Scott Rolen got the news at about 5 p.m. ET.

"I felt," he said Monday night, "as if I'd died and gone to heaven. I'm so excited that I can't wait to get on the plane (Tuesday morning) and get to Florida to join the Cardinals."

The Phillies, last in the NL East, traded the All-Star third baseman to the Cardinals, first in the NL Central, in a five-player deal Monday -- ending months of speculation about whether and where he would be dealt.

	“	Busch may be the best place to play in the game, and it's the place I always dreamed of playing. ”
		— Scott Rolen

Rolen makes no bones about the fact that ever since he turned down a seven-year, $90 million offer from the Phillies last fall -- because he did not feel he could make such a commitment -- that the weight of the controversy in Philadelphia wore him down.

"I think I must have been asked more questions than the rest of the team combined," Rolen said. "It was crazy. In spring training, all the way back to the winter, it was that way. Before the All-Star break, I know I was a little down. I shouldn't have been, but having people leaning on both my shoulders all the time drained me.

"People would tell me that I needed to be more selfish, to play for numbers. But that's not the way I know how to play. I'm not good at playing for numbers. I'm not good at playing for myself. To go from last place to first is more than I ever could have dreamed."

Growing up in Jasper, Ind., Rolen went to two parks as a kid -- St. Louis and Cincinnati.

"I was there at Busch with my dad, sitting in the stands wherever we could get a seat, watching Ozzie Smith. It may be the best place to play in the game, and it's the place I always dreamed of playing.

"As I said, I've gone to heaven."