Zambrano Must Start Winning to Drive Away Boo Birds

Cubs’ ace Carlos Zambrano apologized to fans and the media yesterday (surely at the urging of Cubs’ coaches and management) after ripping fans at Wrigley Field Monday for booing him as he walked off the field in the fifth inning of an embarrassing 11-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Zambrano can apologize all he wants, but it won’t make fans readily forget the comments he made after Monday’s game in which he said that Wrigley fans “just care about them.” Never mind that Big Z ran through third-base coach Mike Quade’s stop sign and was tagged out at home plate in the bottom of the third inning and allowed eight runs on seven hits and five walks in 4 1/3 innings. His performance Monday, combined with poor outings in his previous four starts, makes you wonder what is going on in his head of late. Clearly, this is not the same pitcher the Cubs signed for $91 million just a few weeks ago.

His post-game remarks were arrogant and disrespectful for sure, but it also showed immaturity. Some fans find his excitable nature rather endearing at times, but how many times have we excused his hot-headedness simply because he is so good on the mound? One wonders if now that he has that nice little contract in his back pocket that Big Z has lost some of his motivation. Someone needs to remind him that the Cubs are in a divisional race, and that he needs to channel his energy to fight the team in the opponents’ dugout, not the people in the stands.

I generally don’t advocate booing teams or players on the field when they are performing poorly. Doing so just seems counterproductive to me. However, in this instance, I can understand Cub fans frustration. They have a right to show their displeasure with Zambrano, not just for how he played on Monday, but how he has performed over the past few weeks. The fans expect big things from their ace, especially while they are in the playoff hunt, and Big Z simply has not lived up to those expectations. It’s time for Zambrano to do more than apologize; it’s time to perform at the level he is capable of. It’s time to start winning some games. That will surely drive the boo birds away.