For a guy who became one of Chicago’s biggest punching bags last season, Carlos Zambrano seems to be pretty relaxed. The pitcher was spotted playing slow pitch softball last week and was described as being a “super friendly guy.” That was a stark contrast to the person baseball fans know as the man who has annual blowups and meltdowns on the field.
Let’s see, Zambrano’s lengthy list of missteps includes:
– Going after Derrek Lee in the dugout
– Bumping an umpire and then beating up a Gatorade machine
– Fighting teammate Michael Barrett in the dugout
Despite all these issues, Zambrano says he considers himself a nice guy off the field. I can buy that — maybe Zambrano only just loses it during competition like many other people. Anyway, Zambrano was ordered to take a leave from the team after his blowup against Derrek Lee last year and he underwent anger management counseling. Asked how those sessions were going, Z said Tuesday via Rotoworld “It’s all done — I’m cured.”
Zambrano was just joking around when he said that, but hopefully he’s a new man. He apparently has dropped weight and is hopefully in better shape. I’m hoping he’ll regain his ace form because he’s too good to be having the problems he has. The Cubs signed him to an extension and are paying him big-time money and he needs to earn it.
