Carlos Zambrano blows up, Chicago Heat burns out

Chicago Heat.

Kerry Wood and Mark Prior Fire Up the Cubs.

July 7, 2003.

It always goes back to 2003. The sweetest season as a young Cubs fan. The sourest, too. 2003 was magical and exciting in Chicago. The Cubs were winning for once.

Chicago Heat was fueling the Cubs to a big year. […]

After going 67-95 and finishing fifth in the NL Central in 2002, the Cubs piled up 88 wins and a division title behind the power arms of Mark Prior and Kerry Wood. The Cubs had quite a one-two punch at the top of the rotation.

Prior went 18-6 and fanned 245 for the year. His fastball was fast and his curveball was unparalleled in the game. Kerry Wood always had a heater that made hitters blink. He used it to strike out 266 batters in route to a solid 14-11 campaign.

The fastball was king in the summer of 2003 in Chicago.

And the summer of 2003 was an extended one in the Windy City too. The Cubs were playing in October this year.

The Chicago Heat didn’t cool in the brisk autumn air. The fireballers picked up the pace in the Indian summer. The sun was certainly smiling later in the year above the Sears Tower and the temperature?

Wood and Prior kept things cooking in Wrigley.

The Atlanta Braves were baffled by Wood and Prior in the NLDS. The radar gun read “98” all series with the two young guns on the mound. The Braves couldn’t figure out the heat.

“I’ve been struggling to get base hits in this series,” Chipper Jones said after playing the hero in Game Four with two homers. “It was just good to come out and hit a couple of balls on the barrel. If I had been hitting the ball hard, it would have been easier to take. But to be honest with you before today, I only hit one or two balls hard and had nothing to show for it.”

Wood dominated Game One. Prior took center stage in Game Three.

“This series has been so well pitched by [the Cubs],” Jones said. “A lot of guys have been coming back to the dugout gratified with just a walk. It’s been a very rough series.”

Wood finished it off with a brilliant outing in Game Five to end the Braves season with authority.

That night was magical. Wood battled through some jams to move the Cubs one step closer to the World Series. I remember lying awake in my bed late at night – too excited to sleep. The Cubs just beat the favored Braves and something felt different. This team could do it.

While Prior and Wood got the headlines, another young pitcher could fire with the best of them too. Carlos Zambrano had a mean fastball and a wacky personality to round out an impressive stable of young power arms.

The 22-year-old righty just finished his first full year as a starter with a 13-11 record and a 3.11 ERA. He developed into a strikeout machine like Wood and Prior. Zambrano could pump fastballs into the catcher’s mitt at 99 mph.

He was the secret behind the Chicago Heat then. The smoke that no one noticed because they were too busy watching the blazing flame.

Throwing smoke, he improved in 2004, winning 16 games and striking out 188. He was also among the league leaders in ERA with a 2.75.

He also showed his wild side. The crazy man on the mound muttered to himself before delivering the ball and sometimes, he lost control of his heater. He led the league with 20 bean balls that year.

The secret was out. He was also the only Cubs hurler to make an impact in 2004. After missing out on the World Series by five outs less than a year before, Mark Prior and Kerry Wood burned out.

Zambrano became the main attraction, the blazing flame keeping the Chicago Heat alive.

But the magic was gone. Wood and Prior would never be able to capture the lighting in a bottle from 2003. The Cubs dropped off and the World Series was once again a fantasy.

Zambrano, fittingly, is the only reminder left from that bittersweet season.

He’s been brilliant in the six-plus season since that October. The brightest moment came in September 2008 when Zambrano corralled the fastball and rode it to a no-hitter. Chicago Heat was back for a night. And it felt magical again.

He’s been pathetic. Since signing a huge extension with the Cubs, Zambrano has been stuck in neutral at best – he has actually regressed. The elite pitcher who signed the deal has yet to be elite. This season has been the worst. The ace of the staff getting paid nearly $20 million this year was demoted to the bullpen. His ERA is 5.10.

Tonight, the Chicago Heat returned. But it wasn’t magical or inspiring. It was embarrassing.

Zambrano exploded on his teammates after a four-run first inning against the Chicago White Sox. All four runs were earned, but Zambrano felt his boys didn’t hustle enough for him.

According to one source, Zambrano shouted: “If you’re not going to play for me, then I’m not going to play for you.”

Well, Big Z, you haven’t been playing all season for the Cubs and those teammates. Maybe they expected you to use that $20 million dollar arm to get some outs for once. Maybe a few strikeouts with that blessed right arm. Or a few routine plays in the first inning of a game after playing 13 the night before in Seattle before hopping on a plane and getting ready to play today.

But who could expect the starting pitcher to be ready to go and carry his teammates for a few innings. Zambrano must have been exhausted after watching his teammates win the night before. The ace is supposed to come up big in tough situations, not crumble.

Playing with emotion is one thing. Managers, teammates and fans love emotion and fire on the field. Zambrano once had that fire that made him pretty good and entertaining. He cared. But this was not emotion or

fire. He wasn’t trying to fire up the Cubs. This Zambrano is not the old Zambrano. This act was selfish. Let’s not mistake it for an act of leadership or an attempt to breathe life into a dead clubhouse.

Zambrano’s actions Friday were selfish and disrespectful. Period. He is a frustrated pitcher who has lost his fire. He doesn’t have the same zip on the ball that he had in 2008 for that no-hitter. He doesn’t have the same hunger he had in 2003 as a first-time starter.

He doesn’t have the magic anymore. He doesn’t have the Chicago Heat that melted the city’s heart.

Some are speculating Zambrano’s run in Chicago is over.

Like the 2003 season, this story has a sad ending. A promising start burns out. Full potential is never reached. Only, Kerry Wood and Mark Prior gave their hearts to Chicago. Their heat burned out with bad luck.

Carlos Zambrano’s ending is more tragic. He simply didn’t care.

Chicago Heat.

Carlos Zambrano Throws Fire on Cubs Teammates, Burns Out.

June 25, 2010.