Posts filed under 'Carlos Zambrano'
October 2nd, 2008
Ryan Dempster was Exhibit A of why you don’t get too caught up in a pitcher having a good month or two. Remember all this talk about who is the Cubs’ real ace? No, it’s not Ryan Dempster. It’s not even Rich Harden. It’s Carlos Zambrano. He has struggled mightily, with the exception of his no-hitter, the last month or so, but I’m comfident Big Z will come up big in Game 2. (I’m less confident about Chicago’s bats. The Cubs need Alfonso Soriano to get in the swing of things).
October 1st, 2008
…if you thought the Cubs winning game 1 was a sure thing.
Don’t lie. You did. I did. Everyone did.
All the worry and scepticism was reserved for Carlos Zambrano pitching in game 2.
And the four runs the Dodgers scored on James Loney’s grand slam wasn’t the most alarming number. Grand slams happen, just ask Jason Marquis. No one expected Dempster to walk seven batters in 4 2/3 innings. As the TBS commentators pointed out, Dempster allowed seven walks in the entire month of September.
In 33 regular season starts, the most walks Dempster issued in one game was six. But that was over six innings.
September 30th, 2008
After the Cubs clinched the NL Central title on Sept. 20, some (most notably Terry Boers and Dan Bernstein from 670 Score Radio) got on Lou Piniella’s case for taking a cautious approach to the playoffs. It’s no secret that the best team during the regular season doesn’t always win the World Series. Face it, if the Florida Marlins can win two World Series in seven years, the postseason is virtually a crapshoot.
Regardless of the fact that the Cubs are the best team in the NL, Piniella had plenty of reasons to be concerned with potential NLDS opponents like the Phillies and the Mets. And now that they officially begin NLDS play against the Dodgers tomorrow, a high level of concern is still warranted.
This Dodgers playoff lineup isn’t the Dodgers lineup the Cubs faced during the regular season, where the Cubs went 5-2.
Trade deadline acquisition Manny Ramirez easily makes a case that 53 games is plenty of time shore up an NL MVP. With Manny in the lineup for the last two months, the previously 54-54 Dodgers went 30-24 (17-8 in September) on the back of his .396 batting average, 17 home runs and 53 RBIs.
Also, don’t forget that Rafael Furcal, who missed both series against the Cubs and almost all of the 2008 season, is now healthy.
Looking ahead, if Carlos Zambrano continues to break down in game 2, the idea of Dodgers right-hander Hiroki Kuroda pitching game 3 in L.A. is very concerning. A June 6 Cubs loss at Dodger Stadium saw Kuroda pitch a complete game shutout with 11 strikeouts and zero walks.
And it doesn’t matter that Rich Harden–even with his 89 strikeouts in 71 innings for the Cubs–is Kuroda’s counterpart in game 3. Cubs bats have been notorious when it comes to giving Harden run support.
But, if there’s one reason (and there are many) the Cubs will win the series, it’s because they have the 17-win Ted Lilly waiting to pitch an “if necessary” game.
September 16th, 2008
When did sports people become afraid of their own shadow?
ESPN’s John Kruk, a former All-Star, said on Baseball Tonight that the Cubs never should have let Carlos Zambrano finish his no-hitter, the Cubs’ first in almost 40 years. His reasoning: The playoffs are far more important than anything that happens during the regular season, even a no-hitter, and the Cubs need to do everything they can to keep Big Z healthy for the postseason.
That’s ridiculous.
First of all, the Cubs would have ticked off their own player — mightily — but pulling Zambrano. It’s never a good idea to irritate your own players, especially one as temperamental as Zambrano. Also, he only threw 110 pitches. Even if he hadn’t pitched in 11 days because of some arm concerns, that’s not that bad.
Besides, you can’t pass up chances for history. They don’t come along often. And the idea that nothing else counts except the World Series is insane. If that were true, why is Ted Williams one of the biggest legends in baseball history? He never won a World Series, and hit poorly in his only chance.
Recent Super Bowl losers such as the Bears, Seahawks and Panthers will be forgotten in a few years, if they haven’t been already, but people will always remember the 18-0 — oops, 18-1 — Patriots, even though they lost in the final seconds to the Giants.
What makes baseball great is the six-month-long every day journey, not just the finish. Zambrano, and then Ted Lilly, made a magical season that much greater up in Milwaukee. Besides, teams that play scared don’t win. Teams with nerve do — remember, the Giants played all their starters in their regular-season finale against the Patriots last year. The Giants lost the game, and a couple of players to injuries, but wound up shocking everyone to win three playoff games on the road, then the Super Bowl.
September 15th, 2008
Critics can argue all they want that the Astros got a raw deal in the neutral site selection and that Carlos Zambrano’s no-hitter was a direct beneficiary.
But all the hot air in the world won’t take away from what Zambrano accomplished on Sunday.
It can be almost guaranteed that even if Milwuakee wasn’t chosen as the neutral site, Cubs fans still would have outnumbered Astros fans by the thousands. It’s fair to say that considering Cubs fans even outnumber home-team fans during Cubs road games on a regular basis. And it’s nationwide: from Arizona to Cincinnati to Florida.
No matter the venue, Zambrano still would have pitched on 12 days rest. And for Zambrano, going that many days without competing while having to listen to haters challenge his ace status is like poking a unsuspecting rabid animal with a sharp stick.
August 18th, 2008
Having won his last three road appearances in dominating style, the argument that Ryan Dempster isn’t a Cy Young candidate because he can’t win away from Wrigley Field is now a moot point.
With the 14-5 Dempster having a career year, Carlos Zambrano bound to break out of his funk and Rich Harden avoiding injury (knock on wood), there is, however, a legitimate argument as to who is the Cubs’ ace.
The mystery surrounding Dempster’s new-found form this season was recently revealed in a New York Times story, in which he explains his curious glove flutter:
“I tell people I do it to fan myself, because I’m a sweater and I get hot out there.”
August 5th, 2008
Last night’s dugout scuffle between Prince Fielder and Manny Parra is a clear sign of frustration among the second place Brewers (or Fielder’s attack on Parra could simply be a side effect of meat withdrawal). It’s very reminiscent of the scrap between Carlos Zambrano and Michael Barrett.
Now, I know it isn’t that surprising for tensions between teammates to breakdown now and then. But, last season’s dugout fiasco was a turning point that lit a torch under the Cubs (with a little help from Lou Piniella getting tossed after a dirt and hat kicking tirade the next game).
The Brewers situation can go one of two ways: they either continue to buckle under pressure that began with last week’s sweep or they use it as motivation, much in the same way the Cubs did last season.
Team meltdown or no team meltdown, sweep or no sweep, the Brewers aren’t out of the NL Central race by any means. So, the Cubs should continue to be on high alert.
Let’s just hope Ned Yost doesn’t get tossed from tonight’s game.
May 1st, 2008
While watching the today’s top of the sixth inning with the Cubs winning 1-0 thanks to a homer from pitcher Carlos Zambrano, office Brewers fan Geri Nikolai walked by and stopped briefly for Ryan Braun’s at bat to say “If Zambrano can do it, Braun can do it.” And right before I could respond with “Yeah, but not off of Zambrano”, Braun took Zambrano deep into the Wrigley Field bleachers on the very next pitch. I’m currently working on getting her to say “If the Red Sox can win the World Series, so can the Cubs.”
