Go to the grocery store and you make a list. Otherwise, you buy a chew toy for the dog and forget the milk. Go to the doctor and you get a diet and exercise plan. Otherwise, you eat Oreos and become embedded in the couch. It makes sense, then, that you enter baseball's postseason with an outline, highlighting the key elements in Team A's drive to win it all. A checklist, if you will. | MLB page

That in mind, here are five points to keep in mind - and check off when you can - as the Cubs chase their first World Series championship in 100 years.

Today's N.L. Division Series opener against the Dodgers is the first step toward making good on Ron Santo's hyperventilated proclamation: "This! Is! The! Year!" So here, Cub fans, is your guide to the promised land:

1. O Say Can You Z? - That is, will Carlos Zambrano be the dominant force he was while throwing a no-hitter on Sept. 14, or the batting practice pitcher he was in his final two appearances of the year?

If he is somewhere in between, the Cubs may be able to win anyway. If he is the erratic, emotional wreck who finished the regular season, Santo's dream could die before the World Series.

The Cubs need Zambrano's shoulder and psyche to be healthy. Otherwise: "Next! Year! Is! The! Year!"

2. Ramirez vs. Ramirez - Forget about Manny being Manny. That is bound to happen for the Dodgers.

The real key to the Cubs advancing out of round one will be Aramis being Manny.

Chicago's Ramirez needs to be heart and soul of the lineup just as Manny Ramirez will be for Los Angeles.

No one has had more clutch hits for the Cubs than their All-Star third baseman. They cannot afford him to go in the tank like he did in last year's NLDS against Arizona.

If he does, the Cubs will go home, and Manny will be Manny for at least another series.

3. Patience, patience, patience - The biggest change in these Cubs over last year, and certainly over the Dusty Baker era, is the patience they have shown at the plate.

Perhaps it took a year for Lou Piniella to get through to them, or maybe the debacle against Arizona did it for him. Regardless, Cubs' hitters have been selective and driven up opposing pitch counts.

They have made pitchers come to them rather than flailing at anything that moves. Even Alfonso Soriano has walked 43 times.

It is essential the Cubs continue to swing at the first good pitch, not simply the first pitch. Grow impatient, and they will hit the Dusty trail.

"It is what it is, man."

4. No more Rich tradition - Injuries have been the norm for talented starter Rich Harden. His 25 starts and 148 innings this year (with Oakland and the Cubs combined) are the second-most in his on-again, off-again six-year career.

He was plagued by late-season "discomfort" - you don't have to pitch to have that - but seems ready for the postseason.

The Cubs need him to stay healthy and effective to bring the World Series trophy to Wrigley Field, particularly if Zambrano struggles.

Cold weather is part of October baseball, and while Harden experienced chilly days in Oakland, a windy, 40-degree night could put a strain on his fragile arm.

It is one thing to hope your 1995 Mercury Tracer will survive the winter. It is another to count on it.

Harden is a BMW when healthy. The Cubs are counting on him.

And hoping he won't break down.

5. The rest is history - What weighs more: an NFL lineman, an 18-wheeler or 100 years of futility?

In golf they call that a gimme. It is the 100 years by a wide margin. The Cubs' ability to ignore that burden, or at least set it aside, is paramount to winning the World Series.

This team has been better than its predecessors at separating the past 99 years from the one at hand. The real test lies ahead, and the Cubs must heed what Piniella has said: Focus on the now. The past is the past.

That is, the rest is history.

The challenge is to create a new and improved history, and this could be the team to do it. Just follow the checklist.

It's as easy as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

Randy Kindred is a Pantagraph columnist. To leave him a voice mail, call 820-3402. By e-mail: rkindred@pantagraph.com. The Randy Kindred Blog is at www.pantagraph.com/blogs