The classic moment that will be replayed for a long time in the minds of Cub fans everywhere in Wednesday’s game between the Cubs and Cardinals was not Carlos Zambrano almost ordering the Cubs’ coaching staff to allow him to pitch to John Mabry.

It was when Tony LaRussa, the 8 consecutive World Series game-losing baseball managing expert of the 21st Century decided to shout an expletive towards the home plate umpire during the ninth inning.

And the Comcast SportsNet (We don’t show replays of close plays, but we can give you crappy music, graphics, and studio shows!!!) microphones picked it up. That’s the way LaRussa! Next time, why don’t you just have somebody throw a ball intentionally at the guy? Oh, wait, you already do that…

The Cardinals’ fans responded to the Zambrano injury, at the conclusion of a great pitching performance, in a way that befits the reputation of the “best fans in baseball” that Saint Louis supposedly has: They booed him.

There were three big stories in Wednesday’s game.

1. Carlos Zambrano didn’t kill the Cardinals, but that performance sure looked like a half-mortal blow. Plus, he actually looked composed, or at least as composed as Carlos can be.

2. Jim Edmonds almost spent more time chasing after balls that he missed than the time he spent complaining to the home plate umpire about the strike zone. I guess there was just too much wind out there tonight for Jimmy’s liking. Or maybe he is still emotionally shaken from losing former teammate Edgar Renteria???

3. Nomar’s injured. The injury should open up time for Jerry Hairston, the latter. Nomar is a great player, and you have to think he would’ve gotten out of his slump soon if he hadn’t gotten hurt tonight. But, now, we don’t know how long Garciaparra is out. It could be a week, a month, or the season. But, Nomar is too good for people to be happy that the poorly-playing Nomar we were seeing so far this season to be hurt. Because at some point, he would have gotten out of it. The one positive is that a Perez/Hairston middle infield will be better defensively than a Nomar/Walker middle infield ever would have been. And, if Dusty Baker moves Hairston to leadoff and moves Corey Patterson down in in the order, the middle of the lineup could have some good balance.

All in all, a good night for the Cubs, and their fans. It’s been a while since we have had a fun game where we actually won the game against a good team.