The plan for the night was for the Atlanta Braves to retire the Bobby Cox No. 6 jersey but after nailing five homeruns and dominating the game 10-4, they may have also sent Carlos Zambrano into retirement.
Zambrano has developed a reputation for losing his cool in recent years making this at least “Z Implosion IV.” Just last year Zambrano and former teammate Derrek Lee got in a heated argument that resulted in Z throwing a water cooler and don’t forget about the all-out fistfight that occurred in the Cubs dugout and the…well, you get the picture.
Photo/Wikimedia Commons
At Turner Field on Friday night, Zambrano was the one getting sucker-punched by the hot Braves’ bats. Dan Uggla continued his hot 32-game hitting streak, smashing two home runs and Chipper Jones blasted a three-run shot in honor of Cox. Adding to the frustration for Z, Freddie Freeman hit a monster shot to the gap in left-center and ‘bat-licking’ Jose Constanza lined one just over the left field wall.
Following Uggla’s second homerun, Zambrano had had enough and threw two pitches at Chipper Jones (after hitting Uggla in his plate appearance between the homeruns) and was ejected by umpire Tim Timmons.
Did the Cubs team make a statement here?
When the Braves bench emptied after Chipper was thrown at, the Cubs bench barely moved indicating Z may have been on his own. Can you imagine of the Braves stormed the mound and Zambrano were left out there alone to take on an entire team in a slugfest?
After the Braves bench emptied, Zambrano hit the showers then hit the streets. Before manager Mike Quade had a chance to talk to him after the game, Zambrano had cleaned out his locker and told everyone he was retiring. Quade blasted Z when he learned his controversial player had taken his ball and gone home:
“His locker is cleaned out. He’s gone, I don’t know what else to make of that. I’m running a ballgame and I’ve got twenty-four guys that I care about, so I didn’t have time to speak to him.”
Although Zambrano was once an ace for the Cubs, his performance had declined in recent years even though he is only 30 years old. Last year Zambrano earned a demotion to the bullpen for two months before returning to the starting rotation.
He finished the season on a tear (8-0, 1.41 ERA) after returning to the rotation.
The Cubs may not complain after Z’s latest implosion. The hot-headed clubhouse cancer is still owed over $20 million which the team won’t have to pay if he retires.
Quade was understandably angry with Zambrano after the game, calling him out for leaving his teammates. At least this time the team won’t have to order Z to see a doctor.
Used with permission of the author.
Along with contributing to Sports Climax, Brett Kettyle is the Atlanta Braves Community Leader on Bleacher Report and maintains a Braves column for MTR Media. Follow Brett on Twitter.
Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC