By Jim Coffman
My favorite part of Carlos Zambrano’s Sunday evening sensation at Miller Park in Milwaukee was the pop-up in the bottom of the eighth. The play was routine and yet it wasn’t. I thought it wouldn’t draw much notice, but there it was, part of the initial post-game highlights package on ESPN.com. With five outs remaining (from now on when we hear that phrase maybe we’ll think of this game for a moment or two before Bartman et. al.), the foul but playable ball took tenuous flight. Just before it headed back down between first and home, Zambrano looked at Derrek Lee and thought for a split second, “Do I have to let Derrek catch this ball again? Do I have to follow that unfair, unwritten rule that dictates field players catch all pop-ups, even ones that come down on the mound?”
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And then the ball was descending a little quicker than usual and Zambrano answered his own question with vehemence: “No! This one is mine – Mine!” Like all the other plays he makes on the diamond, Z’s call for the ball was fundamentally sound (note the use of the word “plays” – a category of activities that does not include histrionics). He hustled over, waved his arms a few times and then snatched the ball out of the air. Zambrano grabbed that pop-up like he grabs every opportunity to make a difference on the diamond. Be it making a tough play in the field or trying to beat out an infield hit or catching a pop-up the first baseman could have grabbed, Z always plays the game with ferocity.
Then after he had done it, after Zambrano had retired the Astros in the ninth to finally finish off the no-hitter he’s always had in him, and after the requisite bouncing, bouncing, bouncing celebration, the best part was the history. In a post-game interview, play-by-play man Len Kasper put Zambrano on the spot, asking him if he knew the identity of the last Cub to finish a complete game with a zero in the opponents’ hit column. Z knew the answer but he seemed a little nervous as he said “Milt Pappas.” Kasper tacked on a query about the year (1972) and while Zambrano didn’t know the answer to that one, he did reveal that Pappas has told him at more than one Cubs Convention that “You’ll be the next one to throw one. You’ll be the next one to do it.” Sweet.
As for other highlights:
Analyst Bob Brenly busted out his best stuff early when he spoke briefly about how Zambrano’s arm angle impacts his stuff. Throughout the game it wasn’t hard to see what Brenly was talking about. When Zambrano throws his slider or cut fastball by bringing his arm through closer to overhand than sidearm, the ball has late, quick downward movement. Hence the 13 groundball outs on Sunday. When the angle slips down a bit, which notably happened on only one late hanging breaking ball that Brenly pointed out (and that the Astro hitter failed to crush), the ball spins sideways and is eminently more hittable.
The 10 total strikeouts were just the right amount (any more and the pitch count starts to get scary – less and the chance of all balls put into play becoming outs declines precipitously). The fact that the Astros hit only one ball out of the infield in the first seven innings and two for the game was particularly telling. There were clearly big factors working in Z’s favor: a 12-day break from pitching coming in (although that could have been a double-edged sword, what with the potential to be less than sharp after a long layoff) and the fact that Astro hitters had flown into Milwaukee on the day of the game after spending Friday and Saturday dealing with Hurricane Ike. Still, Zambrano absolutely dominated a team that had won 14 of its previous 15 games.
Many have noted Zambrano loves to hit but “loves” isn’t the right word. He burns to hit. Strikeouts bring out his worst. After the game Zambrano acknowledged he was actually thinking about trying to break his bat over his thigh after a seventh-inning punchout (and after six innings of no-hit pitching) but saw manager Lou Piniella and thought better of it. A few months ago, Piniella revealed he had left Z in to hit late in a game when he was done pitching because he hoped hitting would make the big fella’ a little less likely to blow up when he learned he would not be returning to the mound. OK, so he also left him in to hit because Zambrano is a switch-hitter who hits well from both sides of the plate.
Zambrano also runs the bases like his hair is on fire. Kasper noted during the third inning that Z ran through third-base coach Mike Quade’s stop sign when he scored from first on Derrek Lee’s two-out double in the third inning. Quade then went to great lengths to delay the start of Aramis Ramirez’s next at-bat (as slow a walk as possible toward home before engaging in what was clearly a needless chat with the third baseman – it wasn’t like he was going to bunt). He was trying to ensure Zambrano would have enough rest even if Ramirez recorded a quick out.
While you’re usually looking for the Cubs to add to an early lead, the lack of hitting after the third inning probably helped Zambrano. It’s a lot easier for a pitcher to maintain his rhythm if he isn’t waiting around for big innings (with his own team at the plate) to finally wind down.
As for Zambrano’s defense, well, with other guys pitching, Derrek Lee tries to strike a balance on balls hit to his right. If the second baseman has a decent chance to get it, he breaks for first to make sure he is there to take the throw. With Zambrano on the mound, Lee unabashedly pursues every last ground ball he can get his hands on. He knows Z will get to the bag on time and he knows he will catch all but the worst tosses.
Lee’s defense is great yet again this year but his offense, well, when he bashed a clutch two-run double, with two outs no less, it was obviously a special night. Rarely has a guy hitting over .290 had a more miserable second half of a season. Lee has one homer in his last thousand at-bats (actually the number is closer to 160) and as of a week ago had grounded into the second-most double plays in the majors. Lee had a seven-game hitting streak going into Thursday’s game and it could not have been more inconsequential. The Cubs lost five of those games. Then when the Cubs finally won the second game against the Cardinals, the result that best signified the end of their biggest slump of the season, Lee went hitless. During that losing streak I was reminded of something Don Zimmer used to say: “You can’t lose a shutout.” In other words, if the pitching is good enough, you can’t lose – at some point you’ll accidentally score a run and that’ll be it. In the Cubs last three games the pitching has been too good to lose. And there is a ton more where that came from.
Bears Bite
I know it was an especially irritating loss, one that involved blowing a 17-3 lead in so many ways, but let’s try to maintain perspective. The biggest killers were one huge turnover (maybe Greg Olsen could do some penance – how about he goes to one of the sports radio lunches, like the one at Ditka’s, and washes a fan’s feet), one blown deep pass play in particular and a tired defense finally caving in. Usually I hate people trying to bail the Bears defense out with the excuse of the offense not playing well enough and forcing the defense to stay out on the field. But in this case, one first down in four possessions late in the third quarter and early in the fourth in the humid Carolina heat did damage to the guys on the other side of the ball, plain and simple. Still, it could be so much worse. You could be a Bengals fan.
And let’s make sure we don’t have any revisionist history going on in the aftermath of former Bears safety Chris Harris coming back to haunt his old team, particularly on Olsen’s second fumble. I know Harris led the league in fumbles forced with eight last year. But I also know that the only thing he was in contention for leading the league in when he was with the Bears was missed tackles. That, and the fact that he was good for several brutally blown coverages per game, made it easy for the Bears to take a sixth-round pick for him before last season. He does now appear to be one of those guys who finds himself after a transaction serves as the ultimate wake-up call. So that’s slightly depressing, but certainly not as depressing as backing the Chiefs or the Rams.
What if a football god had told an average Bear fan before the season that they could just forget playing the first two games, that he would guarantee the Bears would come out of it 1-1. I’d have taken that deal in a heartbeat. And I’m thinking we should all just remember to thank all that is holy we’ve never had any feelings for the NFL Franchise that represents Detroit.
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Jim Coffman brings you the city’s best weekend sports roundup every Monday. It’s always a pleasure, isn’t it? You can write to him personally! Please include a real name if you would like your comments to be considered for publication.
Posted on September 15, 2008