If you had June 25th as Carlos Zambrano meltdown day, you win!
Jun 26, 2010, 12:00 PM EDT
Sweet mercy, Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano does not need to take a chill pill, he requires a regimented course of rigorous treatment including aggressive intravenous therapy anti-meltdown medication. And a straitjacket. Now, I have to disclose that I don’t have a Ph.D in Bats**t Crazy, but I believe the straitjacket is a key component.
Zambrano has a disturbing history of epic blowups, but this one was out of sight. His bizarre and outrageous antics during a confrontation in the dugout with teammate Derek Lee have left the Cubs with no choice but to suspend the goofball indefinitely.
Apparently, Zambrano was not pleased with the effort of the defense behind him during the first inning, when the White Sox scored four runs. A primer, courtesy of a report by AP Sports Writer Andrew Seligman:
Zambrano was seen screaming as he walked down the dugout steps past Lee after allowing four runs and stormed toward the other end. Lee appeared to yell something, and as Zambrano headed back toward him, Piniella, pitching coach Larry Rothschild and bench coach Alan Trammell stepped between them.
Cubs catcher Geovany Soto(notes) then grabbed the pitcher from behind and pulled him away. Zambrano appeared to say something to Piniella on his way to the clubhouse after being lifted for Tom Gorzelanny.
What doesn’t help Zambrano is that his manager, Lou Piniella, nor the team’s general manager, Jim Hendry, appear willing to defend his foolish, reprehensible behavior:
“He came in after he got the third out, and he started yelling and screaming and,” Piniella said, pausing. “It was embarrassing.”
“It becomes a bit of a tired act,” Hendry said. “People think that he hasn’t been spoken to by Lou and his staff or the general manager before. Things are sometimes construed as being let go or let slide by–that’s certainly not true. You have every right to say it like that, that it’s a recurring situation. And every time it recurs, it is a little bit more disappointing.”
Sweet Jebus, that guy is a friggin’ menace. Too bad Major League Baseball hasn’t figured out a way to incorporate any of those personal code of conduct safeguards built like the NFL has built into their contracts. If they did, my guess is this nutjob would be on the first bus out of Chicago. And to think, Zambrano is smack dab in the middle of a $91.5 million, 5-year contract he signed with the Cubs in August 2007. Oh man, those Cubbies. When will anything go right for that damn team? Sigh.
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Carlos Zambrano Blows Another Gasket [Larry Brown Sports]
Cubs suspend Zambrano indefinitely [Yahoo!/AP]
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- LewP - Jun 26, 2010 at 12:27 PM
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Let me try and understand this.
Here’s a guy (man, inmature, stupid, goofy, insane dude) making 91.5 million dollars divided by 5 a year salary, and he’s playing a game for a good living. Probably has good insurance too. And he get’s mad because another team scored 4 runs off him?
All I can say is, I would work 8o million times harder for half that money if given the chance. What are people (major league baseball players, pro athletes, illegal aliens) thinking these days?
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- JimC - Jun 26, 2010 at 12:38 PM
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@LewP – you lost me at illegal aliens. : ) Otherwise, what you’ve said is entirely valid.
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- LewP - Jun 26, 2010 at 2:20 PM
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@Jim
I was attempting to be humorous, as in, joking..as in, assuming since the party had a Hispanic name that he was obviously an illegal alien…a joke, an attempt at humor..as in an Irish alcoholic. Must I explain all of my humor. Thanks for the feedback though, it does proove someone read my comments. : )
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- jook - Jun 26, 2010 at 5:11 PM
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@LewP You are just about as funny as Carlos.
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- LewP - Jun 26, 2010 at 7:38 PM
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@jook, whatever dude…..at least I try.
