On July 19, 2004 Carlos Zambrano pitched against the Saint Louis Cardinals, Jim Edmonds hit a homerun in the fourth inning. There were some words exchanged between Edmonds and Big Z after that homerun and after Edmonds strikes out in the sixth. Then in the eighth Scott Rolen hit a homerun to give the Cardinals the lead. The next batter was Edmonds. As he was walking to the plate, I knew that Zambrano was going to throw at him. Big Z hit him with the first pitch and was ejected from the game. That game is when Zambrano became my favorite player.
The 30 year old pitcher has compiled a 125-81 record with 1542 strikeouts and a career 3.60 era. The 3 time all-star led the National League in wins in 2006 and pitched a no hitter in 2008. His bat is as good as his arm. Three times he won the Silver Slugger, the award given to the best hitter at each position.
Last Friday Carlos Zambrano gave up five homeruns in a game for the first time in his career. After the fifth homer, he threw two pitches dangerously close to Chipper Jones and was ejected from the game. He went into the clubhouse, cleaned out his locker, and retired from the game. This is a sad end to what was once a promising baseball career.
Z has become better known for his emotional outbursts than his pitching. His rage fueled meltdowns were aimed at teammates as often as opponents. The dugout was never a safe place when he had a bad game. A Braves fan bragged to me that he was glad that Atlanta made Big Z retire. But I do not think anyone can take the credit when an insane person does something crazy. It would be like taking credit when a hypochondriac goes to the doctor because you sneezed near them.
He has burned all of his bridges in Chicago, but I hope that he will return to baseball with another team next season.
I know my sports knowledge is very limited, but I think your blog is out of date if it was written last night.
ReplyDeleteOn August 13, the Cubs placed Zambrano on the 30-day disqualified list, which prevents him from performing any activity with the Club for a period of 30 days. Zambrano later apologized to the Cubs and their fans, saying he wanted to "remain a Cub for life" and that his comments about retiring were said out of frustration. He is appealing for a shorter suspension.
I guess I misunderstand, but you have him totally retiring from the CUBS with hopes that another team will pick him up. Did I misread your blog or did I not undertand the ESPN article correctly?
Zambrano has completely worn out his welcome in Chicago. He will never pitch for them again. If he does not retire, he will be traded somewhere else in the off season.
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