There are moments in sports that make the time and effort we put into being a fan worth it. Last night, Reggie Sanders provided one of those. His “effort” on a Adam Everett “triple” in last night’s 4-1 loss to Houston might have been the most fun we’ve had watching baseball in a long time.

This came an inning after the always unctuous tHom Brennaman had spent five minutes castigating NLDS hero (and famous retarded actor) Chris Burke for playing too shallow against Yadier Molina (we’ll get to Yadier in a moment). Honestly, can you play too shallow against that banjo hitting (more on that, too) Sally?

Anyway, Reggie was deep enough alright. He was in it up to his waist.

He ran after the ball like a guy chasing a bus holding an overflowing latte. When he got to the ball he had misjudged it and for no apparent reason, jumped. Then, the best part, he threw his arms up in the air and nearly knocked the ball over the fence for a home run. The ball rolled away and Reggie laid on the warning track in a heap. The ball was maybe ten feet from him. Most athletes first reaction would have been to throw the ball back in. Not Reggie. He got on his hands and knees and tried to take his glove off by shaking his left hand profusely. Lassie ran by, threw the ball in and for a moment looked like he was going to take advantage of Reggie’s compromised position. However, a lack of proper lube and a national TV audience caused him to hesitate just enough to save whatever was left of Reggie’s reputation.

The Astros stretched a 2-1 lead to 3-1 on the play and then 4-1 and tied the series. The Cardinals, who didn’t win a game in last year’s NLCS at Minute Maid Park now face elimination if they don’t do it this year. Oh, that would just awful.

In this space, at least, we’ve come to like Bob Brenly and his work as a baseball analyst. I’m not sure, however, what he did in a previous life to deserve a seat in between baseball nincompoop Steve Lyons and the deplorable tHom Brennaman.

What you don’t know is that Bob wasn’t Fox’s first choice.

Nope. It was me. On Monday I drove to the Big Urinal Cake for a test broadcast with tHom and Steve. We did a few innings from a game from last year’s NLCS and pretended it was this year’s. After much discussion, Fox decided they wanted to go another direction.

I do, however, have an excerpt.

Indulge me.

tHom: So here we go, bottom four and Yadier Molina steps in for the Redbirds. Steve, I know you agree, this is a great lookin’ young catcher.
Andy: Huh? Come on, this guy’s not a great looking anything.
Steve: He’s got all the tools, tHommy, great arm, great idea of how to call a game.
Andy: The only tool he looks like he has is the fondue pot he bobs for apples in.
tHom: I can see why the Cardinals would let Mike Matheny go. This kid looks like a keeper.
Andy: He looks like the Crypt Keeper is who he looks like. No, wait. Hey Steve, you know who he looks like? Do you? They can’t hear you nod while the cameras are on the field, Stevie. He looks like the kid playing the banjo in the tree from Deliverance. That’s who he looks like.

That’s uncanny.

tHom: Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to apologize, on behalf of my new broadcast partner, for going overboard with that joke. Really.
Andy: You’re right, tHommy. I do want to apologize. I’d just like to say I’m really sorry that Yadier Molina looks like the banjo playing kid from Deliverance.

I only wish I’d been in the booth last night when Albert Pujols hit the homer to make it 2-1 and stood at home plate like he’d won the World Series. He just watched the ball and didn’t bother to run until the spirit moved him. I kept waiting for Brennaman to call him out, but he never did, the little twit.

Remember in the ALDS in 2003 when Manny Ramirez hit a big homer against the A’s in game five and watched it and tHom ripped him for the next two innings? How was what Pujols did any different? It’s this kind of selective arrogance that feeds the idea that nobody likes tHom Brennaman’s work. Nobody. Have you ever met anybody who thinks he’s good at his job?

This is the same guy who was all-too happy to sit there in game six in 2003 and watch the cameras zoom in on Steve Bartman, then rip Cubs fans for making him a celebrity of dubious merit in the aftermath. If Fox doesn’t zoom in on him for two innings and if the Sun-Times doesn’t print his name and address the next day, does anybody know him as Steve Bartman, today? No, he’s just the dumbass headphone guy.

There were a couple of other doozies last night.

Roy Oswalt singled to right field and Larry Walker came up ready to gun him at first base. But he couldn’t. Why? Because the guy everybody keeps trying to give a wholly undeserved Gold Glove to, the aged Pujols wasn’t anywhere near first base. What first baseman doesn’t head to the bag with nobody on when the pitcher lines one, on one hop to the right fielder? Walker’s been trying to pull that stunt for years. Andre Dawson was the master at it. The guys in the booth talked about it, but nobody ripped Albert for not even trying to get over there.

A couple innings later, Lassie made one of his patented diving catches near the warning track. As always, at full speed it looked pretty clutch. Then Fox showed about seven replays and in every one you could see him slow down, and actually start stuttering his feet to get ready for what was, by then, an obviously unneeded dive. I can’t say why he dove. Maybe when a ball is that close to the track, it makes sense to slow down, gauge it and dive so you don’t have to try to run through the ball and slow down before you biff the fence. Or, maybe, just maybe, Edmonds’ rep as a guy who Cadillacs it on routine flyballs to make them look tough was proven true again last night? All I know is that somewhere Ken Griffey Jr. was watching and yelling at the TV. Griffey’s been accusing Edmonds of that very thing for a decade.

What proved it though was Fox showed a replay of a bonafide great catch Edmonds made in game seven of last year’s NLCS. He saved two runs with a diving grab in left center. They showed it after we had just seen him chop his feet five times to slow down for his dive in last night’s grab, and on the replay from last year you could see him sprinting all-out and then diving out of necessity, not to showboat. It was the most perfect comparison of diving when you need to, as opposed to diving to try to make ESPN’s Top 10 Plays that night.

Bug eyed Ed Sherman says WMVP lost their arses in their last Bulls and White Sox contracts. I have XM Radio now and the only time I ever hear local radio is when I’m in somebody else’s car. Let’s just say I don’t miss it. More and more people I know, feel the same. So if you’re the Score and you are paying the Hot Dog Boy $1 million a year and paying $3.5 million a year for the Sox and want to take on the Bulls’ next year at roughly the same figure, you have to factor in that you are only part of a quickly decreasing sports market locally.

Scott Skiles would just like the few healthy Bulls to actually play like they care. That’d be nice.

John Paxson says Eddy Curry complained of chest pains during a practice early last season. The Bulls just figured it was because he was eating hot dogs during the free throw shooting drill.

There’s a pretty big game tomorrow in South Bend. You all know how much I get all gooey for the Irish, and it’ll be great if they win. But I don’t see that happening. Not this year.

Paul Edinger will be back in town Sunday, he’s already outlasted his replacement. Nice job, Jerry Angelo.

This is the last time we will speak of this, but it’s so absurd we have to do it. MLB ch-umpire Doug Eddings says:

“The only thing I’m down on myself is I should have sold it either way,”

No shit. Look, buddy, nobody cares if you got the call right. It didn’t matter. If the ball bounced or if it didn’t, Josh Paul picked it clean. The only thing that caused a problem is that you called the batter out, then changed your mind. If you had made some sort of announcement that it was a dropped third strike Paul reaches over about two feet and tags out the Eyechart. But you didn’t. All this new talk of baseball needing replay is ludicrous. Whether or not the ball bounced is not the question. If the umpire makes a signal either way, AJ’s out. Either on the catch or on the subsequent tag. Replay wouldn’t mean a damn thing.

Spanish-yes.com’s Ian Thomsen on Eddy Curry’s heart. Hey, if you want even more basketball analysis, check out www.on-hoops.com, those guys are hilarious! Yes, I actually feel a little wrong for just doing that.

Larry Bowa to the A’s? Eric Chavez is already packing.

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