Carlos Zambrano goes ballistic

[Top Shelf]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZb0niKFI5A

That poor, poor Gatorade machine

[DelayedPenalty]

How did that play affect the outcome of the game?

[DEAD!]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZb0niKFI5A

That poor, poor Gatorade machine

... and that machine is probably the most hi-tech part of Wrigley Field.

[Jigga]

Wow! Who would have thought we'd see Big Z go ape ?

And in other surprising news:

• the sun came up, again
  
• somewhere, someone is drunk
  
• Another round of NCAA violations occurred under John Calipari's watch
  

[Yac12]

The Gatorade machine just got fixed after Ryan Demster beat it with a bat the other day.

[infrared41]

Wow! Who would have thought we'd see Big Z go ape ?

And in other surprising news:

• the sun came up, again
  
• somewhere, someone is drunk
  
• Another round of NCAA violations occurred under John Calipari's watch
  

Get the out of here. No. Way.

[OnWis97]

He'll probably be suspended and that's fine. But I will argue against the universally-accepted notion that a starting pitcher should automatically get five games instead of one or two. Just because he is a starting pitcher, he has to lose 5/162 of his salary insteady of 2/162? Further, there is no rule that a starter has to only go every five days. In theory anyone on the roster can pinch hit, pitch in relief or be otherwise used and that is taken away during a suspension. He should get the same number of games he'd get if he was a shortstop.

[zmspartans]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZb0niKFI5A

That poor, poor Gatorade machine

... and that machine is probably the most hi-tech part of Wrigley Field.

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha. Amen to that.

[no97]

He'll probably be suspended and that's fine. But I will argue against the universally-accepted notion that a starting pitcher should automatically get five games instead of one or two. Just because he is a starting pitcher, he has to lose 5/162 of his salary insteady of 2/162? Further, there is no rule that a starter has to only go every five days. In theory anyone on the roster can pinch hit, pitch in relief or be otherwise used and that is taken away during a suspension. He should get the same number of games he'd get if he was a shortstop.

I agree *in principal* that pitchers shouldn't lose 5 days, while position players lose only 2. However, I disagree completely that Zambrano should be suspended for bumping the umpire. What happens after that is, to some extent, then Umpire Mark Carlson's fault/responsibility. Watch the replay from the behind the plate camera:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q0okH7c_lE&NR=1

Umpire Mark Carlson clearly initiates the contact, stepping towards Zambrano. In fact, you can see Zambrano say "you bumped me! You're outta here!" after being ejected in that video.

Bottom line? This crap's gotta stop! Umpires are dictating the way games are played. Sure, Z may have been ejected for arguing, but by stepping into Carlos, Carlson forced the issue. If he doesn't step that direction, maybe no ejection is necessary. By stepping that direction, it is required. When are umpires going to get that fans don't spend $50-300 to see them? They are there to see Carlso Zambrano... It's an absolute joke.

Moose

[mania]

You know what? Suspend him for 2/3 days, but don't enact the suspension until 3 days after the incident, hence he still misses his start.

[oddball]

As much as the umpire and umpires in general need to be fired and thrown out of baseball because they are joke and causing more problems because they think they are important, this is 100% Zambrano's fault. There is no excuse for him to do what he did at all. I forget who said it last night on MLB Network (I think it was Joe Magrane) said, "argue your point while walking back to the mound." If I'm the GM or manager of an opposing team and I see that Zambrano is pitching against me, I walk in and tell the team, do whatever you can to piss him off. The first batter, constantly step out right before the pitch. Zambrano has the pitching tools, but he's point blank bluntly STUPID. Grown men should not act the way he does. Of course why does he get away with it? Because you have WEAK leadership with the Cubs. Just because Lou Pinella is a hot-head himself, does not make him a great leader, as a matter of fact he's pretty weak. If this was the Angels, Zambrano would be gone. The GM of the Cubs needs to suspend Zambrano for a month and fire Pinella. I know most people are shocked/surprised that I said fire Zambrano, but under Pinella this team has no direction and Zambrano's actions are part of Pinella's stewardship. If a guy wants to blow up, go in the back, but when you do what Zambrano did, you are being selfish and that selfish attitude starts with the attitude of the manager and GM. I'll sit here and say that this is one reason why I never have believed in the Cubs as a great team, and laughed at anyone who picked them to win. There is no leadership or direction there. The Cubs just keep making questionable decisions and most of those start with the players they draft and trade for and Zambrano is a prime example of what Cubs baseball is.

[tj4eck]

Nyjer Morgan was safe Big-Z was being a whine bitch.

[OnWis97]

6 games. That's what you get for being a starting pitcher.

[Cujo]

Not quite as entertaining as when Big Z turned Michael Barrett into a raccoon.

If anything, perhaps Zambrano's outburst can light a fire under the Northsiders. A .500 record going into June is completely unacceptable.