Zambrano Apologizes to Marmol After Chicago Cubs Tough Loss to St. Louis

Carlos Zambrano has a history of speaking out.  He has fought with teammates in the dugout, Michael Barrett and Dereck Lee.

He is a competitor and admitted on Monday that what he said out of frustration should not have been said.

After the loss to St. Louis on Sunday, Zambrano said, ""The problem wasn't Pujols, The problem was the previous at-bat [against Ryan Theriot in the ninth]. We should know better than this. We played like a Triple-A team. This is embarrassing, embarrassing for the team, for the owners, for the fans. Embarrassing. That's the word for this team.


"We should know better than this, we should know better than we did on the field," Zambrano said. "We should know that Ryan Theriot is not a good fastball hitter. We should know that as a team. We should play better here. We stink. That's all I've got to say."

On Monday the big righthander apologized to Marmol.

"I said what I said yesterday out of frustration.  We all make a mistake.  I apologized to him.  At the same time we all can play better.  I don't say the team can play better.  I say we can play better," Zambrano said.

"That's my point.  That's the reality.  I a moment of frustration I say those things.  I do care for this team.  I care about the way I pitch.  I care about how we play."

Zambrano said, "Somebody had to say something.  It doesn't have to be me.  Everytime I open my mouth it's a big thing, you know.  I should talk to my teammates before it talk to the media.  I go up to teammates and say what I have to say.  That's the way to do things."

The 30-year old from Venezuela has been with the Cubs since 2001 and does not want to leave.

"I'm a Cubbie and I want to be a Cubbie.  I don't want to think about being traded.  It's not over yet. We lost all three games in St. Louis but we fought.  This team has something.  We lost with our gloves on (as in boxing gloves).  We can be 10, 11, 15 games out but we start winning games, who knows?"

First year manager, Mike Quade is handling the situation.

"The comments were made totally out of frustration.  I understand that.  He (Zambrano) took care of it himself (by apologizing) good for him," Quade said.  "It's a man's game.  People get upset.  I'm not a cheesy apologize to the team guy. As long as the two people deal with it."

Quade didn't expect the reaction by Zambrano.

"I was surprised but in the heat of the moment, the level of frustration is pretty bad.  I talked to (general manager) Jim (Hendry).  He's concerned with the draft.  This is my job to handle this.  He's supposed to concern himself with the draft right now."

Some people in Chicago were calling for a fine or suspension but Quade doesn't feel the need.

"People react in different ways.  What goes on at work, on a team or in a family, people over react and are entitled to their opinion.  Zambrano has been an important part of this team, so has Marmol.  Teams tend to take care of these things.  I'm real pride of this group.  They understand they can take care of this thing in house.  The understand the statements were made in frustration."

Quade talked to Zambrano about several things, including his statements.

"I think we're struggling.  Carlos Marmol had two rough outings this week.  Closers go through that.  We're not scoring a bunch of runs right now.  All of a sudden you're in a situation like that and the last person that had the ball gets the blame.  That's just wrong."