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.

Piniella Takes the Heat for Players

MLB may have suspended Cubs' skipper Lou Piniella for an undisclosed amount of time after his tirade during Saturday's game against the Atlanta Braves, but in hindsight, Lou's on-field outburst may have been a semi-intentional ploy to take the pressure off his players. The ploy may have succeeded on two fronts. First, it helped the team refocus their efforts on winning on the field, which the Cubs did in fine fashion today by a score of 10-1.


Second, Piniella took the focus away from Carlos Zambrano and Michael Barrett, who fought in the dugout and in the clubhouse during Friday's game. Funny thing happened since his tirade. The media stopped talking about the fight that broke out in front of 40,000+ fans Friday because Lou Piniella gave them something else to talk about. As any good manager will do, he took the pressure off his players and put it on himself. If Sweet Lou doesn't do something, you can bet the media would still be writing and talking ad nauseum about Friday's fight.

Cubs Dragging Their Feet on Zambrano

I'm baffled by the Chicago Cubs. After committing so many millions of dollars on players like Alfonso Soriano, they have failed to extend the contract for pitcher Carlos Zambrano, clearly the ace of their staff. One would think that getting Zambrano settled with a long-term deal would be a bigger priority this offseason. Zambrano has said he will walk if he and the Cubs cannot agree on a deal, and he will not negotiate when the season begins. He is also asking for a Barry Zito-type salary, somewhere around $15-18 million per year. The Cubs have already set a precedent by breaking the bank on Soriano and company, and waiting may only jack up Zambrano's price further. Zambrano is key to the Cubs' pitching staff this season. He is the only starter that can be counted on; everyone else is a question mark until proven otherwise. It seems to me that the Cubs are taking a big risk by not signing Zambrano as soon as they can.