Yet despite the reality that this stadium soon will be demolished, the trustworthy cleaning crews are performing the same function they always perform after a game -- sweeping away all the leftover popcorn, peanut shells, discarded wrappers and empty cups. The steady hum of the leaf-blowers, or trash blowers in this case, fills the otherwise empty stadium.

I guess they'd like to get rid of as much debris as possible before mid-November, when it all becomes a giant pile of rubbish.

It might be the last of the cookie-cutter stadiums, and some people might not consider it anything special, but this place is a part of countless memories for so many people over the years. And those memories will live on long after this stadium is gone. -- Allison Creekmore / MLB.com

One indication of just how much the two stadiums overlap can be seen by the mini foul pole found in section 129. This smaller version of a foul pole represents where the left-field foul pole will be in the new stadium. The pole also comes complete with the distance (335) and the white foul line, painted on the concrete of the current Busch Stadium until it comes to the end of the sidewalk overlooking the new park.

For now, though, this current Busch Stadium gets at least one more game. The demolition is set to take place about three weeks after the final game of the Cardinals' season. And somehow, I don't think the Cardinals would mind delaying that for another week if they pull off two more wins and make it to the World Series. -- Allison Creekmore / MLB.com

That would be Andy Benes and Drew Benes, respectively.

Dad, who finished his baseball career with the Cardinals after starting it with the Padres, has been down on the field during the playoffs, doing analysis for the local FSN channel. The 6-foot-6 right-hander used to borrow the Walter Johnson nickname "Big Train" for his size, and when he stands next to Pujols, he makes the Cardinals superstar slugger look a little more human than he did on that monster shot the other night.

This time, Andy brought Drew, who's 17 now and can stand next to Pujols and not get lost in the shadow. Guess that how it works -- kids grow up, and if Dad is a big dude, son is going to be a big dude, too. -- John Schlegel / MLB.com

The truth is former Houston general manager Gerry Hunsicker coined the phrase Killer B's in December 1994 when he acquired Derek Bell, Doug Brocail, Ricky Gutierrez, Phil Plantier and Craig Shipley from San Diego for Ken Caminiti, Andujar Cedeno, Steve Finley, Roberto Petagine, Sean Fesh and Brian Williams.

Bell was key to the deal for the Astros. The outfielder would hit second behind leadoff man Biggio and ahead of Jeff Bagwell.

The killer bee scare was in the news in those days. Hunsicker, at the press conference to announce the deal, said Bell would "give the Astros a Killer B lineup," and he was proven right.

The Astros added third baseman Sean Berry in 1995 and shortstop Tim Bogar was a starter during the years the Astros won consecutive division crowns from 1997-99. Berkman joined the team in '99 and, with Biggio and Bagwell, continues to form the nucleus of Houston's Killer B hive. -- Jim Molony / MLB.com

• Fans have called all day wondering if they can get in after the seventh inning. There is a St. Louis Blues hockey game, so they're thinking baseball-hockey doubleheader. But with the stands expected to be packed, the gates will not be opened.
• Some fans could have the compulsion to get that special memory by running onto the field. Not only will it get them arrested, but ushers and security are keeping a special watch.
• If the Cardinals lose -- the lead usher said it won't happen -- all employees have to remain in place while a video tribute to Busch Stadium is shown on the video screen.

The goodbye to Busch Stadium is inevitable. No one wants it to be tonight. But if it is, they're prepared. -- Thomas Harding / MLB.com

So here's to Cardinals reliever Randy Flores, who obliged a request from ESPN Deportes Radio, even though he doesn't speak Spanish. A Southern California native, Flores does understand Spanish. So he stood in the dugout, listening to the questions asked in Spanish, and replied in English. The interview lasted a few minutes, and apparently it was a success -- though your intrepid correspondent understood only Flores' half of the conversation. -- Matthew Leach / MLB.com

Some players think that the day they show up a pitcher by standing at home plate watching a home run is the day they'll break their leg sliding into second. Don't mess with the baseball gods, one veteran player told me long ago.

Remember Jose Lima's antics on the mound during his 21-win season in 1999? He sang, he danced, he celebrated a strikeout with the electric slide. The next year, he couldn't get anyone out. At all. In 2001, he was traded to Detroit, home of the furthest fences in the bigs. Couldn't get anyone out there, either.

Why? As the veteran said, maybe it was the baseball gods. Show up the other team, lose the strikezone. Forever.

So why in the world are players taking curtain calls?

Reggie Sanders hit a two-run homer in Game 1 of the NLCS and popped out of the dugout for a curtain call. IT WAS THE FIRST INNING! Yeah, yeah, I know, it's become somewhat of a harmless Cardinals tradition, and I can appreciate that. But in a 2-0 game, with eight innings to play? Come on.

Lance Berkman pops a three-run homer in the seventh inning of Game 5, and soon he pops out of the dugout for a curtain call. An hour later, Albert Pujols jacked a three-run shot of his own to win the game. Yikes.

And how about Sanders? In Game 2, he nearly broke his neck trying to make a heroic catch in left field. He had to leave the game, couldn't play the next day, and since then, he's had one hit.

Baseball gods? Maybe it's a stretch. But players need to play it safe. Save the curtain calls for after the game, if your team wins. -- Alyson Footer / MLB.com

But Eckstein's some kind of athlete and some kind of baseball player, don't let the appearances fool you. He has tremendous field savvy, and as we saw with that single in Houston the other night, a real knack for being calm in the clutch. Remember, that Pujols blast doesn't happen without Eck's two-strike dribbler.

Besides, he really has the right attitude, and handles himself with extreme focus on the field and total professionalism with the media and with fans.

The guy has fun playing ball, and you can see that from the time he steps on the field. Nobody has more fun playing catch than this guy, whether it's with double-play partner Mark Grudzielanek or, like during Tuesday's workout, with his brother, Rick, who's a coach in the Nationals organization but along for this postseason ride with David.

There's the standard toss from 60 feet or so like everyone else does, but then Eck breaks it out all the way down the line. The other day in Houston, he went all the way to the left-field corner, and with the fan-packed stands jutting out, media all over the place on the field and a boom microphone as a target for Grudzielanek, the two played catch like kids in a park. High arching throws, perfect strikes every time. Fun stuff.

Sure, he's little. But he's tough, and he's absolutely huge for the Cardinals. -- John Schlegel / MLB.com

Remember those great seven-game Atlanta-Pittsburgh tussles of 1991 and 1992? Barry Bonds didn't hit much in either of them for the Bucs. But the Pirates had a 3-2 lead in the 1991 series heading back home into old Three Rivers Stadium and never scored another run. Steve Avery threw eight innings of three-hit ball to win Game 6, 1-0, and John Smoltz tossed a complete-game six-hitter to win Game  7, 4-0, and the series.

In 1992, the Braves actually led, 3-1, but the Pirates came back to tie with a blowout in Game 6 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. In Game 7, the Pirates had a 2-0 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth when the Braves struck back with three runs. The series was decided with two out against reliever Stan Belinda when Francisco Cabrera singled home David Justice and Sid Bream, who came barreling around from second base and just beat the throw from Bonds, the left fielder.

Cabrera only played parts of five big-league seasons and had 351 regular season at-bats. But his moment is one of the great ones in postseason history. And these are the memories that great playoff games make.

The fact is that only three times have the same NL teams played against each other in back-to-back postseasons since the advent of the League Championship Series in 1969.

The Dodgers and Phillies battled in 1977 and 1978 and the Dodgers won both times. The Braves and Pirates we've already documented. Now the Cardinals have a chance to repeat history by winning the final two games at home against the Astros in the second consecutive NLCS.

Eerie, wouldn't you say? -- Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com

Well, there's no need for a scoreboard bigger than your average apartment building if you're not going to use it. Somehow, she recognized the groans of the crowd, twisted around, caught the words and soldiered on. And it was beautiful. -- Thomas Harding / MLB.com

It was on Oct. 17, 1979, that Garner's Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Baltimore Orioles at old Memorial Stadium to win Game 7 and the World Series, the last one for both Garner and the Bucs.

"I didn't realize that, but tell me more," Garner said with a laugh in the interview room prior to Monday night's climactic Game 5 of the NL Championship Series against the Cardinals, who came into the game at Minute Maid Park trailing 3-1 in the best-of-seven series.

Garner was the Pirates' second baseman that evening in Baltimore and had a hit, a walk and a run scored in four plate appearances. The final score was 4-1.

"But I didn't win the game," Garner said. "A guy named Willie Stargell hit a home run."

The late Stargell smacked a two-run homer during the sixth inning off Orioles starter and losing pitcher Scott McGregor. "Pops" also had a fourth-inning double and went 4-for-5 with the homer, a double and a pair of RBIs.

It was one of those series. The Orioles came out of the middle three games in Pitsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium with a 3-2 lead, but were then outscored 8-1 by the Pirates in the final two games at home. Garner started all seven games, played every inning and had a monster series, batting .500 (12-for-24 ) with four doubles and five RBIs. But Stargell, the future Hall of Famer, was the series MVP, giving him the trifecta for 1979: MVP of the World Series and the NLCS and a regular-season tie with Keith Hernandez.

So much for 1979. Perhaps not so much for Oct. 17. Stargell passed in 2001 at 61. Garner is 55 and on the precipice again 27 years later. -- Barry M. Bloom, MLB.com

Mrs. Bush sits next to her husband in the Diamond Club area directly behind home plate, while Mrs. Garner sits to the left of the Astros dugout. Two sections and 20 rows of seats separate the two, but they are more than aware of one another's presence before Game 4 of the NLCS on Sunday afternoon.

As the Astros took the field prior to Game 4, fans stood and waved their rally towels to the tune of "Lose Yourself" by Eminem. Through the sea of rally towels, Mrs. Bush and Mrs. Garner found each other. Mrs. Bush waved and gave her towel a shake, and Mrs. Garner returned the gesture with a shake, shake, shake of her own.

You've got to hand it to the 81-year-old ex-Prez ... every time an exciting play occurred, he waved his rally towel with as much vigor as the younger fans in the stands. He also smooched his wife for the second consecutive day when the cameras caught the former first couple on "Kiss Cam." -- Alyson Footer / MLB.com

"Coop," now the Astros' bench coach, was a member of that rollicking, slugging Milwaukee outfit of the early 1980s, known affectionately in the upper Midwest as Bambi's Bombers and then Harvey's Wallbangers -- respective titles bestowed on clubs managed by George Bamberger and Harvey Kuenn.

Those teams routinely pulverized their American League foes, the stretch from 1978-83 highlighted by a seven-game loss to the Cardinals in the 1982 World Series. The lineup included the likes of Hall of Famers Robin Yount (shortstop) and Paul Molitor (third base), along with catcher Ted Simmons, second baseman Jim Gantner, and outfielders Ben Oglivie, Gorman Thomas and Charlie Moore.

Cooper was a five-time All-Star from 1979-85, had over 200 hits three times and finished his career as a .298 hitter with 241 home runs and benefited from hitting third in the lineup behind Molitor and Yount to accumulate 1,125 RBIs.

And for you True Blue Brew Crew fans out there, he's still got that classic left-handed swing even hitting ground balls to infielders, and he still wears that familiar number 15 on the back of his jersey (conveniently vacated in Houston by Carlos Beltran). -- Paul Bodi / MLB.com

It's understandable looking through Cardinals-colored glasses, especially with Nunez out of the Game 4 lineup. But take a step back, people.

Says here that play was such a confluence of factors -- short throw, big man going first to third, gutsy third baseman throwing himself in harm's way. It was happening so fast, Lane couldn't have gone after Nunez if he tried. It was a hardball play, simple as that.

It was an accident, and nobody in the Cardinals clubhouse was complaining afterward, or putting a bounty out on Lane or anything like that.

Hey, maybe if Jeff Suppan buzzes Lane in that first at-bat, all those Cardinals fans will be right and it really was perceived as dirty by the players. But nobody in the press box or either clubhouse Saturday really thought or said anything of it, honestly. And if Tony La Russa wasn't fired up about it, that should tell you something.

It's just another frustrating injury for the Cardinals. That's it and that's all. -- John Schlegel/MLB.com