Just when you think things cannot get any worse for the North-Siders something like yesterday happens. Lets get this out of the way for starters. Zambrano is his own worst enemy. He is a hothead and all this stomping around was childish and completely out of line. That being said, I have to say that the remarks of Bob Brenly during the game and Ozzie Guillen afterwards are much more pertinent than all the blather from Piniella and Hendry.
Brenly said essentially that at least Zambrano was showing some fire and emotion and that the Cubs so far were a "dead ass" team. The particular plays that Z was reacting to were dubious. It didn't look like Ramirez or Lee had a great chance on either double, but on the field it may have looked different, and, more importantly, Z may have been overreacting to all the plays these two guys have not made or botched up during the course of the season that were much more clearly their fault. I've seen plays like that made by major league players or at least attempted with a little more enthusiasm. The foul bunt that Soto and Ramirez failed to catch, well I've seen that play made all the time.
In any case, much of this debate is beside the point. From a fan's point-of-view, watching these guys stumble through the season to this point, all I want to express is that I have a lot of sympathy for Z's misplaced anger. They do stink. They don't seem to care. That's really all Brenly was trying to say. And actually it appears from subsequent reports that Z was calling out the whole team, not Lee in particular. Lee seemed to be the nearest object of attention and perhaps in a lucid moment flashed back on all the dumb errors he has made in the last month that cost the team ballgames and how he is barely hitting his weight and thought they were directed at him personally.
The Cubs are now in a really bad situation. Watching Piniella's post-game interview, my own observation was that it was the typical self-serving nonsense we always hear from this guy. He did succeed in working Hendry into a corner with all this stuff about abiding by the boss's decision, blah, blah, blah, so that Hendry was left with little choice initially in his reaction.
As a fan, I don't see what the big deal is about calling out your teammates. Z has a point, though of course doing so after a shaky start is not the most opportune time to do it. If anyone else had done this, the press and the media and the fans would be rushing to his defense and saying it was about time the players had figured out what a bunch of losers they seem to have become.
If you read about baseball from an insider's viewpoint and even in some of the biographies of great players and histories of great teams, it seemed to happen all the time in the past. Apparently it was sheer hell to play on the Yankees in the Joe DiMaggio era.
Anyway, where does this team go from here to get through the season and beyond? Clearly Piniella has lost control of the team. That happened sometime last season. However, he is making noises about wanting to come back for several more seasons so he can win 2,000 games. With this team, that could take a really long time and, honestly, that would be an intolerable situation.
Just from a business point-of-view everyone will be better served by patching things up. They still owe Zambrano $45 million, so even if they want to move him they probably cannot do so. Better to let the PR guys and maybe Ricketts take over from here. Bring Z in to make a public apology, how his temper got away from him, how frustrated he is. Behind closed doors, this team needs to get together and air their grievances, maybe without Lou or Hendry around, maybe with a respected figure like Maddox or someone else in their organization present.
Long term maybe Ricketts or a trusted lieutenant needs to come home, stop putting up statues of macaroni and clean out the management from top to bottom. They are, after all, the ones who put together this sorry excuse for a baseball team.
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