Carlos Zambrano (Photo Credit: Getty Images, By: Jonathan Daniel)
CHICAGO (WSCR) After being swept by their rivals, things went from bad to worse for the Chicago Cubs when starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano called the team’s performance this season “embarrassing.”
While this isn’t the first outburst from Zambrano in his Cubs career, it might be the first most people agree with what he said.
“Well once again, I applaud ‘Z’ for his emotional involvement in this team,” Cubs TV analyst Bob Brenly said on the Danny Mac Show. “Now, last year’s situation came off as being very selfish, once I learned all the facts and what was being said in the dugout at the time. But I come back to the fact that I think ‘Big Z’ is just expressing what a lot of fans feel, probably what a lot of us broadcasters feel. And, as usual, he doesn’t always choose his words properly, he doesn’t always choose his forum properly, but I applaud the emotions.”
Last season, Zambrano and first baseman Derrek Lee got into a dugout altercation after Lee was unable to field a ball that Zambrano felt he should have got to.
But Zambrano’s comments after Sunday’s loss point to a very frustrating trend for the Cubs, it’s a trend that didn’t just pop up over the weekend.
“This has been, once again, another dead-ass team,” Brenly said. “You’ve got some guys that look like they’re just playing out the string, and we’re only in the first [part] of June here. And we know from past experience that Carlos is not one of those guys that can sit by idly and keep his mouth shut and just let things continue to spiral downward. He’s going to express his opinions. He’s going to be emotional about it when he does it.”
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Unlike Brenly, there are some who feel that becuase Zambrano has continually put the Cubs in positions like this, that something has to be done.
“I don’t view this as a suspendable offense or anything like that,” Brenly said. “I just think it’s a guy who’s frustrated with the way the season has gone. He’s frustrated with the way his teammates have approached their daily business. I’m sure that there have been times that Carlos is just as guilty of it as anybody on that roster, but for me, it’s time. It’s about time somebody stood up and said: ‘Enough is enough. I’m tired of watching this.’”
