Z's Explanation

[Guest]

Are you kidding me?

It is August/September and the most important time of the year and Z has lost 5 games in-a-row.

He got his money and now he is dogging it.

 

You nailed it. Z signed a contract and stopped trying to pitch well.

 

Which explains why he is so upset about being booed. Because he doesn't care.

 

I really think he is upset about being booed because he just doesn't get why he was being booed.

 

 

really? I think its more like when you screw something up and then your wife points out your stupidity.

[Mephistopheles]

There is noway in hell you can call fans fickle with Z after seeing the way hes performed this year.

 

fick·le (fĭk'əl) pronunciation

adj.

 

Characterized by erratic changeableness or instability, especially with regard to affections or attachments; capricious.

 

yep, NSBB falls under this.

 

Zambrano's fine guys. This place is so fickle.

No he's not fine. If he had a couple of bad outings in a row that might not be a cause for concern. But this has been going on over a month now, both before and after the extension. Things are not fine when your "ace" stinks the first two months of the season and then disappears again during the heat of a pennant race.

 

This is two things:

 

A. A Lie.

B. Irrelevant.

 

With respect to A, Zambrano's struggles have actually been going on for less than one calendar month.

 

With respect to B, Zambrano's strong June/July and career norms hold more predictive power for the next 60 days than his recent struggles. Pitchers go through rough stretches. Zambrano isn't more prone to them than any other pitcher. His animated behavior does not cause him to meltdown more than other pitchers.

 

All of these myths conjured up by NSBB are just that. Myths.

[soccer10k]

His animated behavior does not cause him to meltdown more than other pitchers.

 

Of course not.

 

It's his obvious mental instability and his tendency to get rattled easily.

[Mephistopheles]

Then what's the point? If he's prone to bottoming out in a game as much as any other pitcher then there's no reason to count his behavior as a negative thing because its not causing any harm -- unless he goes head hunting.

[soccer10k]

He's prone to bottoming out more than any other pitcher. Z has the talent to be one of the best pitchers in the league but the reason he hasn't is in his head. When he gets rattled, he overthrows his pitches which leads to walks and, sometimes, blowups. The reason it doesn't happen more often is because the talent he has allows him to escape jams more often than the average pitcher does.

[Guest]

He's prone to bottoming out more than any other pitcher. Z has the talent to be one of the best pitchers in the league but the reason he hasn't is in his head. When he gets rattled, he overthrows his pitches which leads to walks and, sometimes, blowups. The reason it doesn't happen more often is because the talent he has allows him to escape jams more often than the average pitcher does.

 

I think this is myth. I think the expectations for Zambrano have always exceeded his actual ability.

[soccer10k]

He's prone to bottoming out more than any other pitcher. Z has the talent to be one of the best pitchers in the league but the reason he hasn't is in his head. When he gets rattled, he overthrows his pitches which leads to walks and, sometimes, blowups. The reason it doesn't happen more often is because the talent he has allows him to escape jams more often than the average pitcher does.

 

I think this is myth. I think the expectations for Zambrano have always exceeded his actual ability.

 

I can agree with the expectations part. While his ERA and subsequent ERA+ have been good (ERA+ over 130 each year from 03 to 06), he's always issued a lot of walks (no worse than ninth most in the NL every year since 03) so his WHIP has never been among the league's best. His 05 year of 1.15 is the only year he's been under 1.2.

 

I will say that even though the expectations are high for Z, he is having his worst year since he became a full time starter in 2002 (with 03 being his first full season).

[Guest]

combine that with a declining k rate and you are going to have problems.

[CubmanPi]

Early in the thread, there was a synopsis of what Z said, and part of that included that he would remember this booing when things were good again. This sounds a lot like him saying that he's going to go out and pitch well, then make us all cheer and love him and make it feel like all this went away, and then he would spite us by still being bitter over the booing.

 

Please, Z. Spite the living hell out of us.

[Soul]

Early in the thread, there was a synopsis of what Z said, and part of that included that he would remember this booing when things were good again. This sounds a lot like him saying that he's going to go out and pitch well, then make us all cheer and love him and make it feel like all this went away, and then he would spite us by still being bitter over the booing.

 

Please, Z. Spite the living hell out of us.

 

Yeah that was an odd comment. He's going to remember this? So what, is he going to refuse to acknowledge the cheering if he starts pitching good again?

 

Oh noes!! :-s

[CuseCubFan69]

I thought the exact same thing as tree did when Z pointed to his ear and thought yeah, he hears the boos and knew he deserved it.

 

When he ran through the stop sign at third shows me he's out of control. Someone needs to step on him and put him in his place and hopefully Lou will be that man. It doesn't have to be a public thing so the fans can feel better about what Z said but an effective talk that helps Z grow up as a player and lets him know he's part of a team and it isn't just about him.

 

It's one thing being emotional but as Ping said, it's a whole other thing when you let it effect your game and this has happened to Z way too often IMO. What he said after the game is emotion spew after a game and it really doesn't bother me that much. But, if he continues to whine about it after he calms down, then we have a problem.

 

Z's ball has a lot of movement and I think that some umps have a hard time accurately judging them and imo, that frustrates him. Granted, he has to learn to get over it but some of his pitches were close and almost all were called for balls.

[Laura]

When he ran through the stop sign at third shows me he's out of control. Someone needs to step on him and put him in his place and hopefully Lou will be that man. It doesn't have to be a public thing so the fans can feel better about what Z said but an effective talk that helps Z grow up as a player and lets him know he's part of a team and it isn't just about him.

 

Lou and Derrek Lee both mentioned the baserunning in their public comments, so I have the impression that it will be mentioned privately as well.

 

As for being coached prior to meeting the media -- there was a game going on, and the post-game media sessions start shortly after the game ends. Given what happened the last time someone went to talke with an unhappy Z in the midst of a game, I can understand why there wasn't a line of teammates and coaches there to console and mentor him.

[Banedon]

Think Barrett is somewhere laughing his ass off?

[soapy]

Booing players from the home team is pretty pointless and stupid, IMO. I mean, it's not like they don't know when they are playing bad.

 

Having said that, fans are fickle and someone like Zambrano should expect that. He's been terrible for a month and had a very bad start to the season. People are going to boo. You have to get over it.

[Banedon]

fick·le (fĭk'əl) pronunciation

adj.

 

Characterized by erratic changeableness or instability, especially with regard to affections or attachments; capricious.

 

yep, NSBB falls under this.

 

As do all message boards, if not the entire internet.

[CuseCubFan69]

Booing players from the home team is pretty pointless and stupid, IMO. I mean, it's not like they don't know when they are playing bad.

 

Having said that, fans are fickle and someone like Zambrano should expect that. He's been terrible for a month and had a very bad start to the season. People are going to boo. You have to get over it.

 

Booing to me is not a productive way to help the team you are suppose to support. Am I happy about how Z threw or acted...absolutely not. I'm more in line of what do I have to do to fix this and not booing to voice what's already been done.

[Keener98]

Ill say this again, why does Z feel its ok for him to show his emotions and be emotional when he pitches, but its not ok to him when the fans show the same emotion, be it positive or negative?

 

I also find it interesting that Kip Wells was boo'd in Stl and he said he expected it, and the fans pay money to see the game and have every right to boo, but our "ace" says its selfish and doesnt understand it. Well Z, when your 2nd half rivals that of Kip Wells you cant really expect love, at least Kip Wells understands this and expectations for him are nowhere near what they are for Z.

[vj9999]

Next time Z pitches everyone should bring a baseball bat and instead of booing break the bat in half.

 

It's time for Z to grow up. We will forget what he said as soon as he gets back on track.

[ctcf]

We will forget what he said as soon as he gets back on track.

[moorecg]

Two weeks ago I said we needed to tweak the rotation to make sure Z pitched against STL...now I think we need to throw all 3 of our left handers and bring up another lefty....

 

Z's had the opportunity to come up big several times over the last month and has completely pissed the bed. I've always been a big supporter...but calling out the fans after his recent string of performances is unacceptable. I still hope that he does well for the Cubs, but some of that shine has worn off...I'll have a harder time defending his antics from here on out....

[kujay]

I have never had a problem with booing. Putting up with the fans is part of the occupation and part of earning their inflated salaries.

 

I was glad the fans booed yesterday, because they did what I would have done. I was sitting in front of the TV cursing that SOB. I love him, but you gotta have better than that.

 

And this wasn't just about missing his spots. It was being an immature brat and playing stupid baseball.

[CUBZ99]

Booing players from the home team is pretty pointless and stupid, IMO. I mean, it's not like they don't know when they are playing bad.

 

Having said that, fans are fickle and someone like Zambrano should expect that. He's been terrible for a month and had a very bad start to the season. People are going to boo. You have to get over it.

 

Booing to me is not a productive way to help the team you are suppose to support. Am I happy about how Z threw or acted...absolutely not. I'm more in line of what do I have to do to fix this and not booing to voice what's already been done.

 

I agree, in general that booing is not a very effective way of helping the home teams. If used to much is probably has no effect at all. But if there were a time to boo effectively, yesterday may have been that time. Fans pay money to watch the game and should expect better than what they got yesterday. Z played terrible and made some plays that even little leaguers knew were bad. I have yet to see anybody argue that Zambrano had a good game or has been good for a couple starts now.

 

I think its pretty hypocrytical to gladly accept all of the cheering and fanfare and then somehow consider yourself immune to booing. The Cubs game isn't the Dr. Phil show, and the crowd is reacting in real time, not pondering how every action or inaction is going to effect the players longterm.

 

I fear that the way Zambrano handled the situation is only going to make things worse for him throughout the rest of the season. There was no reason for him to make those comments and put him in a position where people are going to start booing him for the slighest mistakes.

[Backtobanks]

Zambrano got booed for losing his focus and concentration, not for having a bad game. I'm not a big fan of booing the home team, but fans should be allowed to voice their displeasure when a player with a ton of talent isn't concentrating on the task at hand.

[Outshined_One]

It's kind of funny how Zambrano has gotten so many different reactions from NSBB this year. I feel like bumping the Zambrano/Barrett thread and all the Game Threads from June/July where Z dominated.

 

Here's hoping he returns to form the next two months and makes people forget about these quotes.

[Keener98]

It's kind of funny how Zambrano has gotten so many different reactions from NSBB this year. I feel like bumping the Zambrano/Barrett thread and all the Game Threads from June/July where Z dominated.

 

Here's hoping he returns to form the next two months and makes people forget about these quotes.

 

Agreed, I hope this "event' has the same effect that the Barret thing did.