In St. Louis, the calendar just changed to 2009.

Never mind the printed ones that start with January 1 in the upper-left corner. In this town and all the bergs surrounding it, the new year begins with the Cardinals’ first pitch of the Major League Baseball season.

Today, weather permitting, Todd Wellemeyer will get to throw that first pitch and Gateway City citizens finally can get on with the rest of their lives. Red and white become the new black, and some folks will start listening to Mike Shannon more than their own spouses.

Which is why today, Game Guy finally spills on the top baseball-themed games in the market: “MLB 09: The Show” by Sony Computer Entertainment for PlayStation platforms and starring Boston second baseman Dustin Pedroia on the box cover; and “MLB 2K9″ by Visual Concepts and Electronic Arts subsidiary EA Sports for just about every platform made and marked by San Francisco righthander Tim Lincecum on its cover.

Three years ago, the local drama spun by these games involved how the Cardinals’ new Busch Stadium would look, because the games debuted before the stadium was opened to the public, and they won praise in this space for anticipating the gametime atmosphere there.

This time, the drama is reduced but the curiosity these games stir is greater — curiosity over how one game will have made strides over the other.

And again, one is slightly better than the other.

“MLB 09: The Show” now includes a steal-and-leadoff system; career-mode upgrades that factor in such things as September call-ups, waiver transactions and salary arbitration. Batting and base-running practice has become interactive, and the in-game fielding seems smarter and more sensible. Other smaller details, such as the pitcher actually ducking as the second baseman tries to throw out a runner to home, help make this game a nice step up from last year’s edition.

Game Guy really likes the added ability to record songs and fan chants for playback in the game. Up to 256 separate tracks are available per game.

“MLB 2K9,” meanwhile, includes improved animation with “signature styles” available to match the fan behavior at each ballpark; adds online updates to rosters; broadens the scouting system and adds up-to-the-minute updates of actual player performance; offers somewhat easier pitching, fielding and hitting (for those of us who never were good at any of those things in real life); and features gamer highlight-reel creation, for uploading later onto 2KSports.com.

Frankly, either title one picks affords loads of fun, though PlayStation gamers don’t have much of a choice. But for those gamers blessed with console alternatives, the decision on which title to go with comes down to nuance.

“MLB 09: The Show” made great strides with improvements such as dynamic fielder reactions — you can even make the ballplayers do bare-handed flips to base — and progressive batting attuned to a ballplayer’s performance throughout a game. Game Guy found the pitching accuracy with “The Show” better than “2K9,” too, and he liked how “The Show” let him practice trying to hit specific pitches, because he’s slow reacting to sliders anyway.

It was kind of hard getting around to practice, however, because Game Guy spent way too much time working up his in-game sound track. (There’s a lot of satisfaction from having AC/DC’s “Money Talks” boom over the loudspeakers when A-Rod steps to the plate.)

“MLB 2K9,” on the other hand, seems a little dumbed down from previous editions, especially on fielding and pitching. Though Game Guy never was an expert in either area, and more often than not struggled with the controls to make plays, he believes the developers need not to have bowed to criticism leveled at the title for being challenging. (Or so that’s what it appears they’ve done.)

For years, Game Guy thought “MLB 2K9″ catered to purists — the true gaming fans who find enjoyment in trying to master the particulars, whereas “The Show” appealed to the more casual baseball fan who just want to hit and throw and spin through assorted plays. But now, by bringing “2K9″ down to the same level as “The Show,” Visual Concepts and 2K Sports have made it easier for PlayStation users to choose between the two.

And as far as Game Guy is concerned, that choice is a sound one.