Carlos Zambrano: a furious life
The Phillies signed Carlos Zambrano to a minor league contract today, so let's take a look back at the formerly bright, consistently vocal career of their newest acquisition.
The Phillies signed Carlos Zambrano to a minor league contract today, so let's take a look back at the formerly bright, consistently vocal career of their newest acquisition.
August 22, 2003
Zambrano squares off against Curt Schilling and the Diamondbacks. Schilling strikes out 14, but somehow is eclipsed by Big Z, who takes a no-hitter into the eighth, but gives up an infield hit to Shea Hillenbrand. Yes, the Shea Hillenbrand.
July 19, 2004
Cardinals vs. Cubs at Wrigley Field
1st inning: Zambrano hits Jim Edmonds to load the bases
4th inning: Edmonds takes Zambrano deep, standing at home plate to admire his handiwork
6th inning: Zambrano strikes out Edmonds on three pitches, wagging his finger at him.
8th inning: Scott Rolen breaks the 3-3 ties with a home run, bringing up Edmonds, whom Zambrano promptly hits again, and is ejected.
March 22, 2005
Zambrano misses time due to elbow soreness caused from spending five hours a day on the internet.
March 2, 2007
After signing a five-year contract with the Cubs, and watching the team sign Ted Lilly and Jason Marquis in the offseason, Zambrano announced that he would win the 2007 Cy Young and the Cubs would win the World Series.
He would finish fifth in Cy Young voting behind Aaron Harang and the Cubs would get swept in the first round of the playoffs.
September 14, 2008
After returning from rotator cuff tendinitis for the first time, Zambrano puts the finishing touches on a no-hitter against the Astros at Miller Park in Milwaukee, throwing the first neutral site no-no in the history of the game. Hurricane Ike had made mince meat out of the Astros' stadium in days previous.
Between this day and the Cubs no-hitter that came before it (Milt Pappas), 13,162 days had elapsed.
May 27, 2009
Zambrano hurls the ball into the outfield in a fit of rage after home plate umpire Bill Miller calls Nyjer Morgan safe on a wild pitch. Replay shows the call could have gone either way. With the runner being Nyjer Morgan, Miller was simply choosing which player he'd like to see throw a fit.
June 3, 2009
Already serving a six-day suspension for that last thing, Zambrano misses a flight to Atlanta and travels without both the team and permission to do so.
It is handled "internally."
June 25, 2010
Against the White Sox, Zambrano blames Derrick Lee for not fielding a ground ball cleanly, screaming his thoughts at the first baseman in the dugout. The play extended the first inning and led to Zambrano giving up four runs.
After the two players were separated, Zambrano did not return to the game and was shipped off to anger management.
August 12, 2011
The Braves systematically destroy Zambrano with five home runs in one game. He then unsuccessfully tried to bean Chipper Jones with two inside pitches; home plate detective Tim Timmons figured out what he was up to and ejected him.
Zambrano cleaned out his locker and announced he was retiring, then received a 30-day suspension from the Cubs and notice that he would not be pitching again for the rest of the season.
Ryan Dempster reportedly said, "He made his bed. Let him sleep in it."