Who replaces Brenly should he leave the booth?
Let me admit right up front: I was wrong, wrong about Bob Brenly.
When Brenly first returned to town to serve as color analyst alongside Len Kasper on Cubs TV broadcasts in 2005, I derided his commentary as too coddling of Dusty Baker and insulted his earlier managing with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
That might have been valid at time - might, I insist - but Brenly went about proving me and all his critics wrong.
He both toughened up as an analyst and grew more comical as a commentator. His remark last season that you could throw a dart in the Cubs' dugout and hit a better fielder than Alfonso Soriano was an illustration of both.
Along the way, he displayed an astute feel for the game, to the point where I now believe he would be a fine game-situation manager. Since he has always been a relatively mellow and playful players manager, he seemed a perfect fit for Milwaukee to replace the hyper-tense Ned Yost as manager of the young Brewers - if only the Brewers' front office had any sense.
Still, more than ever it seems just a matter of time before some baseball team plucks Brenly from the booth and puts him back in the dugout. When that day comes, god bless and more power to him.
Yet it would leave a considerable vacuum in the Cubs' broadcast booth. Kasper has gotten so good he could carry almost anyone, but none of the obvious choices figures to be as fine as Brenly, at least not to start. Let's take a look around, from the top contenders down.
Dave Otto: I keep mentioning him first, because he's already held the job on a part-time basis when he split the role with Joe Carter. That wasn't fair to either, but Otto was at least proficient and since then has filled in on an emergency basis doing color on both TV and radio. He could step right in and do the job tomorrow. Yet that doesn't mean he would be as good as Brenly - or even the best choice available.
Dan Plesac: He's good in the studio, but I don't understand the tub-thumping over at WMVP 1000-AM with Dan McNeil, John Jurkovic and Harry Teinowitz to campaign for him, except as personal friends helping friends. He knows the game, but his delivery is a bit laconic. He also has been mentioned as a potential partner for Ed Farmer on White Sox radio broadcasts on WSCR 670-AM should Darrin Jackson turn them down, which I think would be a disaster, pairing two ultra-dry commentators who likewise offer a redundance of pitching expertise.
Todd Hollandsworth: What little I've seen of him, I'm utterly mystified over why he's even a candidate, with either the Cubs' TV job or the Sox' radio gig. He's low-key, and his Chicago ties are tenuous, even as an ex-Cub. Which brings us to ...
Mark Grace: This is the most glamorous option on the face of it. Grace is not just familiar but still a star in Chicago. He's outspoken, perhaps too much so, as with his infamous burst of profanity on an open mike in 2005, or more recently suggesting the Cubs laid down in their playoff series with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He insists he doesn't know his contract status with the Diamondbacks. Yet, if available, he's the best choice. The only question is whether he would meld nicely with Kasper.
Rick Sutcliffe: His contract status with ESPN also poses a problem, and his recent health scare raises a yellow flag. Yet he'd fit almost as well as Grace and would probably be more impassioned than either Otto or Plesac.
Darrin Jackson: Not that he isn't a fine color analyst, but wouldn't this seem just a little too incestuous?
Ron Santo: True, Pauly, putting him on TV would make it easier to see what he can't describe, but would Kasper be as good a straight man for him as Pat Hughes has turned out to be? Which brings me to ...
Lin Brehmer: Hey, if Mike North could campaign for the Sox job, why not Brehmer? I don't think any of the above could match the chemistry he has with Kasper on the air on his WXRT 93.1-FM morning show. Still, not an ex-player, and ergo not a color man.
Bob Sirott: Ditto, although he's long coveted a job in the Cubs' broadcast booth. But hey, he'll probably be replacing Warner Saunders as lead anchor at WMAQ Channel 5 instead of replacing Brenly.
At this point, just let me remind everyone that I'm still available, for either the Cubs' TV slot or the Sox' radio gig. Hey, even as someone who makes his living writing about TV, radio and sports, I can have a dream job, can't I?
In the air
Remotely interesting: Before the rains came, Fox was already heading for a record-low World Series Nielsen rating. The first four games averaged just 13 million viewers nationally, down from 17.1 million last year and even the 15.7 million average through the first four games of the 2006 Series. The first part of Game 5 hit that average almost exactly with 13.1 million viewers, and while the Wednesday finale gave Fox one extra night and the highest ratings of the Series, averaging 15.5 million viewers, it wasn't enough to hold off a record low. I also think it was awfully suspicious the suspended fifth game was doubly suspended early Tuesday, allowing Fox to retain its highly promoted "House" in prime time. Yet give Fox Sports and especially play-by-play man Joe Buck credit for drawing ample attention to the poor umpiring.
The Bulls' opener Tuesday night on WGN Channel 9 pulled a 6.7 local Nielsen rating, good for more than 225,000 Chicago-area households, or an 11 percent share of the viewing audience. It was the top show in its time slot in the 18-49 age demographic and the highest-rated Bull game in three years. Yet now that Neil Funk has moved over to TV on Channel 9 and Comcast SportsNet Chicago, I think it's time to remind him that a basketball player can't drive without dribbling, so the phrase "dribble drive" is redundant.
End of the dial: Sam Smith has agreed to write exclusively for the bulls.com Web site. I think the Bulls should try to trade him to cubs.com for Carrie Muskat, but the Cubs would be foolish to make that deal.