Gentlemen, load your bases

Several scenarios could be scripted for this year's playoffs.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Right from the get-go, the Minnesota Twins will be on their toes. Because last year, they got off on the wrong foot in Game 1 of the playoffs at Yankee Stadium.
"You remember a lot of the things," Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said Monday. "This may not mean much to you, but I looked over at the Yankees and they were standing inside the white line and our team was standing outside the white line.
"They were like, champions stand inside the white line. We learned something. So I tell my guys, stand inside the white line now."
The Twins will get another chance, beginning tonight when Johan Santana pitches against New York's Mike Mussina.
Nice record, but...
The St. Louis Cardinals and Yankees were the only teams to top 100 victories, yet both open the playoffs without a true ace and concerns about their ailing pitchers.
Boston and Houston are dangerous as they hope to catch the wild card wave that produced the last two World Series champs.
The Red Sox, with Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez, and Astros, with Roger Clemens and Roy Oswalt, feature potent 1-2 combos in their rotations, a perfect recipe for the postseason.
"When you get down to a game or a short series, it's the beauty of the game of baseball," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said.
"Bucky Dent can hit a three-run home run or your hottest hitter can go up there and the guy throws the best slider of his life and gets him out, or your best pitcher hangs a slider.
"That's why you've got to play the games. To me, that's part of the thrill, that uncertainty."
Starting this week, Vladimir Guerrero gets an opportunity to really boost his reputation. He'll play in the postseason for the first time, as will Eric Gagne, Adrian Beltre, Carlos Beltran and Oswalt.
Barry Bonds is out, as are Josh Beckett, Jack McKeon and the World Series champion Florida Marlins.
Sammy Sosa and the Chicago Cubs faded and missed the playoffs this year, and so did Oakland's trio of Mark Mulder, Barry Zito and Tim Hudson.
Sidelined
Andy Pettitte, Tim Salmon and Darren Dreifort saw their teams reach the playoffs, but are injured and out of action. Orlando Hernandez, Jason Giambi and Scott Rolen are banged up.
The chase was scheduled to begin today at Busch Stadium, when Woody Williams and the Cardinals faced Odalis Perez and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Later, Schilling and the Red Sox visit Jarrod Washburn and the Anaheim Angels in the AL.
On Wednesday, the other series starts when Clemens and the Astros visit Jaret Wright and the Atlanta Braves.
For the Astros' Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio, it will be a chance at redemption.
The Braves beat Houston in the first round in 1997, 1999 and 2001, with B & amp;B going a combined 11-for-75 (.147) with no extra-base hits and zero RBIs in those 10 games.