Brandon Phillips Home Run Trot and Celebration Taken in Stride

Both Dusty Baker and Tony La Russa were asked about the Brandon Phillips home run trot Friday night.

The instigator of the brawl last August, hit a game-winning home run off Fernando Salas and celebrated the moment in front of his bitter rivals.  "These two teams don't like each other, " Lance Berkman, a newcomer to the budding rivalry, said in May.

The home run with two outs and a man on with two outs in the bottom of the ninth gave Cincinnati a 6-4 edge in the season series over St. Louis, who has had their way with the Reds.

Phillips leaped and danced around the bases.

"The thrill was with me until I went to sleep," Phillips said.  "I saw myself on Sportscenter, acting the fool."

Phillips was visited by his high school teacher, who was also interviewed Saturday afternoon to the delight of Phillips.  "Mr. Holly was the coolest teacher in school," Phillips said of Brad Holley, a teacher at Redan High School in Stone Mountain, Georgia.

Last night Phillips thought about carrying his bat like the character in Major League, Pedro Cerrano.

He then rethought the act.

"I wasn't really watching Brandon," Dusty Baker said.  "I was giving the coaches a happy tap.  I saw it later.  There have been some worse antics, against us. It takes a lot more for players today to get upset.  It's advisable to refrain from those antics.  You've already accomplished your goal by beating them.  The next thing is to do it again.  The goal isn't to show them up.  The goal is to win the game."

The Cardinals didn't pay much attention either.

"I wasn't watching," Tony La Russa said.  "It's such a commonplace release of pressure.  Everyone is enjoying the moment.  I looked at pictures of them at the plate.  It's just a really happy time.  You have to do something really extravagant to cross the line."