ST. LOUIS -- It will be 20 days between starts for Woody Williams when he pitches for the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 2 of the NL championship series against San Francisco.

	Williams

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa made it official Tuesday, the day before Game 1, when he announced the rest of his rotation. St. Louis right-hander Matt Morris will go against Kirk Rueter in the opener, and after that it will be Williams, Chuck Finley and Andy Benes for the Cardinals.

Williams had to leave his last start, the NL Central-clinching victory over the Astros on Sept. 20, one out shy of qualifying for a victory because of a troublesome pulled side muscle that has bothered him all season. He was scratched from the roster for the division series when he aborted a throwing session Oct. 1, a day before the series began.

''I just did my treatment and all my exercises and hoped I would be somehow, some way ready to go, and it's working out,'' Williams said. ''I'm ready and I'm excited.''

He added a cautionary note.

''I don't anticipate any problems, but I didn't anticipate any in Phoenix, either,'' Williams said.

La Russa said it's not a huge gamble going with Williams, who was 9-4 with a 2.53 ERA in 17 starts between stints on the disabled list, because the Cardinals will carry 12 pitchers. Jason Simontacchi, a 28-year-old rookie who was 11-5, would step in if Williams encounters a problem.

Tino time
Cardinals first baseman Tino Martinez isn't torn up about the early playoff exit of his former team, the New York Yankees.

He said he felt bad only for shortstop Derek Jeter.

''The rest of the team, I really didn't care much about because I'm here playing for this team,'' Martinez said.

Martinez said Jeter called him last night to wish him good luck.

''He hopes we win the World Series,'' Martinez said. ''We've got a good enough team to do it. I'm not going to go into details about what he said about his own team.''

Dusty's fan club
Dusty Baker's early connection to Tony La Russa sure wasn't a fun one. When the San Francisco manager was still trying to establish himself as a young talent in the big leagues, La Russa got the last roster spot with the Atlanta Braves in 1971 and Baker got sent back to Triple-A.

They ran into each other much later -- in 1986, La Russa was Baker's final manager with Oakland. And over the years, they've become huge fans of each other.

''I've heard him say one of the few mistakes he's made -- well, he didn't say 'few,' that's my word -- that he made was not asking me to be one of his coaches, which is flattering to me,'' Baker said.

''It means a lot to manage against Tony. He's one of the best in our era and one of the best in a long time,'' he said.

La Russa echoed those sentiments.

''There is not anybody in uniform that respects and admires Dusty more than I do,'' the St. Louis manager said. ''I think this guy does a great job. I have half-kiddingly said I would love to be his agent negotiating his contract in the offseason because I hope he breaks the bank.''

Baker, whose contract with the Giants is up after this season, said he didn't need to go that far.

''I don't want to break the bank,'' he said. ''But I want to be near the bank.''