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Carlos Zambrano packs up locker, walks out on team; talks of retiring

nevadaO

By nevadaO
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nevadaO Hangout Grand Counsel

nevadaO

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ATLANTA (AP)—Chicago Cubs manager Mike Quade said pitcher Carlos Zambrano(notes) cleaned out his locker and “walked out” on the team after giving up five homers in Friday night’s 10-4 loss to the Atlanta Braves.

Quade said Zambrano was talking about ending his playing career.

“I’m really disappointed,” Quade said. “His locker is empty. He walked out on 24 guys … I don’t know where he’s gone or what he’s doing.

“He’s talking about retiring … but I can’t have a guy walking out on 24 guys.”

Zambrano was ejected by plate umpire Tim Timmons in the fifth inning after throwing two inside pitches to Chipper Jones(notes), the second going all the way to the backstop. The brushback pitches followed homers by Freddie Freeman(notes) and Dan Uggla(notes).

Zambrano is starting to remind me of Milton Bradley.

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dorfmac Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

dorfmac

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Obviously, Zambrano's actions and temper are the major culprit here, but if you asked me, Quade is to blame a little as well. Z clearly didnt have his stuff tonight, gave up numerous home runs, yet Quade left him out there to dry. Now, maybe there was circumstance, like the bullpen was overused last night, so they needed innings today, but Quade clearly ignored the fact that Z has a certain level of pride. You can't just leave a guy out there that long and expect it to be ok. As a manager, it's your job to be in tune with your players and know when their buttons are being pressed.

Again, I think that Z is to blame here, but Quade certainly didn't hold up his end of the bargain.

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OFFNY Hangout Grand Counsel

OFFNY

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Obviously, Zambrano's actions and temper are the major culprit here, but if you asked me, Quade is to blame a little as well. Z clearly didnt have his stuff tonight, gave up numerous home runs, yet Quade left him out there to dry. Now, maybe there was circumstance, like the bullpen was overused last night, so they needed innings today, but Quade clearly ignored the fact that Z has a certain level of pride. You can't just leave a guy out there that long and expect it to be ok. As a manager, it's your job to be in tune with your players and know when their buttons are being pressed.

Again, I think that Z is to blame here, but Quade certainly didn't hold up his end of the bargain.

You very well may be correct about Quade being partly to blame for this specific incident, but the larger problem is that Zambrano has a history of anger problems and/or destructive behavior (both self-destructive and destructive to others). In baseball (as in life) there are numerous bumps in the road, and some of those bumps are flat out unfair. Zambrano seems to be the kind of player/person that has a hard time accepting those unfair bumps. I know that he was ordered to get professional help in the past, but I don't know if he is still receiving help/therapy. He's a talented but troubled pitcher. Perhaps some time away from the team and some more therapy sessions will help him get a grasp of what he wants to do with his life, both in and out of baseball.

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OFFNY Hangout Grand Counsel

OFFNY

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I think it's an interesting occurrence that CC also gave up 5 HRs on the same night. Just funny to see how they both handled it.

If you are going to compare those 2 top-notch pitchers and how they handle similar situations, I think that you also need to take into consideration who they play for. Sabathia already won a World Series Championship 2 years ago in his first season with the Yankees, a team that is not only currently a lock for a playoff spot this year, but will very likely continue to be locks for a playoff spot for several more years into the near future. Zambrano plays for the Cubs, who not only are a horrible team with no chance of making the playoffs this year, but whom also haven't won a World Series in over 100 years.

Handling adversity is something that Zambrano and everyone else that lives on this planet needs to be able to deal with ............ but some players/people definitely have more adversity to deal with than others.

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