First baseman Mark McGwire, with arms bigger than mountains, was 0-for-2 in the series. When LaRussa sent him to bat in Game Two, first base was open and the Mets had sense enough to walk the biggest slugger in baseball since at least Willie McGee.

But perhaps the biggest problem the Cardinals had was the constant re-shuffling of its lineup and pitching rotation. Trying to combat the Mets' southpaw squadron, LaRussa tried to spread out his right-handed batters. With McGwire relegated to pinch-hitting, the most powerful right handed batter was third baseman Fernando Tatis, who hadn't been playing consistently since the dog days of summer. Granted, Tatis did his best, but his glove was too costly.

The rotation, which had five double-digit winners in the regular season, could not overcome LaRussa's pitching jumble, and their NLCS performance showed what role the Cardinal offense played in all those regular-season wins.

Credit should be given where credit is due, and the Mets, much like the hitters they sent to bat each inning of the series, are due. Their no-name outfield now has the names of Timo Perez, Benny Agbayani and Jay Payton. Well-adjusted Mike Bordick picked up in Rey Ordonez' shortstop position, even after arriving in Flushing as a late-season carpetbagger.

The Mets' left-handed pitching was also on message. NLCS MVP Mike Hampton, a hired gun from the former Colt 45s, threw 16 scoreless innings, allowing nine hits and four walks against 12 strikeouts. He pitched a three-hit shutout in the clinching game.

Al Leiter gave up just three runs in seven innings in Game Two, striking out nine.

The Cardinal lineup did its part to shell the New York right-handers, Bobby J. Jones and Rick Reed, but it was too little too late.