you is arguably the best manager in at least the last six decades, a virtual lock to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame for the way he handled a game, and leaves a tough act to follow, having led the Cardinals to a World Series championship last October.

So much for challenges.

Here it is, mid-October, and Matheny and the Cardinals are still wearing their uniforms, playing games that count and in position to defend that World Series championship, something no National League team has done since the Big Red Machine of Sparky Anderson in 1975-76.

The Cardinals earned their postseason opportunity as a Wild Card, just like last year, and so far they knocked off Atlanta in a win-or-go-home, one-game Wild Card showdown, and knocked off Washington in thebest-of-five NL Division Series by becoming the first team in history to overcome a deficit of more than four runs in a loser-is-eliminated postseason series finale by rallying from a 6-0 deficit in Game 5 on Friday night at Nationals Park to beat Washington, 9-7.

Now they are ready to open the best-of-seven NL Championship Series with San Francisco at AT&T Park on Sunday evening (7 CT on FOX) in a matchup of the last two teams to win the World Series.

Talk about passing the managerial entrance exam.

"I know there's a high level of expectation with this job," Matheny said. "If I didn't think I could handle it, I wouldn't have walked into the interview process."

He actually came in the backdoor of the interview process.

When La Russa told Mozeliak