"Carlos always has been an emotional guy," Piniella said when asked if Zambrano, his Game 1 starter against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League Division Series, is more effective when he pitches under control and not as if his hair were on fire. "I think he just has to be himself. That's the secret. Don't try to be anybody else. Just go out, have confidence in yourself and let it go."
"Letting it go" is a phrase that describes the best and the worst of both Zambrano and Piniella. And never was that more evident than in their back-to-back meltdowns of June 1 and 2, when the Cubs' already-shaky season seemed to totally implode.
On June 1, Zambrano and catcher Michael Barrett got into a heated argument that turned physical in the middle of the fifth inning of what turned out to be an 8-5 loss to Atlanta at Wrigley Field. Zambrano, who had just given up five runs, was angered that Barrett was charged with a passed ball and committed an error on the same play. Barrett, also irked, pointed to the scoreboard as if to say that those five runs were Zambrano's fault, not his.
The two men pushed and slapped at one another in the dugout, prompting Piniella to replace both of them, but the worst was yet to come. In the clubhouse, Zambrano and Barrett slugged it out. Barrett got the worst of it against the 6-5, 250-pound pitcher, suffering a black eye and cut lip that required stitches.
"I'm embarrassed for everybody here because we're supposed to be like a family," outfielder Alfonso Soriano, the Cubs' $136 million free-agent acquisition, said of the Zambrano-Barrett fight that overshadowed the team's fifth consecutive loss, and 11th in 15 games.
