World Series starts Oct. 21.

You can find all the stats for each team online, along with clubs' history and records. The World Series has been around since 1903. Before that, there were other postseason championships as early as 1884. I didn't realize that the League championship has only been around since 1969. It went from a five-game to seven-game series in 1985.

If you want some great pictorial memories, check out the Multimedia section with both video and photos.

How much do you know about the playoffs? Check out Playoff Trivia, under the Interactive link on the front page, left hand side. Or, try your hand at a Crossword Puzzle with a postseason twist.

* www.stlcardinals.com

Now this is more like it. The headline screams: Sweet Sweep!!!

The official St. Louis Cardinal site is decked out for Postseason Play.

You can check out Saturday's scoreboard: filled out by hand no less.

You can check out photos from Game One and Two. No doubt the Game Three photos will be posted sometime this week.

You can also relive great Post-Season Moments from the past. You can follow along batter by batter through all five games of the '42 series, when the Cardinals faced the Yankees. (Will 2000 be a repeat?) You can also listen to six memorable audio clips from World Series gone by and check out the scorecards from the Cardinals' first World Championship in 1926.

You can also check out Postseason game notes, scoreboards, box scores, game logs, statistics, roster and photo gallery.

And you can download a Cardinals screensaver free of charge to bring home the red to your desktop.

But what about the other guys? If you want to check out the New York Mets, go straight to the horse's mouth.

* www.newyorkmets.com

This is a very glitzy Web site, with lots of movement and color. But it's hitting and pitching that really matters.

You can pursue over statistics on the individual players or the team. I found it interesting that the Mets tickets for the championship games go on sale today, while the Cards have been sold out for some time. I guess that's because they were a Wild Card team, with more uncertain prospects.

If you click on the stadium, you can look at a seating diagram or get directions to Shea just in case you're crazy enough (or rich enough) to buy tickets for New York.

Another site to check out is Fox Sports, which will be carrying the American League and National League playoffs.

* foxsports.com/baseball/worldseries/2000

Here you can read all about Baseball Postseason 2000.

You can read the latest on all the games, and a look ahead at the next series.

If you want to have some fun, check out Fotoflip on the left-hand side. You uncover a photo one card at a time and see if you can guess the player.

* www.espn.com

The guys who make fun on themselves in their TV commercials offer up a great Web site. You have to go fairly deep inside to find the League Championship Series (LCS) news, but it's pretty extensive.

Darryl Kile will pitch Game 1 on Wednesday for the Cards. You can read ESPN's scouting report on both teams to rate their strengths and weaknesses.

You can also read profiles on every player.

One last stop to be prepared for the series openers: The Sporting News. While they cover all the sports, they certainly have a soft spot in their hearts for baseball -- especially since they're headquartered in St. Louis.

* www.sportingnews.com/baseball/playoffs

You can read the latest news or check out their Player Vs. Player matchups. They compare players at each position of every series and compare their stats and skills.

This would be great information for those playing Fantasy Baseball.

All of these sites will be gearing up this week for the next round of championship play. Let's cross our fingers and hope the magic continues.

What are the chances of a Super Bowl and World Series win in the same year?

What's your favorite baseball site? E-mail me at jonia@sehosp.org.

See you in Cyberspace.

Joni Adams is the webmaster at the Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau, www.southeastmissourihospital.com.