We don't expect a lot of post-season hardware to come the Cubs' way after an underachieving 2009 campaign, but one bit of silver lining is Carlos Zambrano taking home another Silver Slugger award. The award, given to the best hitting pitcher, is Z's third award and second in a row. His four homers, 11 RBIs, and .217 batting average were enough to win out. Congrats, Big Z!
If Carlos Zambrano struggles next season like he did this season, he says he'll quit. The pitcher, who's only 28 years old, told the Tribune, "Look, this is the only season I haven't won 16 or 18 or 14 games. If it happens again next season, two seasons in a row, I'll quit. Believe me, I'll quit. I just have to put this behind me." Of course, we all know Zambrano is prone to emotional fits from time to time, so maybe it's just the disappointing 2009 season getting to him. Besides, next year is his contract year so we expect big things out of Big Z. Zambrano has previously hinted at retiring at the end of his contract, which runs through 2013.
Curses sure are a hard thing to shake, and the one hanging over the Cubs may have reared its ugly head again this weekend [Ed's Note: Benjy, I've told you that curses aren't real! - M.G.]. The Cubs have lost their ace for a while, with word coming Monday afternoon that Carlos Zambrano is headed to the 15-Day DL for an injury suffered on the basepaths. This trip to the disabled list comes after Zambrano injured his hamstring trying to beat out a bunt on Sunday. He'll likely miss his next three scheduled starts.
Sammy Sosa's boom box. Dugout electrical fans. Now we can add "Dodgers plumbing" to the list of things that frustrated Cubs players have taken out their aggressions on. Who broke the water pipe that caused the dugout to flood? No one's fessing up - and Cubs GM Jim Hendry doesn't give a rat's ass. He told the Trib:
Lou Piniella has set the rotation for the Cubs playoff series which starts Wednesday. Ryan Dempster gets the call in game one on Wednesday followed by Carlos Zambrano in game two. Rich Harden will start game three and Ted Lilly will start game four (if necessary). Jason Marquis will work out of the bullpen. Said Lou, "I said before I announced any pitcher that I had confidence in all four of my starters, so all games are equally important, and we chose to go this way. Everybody's got to do their job now."
For those Cubs fan still basking in the glow of Zambrano's no-hitter from Sunday night comes some disturbing news: besides being responsible for an Astros loss, Z may also be responsible for Monday's stock market downturn and it may not be the first time a Cubs pitcher has initiated such a national fiscal mess. Great, something else for Sox fans to blame on the Cubs. [via Dealbreaker]
Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano threw a no-hitter tonight against the Houston Astros, a 5-0 Cubs' win. It was their first game since Hurricane Ike delayed and relocated the series. It had been 11 days since Z's last start and he became the first Cubs no-hitter in 36 years and the 17th Cubs pitcher overall to throw one. We'll have a bit more in the Morning Box Score tomorrow. Nice work, Molar.
An MRI confirmed today that Carlos Zambrano has inflammation and right rotator cuff tendonitis, but he's not seriously injured. GM Jim Hendry says Zambrano will start throwing again September 10 or so and should be back in the pitching rotation for the series against Houston, which starts September 12. [AP]
Last week's "tired" status has apparently been downgraded to "injured" for the Cubs' Carlos Zambrano. The Cubs ace's scheduled Sunday start was pushed back due to a "fatigued arm." But after leaving Tuesday's game, Big Z "told pitching coach [Larry Rothschild] he wasn't feeling good." That does not sound good.
Cards Shellac Zambrano
Carlos Zambrano remained in demigod form in Wednesday's 5-1 whipping of the Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley. Zambrano, who has a 0.64 ERA in his last two outings, allowed one hit, one run and no walks in eight innings to earn his 10th win of the season. That's 10 wins before the All-Star break, not to mention (though we're mentioning it) a stint on the DL that caused him to miss a few starts. With the win, the Cubs are 35-10 at home, winning 17 of their last 19 at the really, really friendly confines.
Police are still investigating what they think is a drug-related triple homicide that occurred last night in the 7800 block of South Kingston Avenue. [Trib, S-T, CBS2]
Did that old goat curse claim itself another victim? Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano left last night's game in the seventh inning after feeling discomfort in his shoulder.
The Cubs have recently instructed Carlos Zambrano to cut the caffeine. While he admits to reducing his intake, he hasn't been able to quit cold turkey.
Sure, it's still damn cold out. And the snow keeps coming. And coming. But spring is just around the corner. How do we know? Because Spring Training is finally upon us.
When Carlos Zambrano, Derrek Lee and Kosuke Fokodume receive their first paychecks of the 2008 seasons, there will be a signature on them. Whose it'll be, nobody knows. That's because current Cubs owner Sam Zell vows to close a deal on the sale of the Cubs by Opening Day.
Well, that didn't take long, did it? The Arizona Diamondbacks finished off the Cubs 5-1 on Saturday, sweeping the NLDS ... and delaying a Cubs World Series at least another year. Those of us familiar with the Cubs knew what to expect from Game Three as a soon as Rich Hill's very first pitch to Chris Young ended up in the left-field bleachers. Hill was lucky to escape the inning down only 2-0, and he...
In Game One of the NLDS, the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Cubs 3-1, taking a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series. The big question is whether Cubs skipper Lou Piniella pulled Carlos Zambrano too soon. The Cubs ace was dealing, allowing just one run on four hits while striking out eight. The Diamondbacks' Brandon Webb matched Zambrano pitch for pitch, resulting in a 1-1 tie after the sixth. Yet Piniella pulled Z after six innings...
The Cubs now have fewer than ten games remaining on their schedule, and after Wednesday night's 3-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds, they sit alone atop the NL Central — the Brewers lost to the Astros in extra innings. Lou Piniella's short-rest experiment worked Wednesday night, as Ted Lilly looked sharp, pitching seven innings while allowing two runs and striking out eight. While he didn't earn the victory, he kept the Cubs close enough that...
There was very little else for Londonist to be concerned with when the threat of a Tube strike became a very unpleasant reality. The inconvenience was extreme: there aren't many alternatives to the Tube in London despite the best efforts of the Londonist team to get everyone from A to B. Brighter news came in the form of the first ever female Yeoman Warder, or Beefeater as the position is more commonly known, and...
Athletes these days just don't have nicknames like they used to — isn't that right, Fred?
Way to go, Cubs fans! Well, at least those of you at Wrigley Field on Monday. You really upset Carlos Zambrano, your $91 million man, by booing him off the mound in the fifth inning of an 11-3 loss to the Dodgers. He pointed to his head to let the fams know he could hear them. And his postgame press conference, Zambrano let fans know what he thought of their gesture: I don't accept that...
They're Ours! We were pleasantly surprised by signings announced on both sides of town in recent days -- the Cubs and Carlos Zambrano agreed to a five year deal worth $91.5 million on Friday, and on Saturday the White Sox announced a two year, $22 million extension for Jermaine Dye. Zambrano's signing caught us by surprise for a number of reasons -- because of the impending sale of the Cubs, because of the dollars involved...
After helping the Cubs climb back into the NL Central race by going 9-3 with a 1.98 ERA through June and July, Carlos Zambrano looks like a different pitcher in August.
If the past week is any indication, it's beginning to look like Houston could end up as the winners of the NL Central this year. While a Cubs surge through June and July allowed them to catch the Milwaukee Brewers in the standings last week, since that time neither club has looked like they want to win the division crown. Last night, Carlos Zambrano got rocked for seven runs over 5.2 innings as the Astros...
We've been having some fun here with this series of photos featuring Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. practicing martial arts. After Sun-Times columnist Mark Brown wrote about the photos in today's paper, they're now officially more than an Internet phenomenon. The photos make a nice sidebar to an argument last week between Jackson and Nebraska's Congressman Lee Terry after a debate on an agriculture appropriations bill was tabled for the day. Name calling ensued, prompting Terry...
- Say hello to Cuppy's. Another coffee chain opens its first Chicago location. - Taking parenting advice from Britney Spears, a 26-year-old woman left her kids in the car with the windows up and hot air blowing while she went to Cook County Criminal Court on the south side. - Oak Park/River Forest High School alumni Charles Simic was named poet laureate by the Library of Congress. - Keep drinking your beer, Cubs fans....
When the Cubs hit rock bottom on June 2, they had just lost their sixth game in a row -- Lou Piniella had just thrown his on-field tantrum, and only a day earlier Carlos Zambrano and Michael Barrett went at it in both the dugout and the clubhouse. The Cubs sat at 22-31, nine games below .500 and 7 1/2 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central standings. Their dramatic 5-4 win over...
- Craig Stebic had his divorce petition dismissed. We're guessing he got no argument from his wife.
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