Greetings from Shea and the NLCS. The Cards and Mets worked out today, and there was no significant news as Mets manager Willie Randolph said they will wait up until the 10 a.m. ET Wednesday deadline to decide whether Cliff Floyd (Achilles tendon) will be on the NLCS roster, with the likelihood of an extra bench player. Cards manager Tony La Russa (above) said Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen look fine, and I liked how Rolen looked in BP, pulling gappers and spraying perfect hit-and-run oppo shots. All systems go for Wednesday’s 8:19 p.m. ET start of Game 1.

The biggest news that I saw was that Albert Pujols broke his bat during BP. I believe he uses special BP bats for this very purpose, as he tossed it aside with only a mild level of disdain. This is the scariest batting stance in baseball if you are an opposing pitcher:

This is his poor broken bat. It just lay there splintered until the Mets showed up for BP.

Cardinals Game 1 starter Jeff Weaver talked at length about what it has been like to see Pujols on an everyday basis, and he went out of his way to talk about Pujols the first baseman. Here is some Powerblogging as the St. Louis superstar fielding grounders:

And this is Sir Albert taking his rips:

A great view in New York City today:

And now for the runaway NL East champs. Cards shortstop David Eckstein couldn’t say enough during his interview-room session about his shortstop counterpart in this series, saying he loves the way Jose Reyes leads with his youthful enthusiasm. Here’s Jose emerging from the dugout for BP:

David Wright’s glove doesn’t get enough attention. I’m doing my best here…

Here is the Mets’ Game 1 starter. Tom Glavine has seen it all. As he said, he has been on both sides of the playoffs, the good and bad outings. He said he does sense an overall level of pressure on himself to get deep into innings, but overall does not put pressure on himself to pick up the slack with Pedro and El Duque out. Glavine also said he presumes the club is more likely to want him back for 2007 considering that Pedro will be out well into that season…

This is the elevator that takes you from the press box level (where I am typing this) down to the field level and the clubhouses…

Throughout the press box level, there are giant reproductions of past Mets media guide covers on the walls. This is absolutely one of my favorites. As Tommy would say, they were a "buncha babies" — the first-year Mets and the worst record in baseball history. You’ve come a long way, baby…

More to come. We’re just getting started here at Shea. Be sure to leave comments and especially your NLCS predictions.

One lucky winner will receive a pair of tickets to Game 2 of the National League Championship Series on Thursday at Shea Stadium, so if you’re a Mets fan, make sure you’re in before the entry period ends at 12:01 p.m. ET on Wednesday. Cardinals fans, your deadline to enter the sweeps for Game 4 tickets at Busch is 12:01 p.m. CT on Friday. Registration is free and it’s the only way you can win either drawing in the "I Want NLCS Tickets! Sweepstakes." Someone’s going to win, why not?

This is what happens when you have guys like Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen, Carlos Delgado, Carlos Beltran, David Wright and slugger paradise in a National League Championship Series. In contrast to the the ALCS, this is going to feature two explosive offenses that have to overcome some pitching deficiency. Here is some Canon Powerblogging from my skyline view two nights before the opener to show you an omen that just happened for moonshot fans. The big Harvest Moon is the ball and the Empire State Building is the bat.

It’s 8:17 p.m. ET. Here comes the rising four-seam fastball…

8:21: Middle-in to our slugger…

8:22: This would be point of contact to go oppo field…

8:25: He takes it for a strike…

8:31: It appears to be a passed ball as well…

It made me think of John "Blue Moon" Odom facing Kong Kingman. What will this omen mean for the Cardinals, who played that 2004 World Series Game 4 against the Red Sox under a Blood Moon? I was kind of hoping the Empire State Building would knock it out of Central Park, but it never moved the bat. Even though it was a called strike down the pipe, I still think it was an omen that we’ll be talking about moonshots in this series. If pitchers dominate the series, then someone can say that the called strike was really the omen.

The umpiring crew for the NLCS has been named, and it’s always good to know this stuff because somehow a name or two always becomes prominent along the way. Tim Welke, who is in his 23rd year as a Major League Umpire, will work his sixth League Championship Series. The Michigan native also has worked five Division Series and three Fall Classics. He will lead a crew that features Gary Darling, Jim Joyce, Jerry Layne, Jeff Kellogg and Fieldin Culbreth.

OK, my Canon PowerShot A540 and I are moving along from the Tigers-Yanks ALDS blog to this NLCS blog. The goal will be to push the blogging envelope and take you places you won’t otherwise experience at the NLCS unless you have one of those cool thingies around your neck and a general curiosity to be out and about and mingle with the St. Louis and New York fans. There will be homemade videos, pics from inside and outside the parks, and some general keystroking like I’m doing here. This approach all resulted from me asking fans what they want out of an MLB.com series blog at the start of the postseason, and you want what people don’t see and cutting-edge. So we will try to oblige again and by all means make further requests here and we’ll see what’s possible.

This also will be a place where Mets and Cardinal fans converge, so have fun and please keep it cordial as the intensity level rises throughout the series. That’s an assumption, of course. If it’s anything like the Mets-Cards rivalry days of the ’80s, when they both won their last titles, it will be great.

On a personal note, I live in New York and my three boys live in St. Louis. It couldn’t be any better than to be working this series. If you’re around Shea or Busch, make sure to let me know here or email me so I can say hello.

Updated 4:15 p.m. ET: The Cards work out at 11 a.m. ET on Tuesday at Shea, followed by the Mets at 1 p.m. The NLCS interview room opens for business with the Cards at 1 p.m., featuring manager Tony La Russa, Game 1 probable starter Jeff Weaver and an additional player. Mets in the interview room starting at 2 will include manager Willie Randolph, Game 1 probable starter Tom Glavine and catcher Paul Lo Duca. Let’s get it all started with your series predictions!