Call 'Z' the X factor
How Zambrano pitches biggest key to Cubs' playoff hopes
PHOENIX -- Tonight in the Arizona desert, when the Cubs start trying to satisfy a century-long October thirst, curses, goats and Bartmans might as well be so many bleached bones in the sand.
Because the ghosts of this franchise have been exorcised by the higher authority of naked American capital.
(AP)
And when $400 million of baseball muscle steps into the franchise crossroads of the 2007 postseason, the centerpiece of that 10-month spending spree, Carlos Zambrano, will determine the direction in which it goes next.
He is what this Cubs season has come down to, what this Cubs postseason is all about: Big Z and bigger money, all Zambrano all the time.
''It's not only me; it's about 25 men on this team,'' Zambrano said Tuesday. ''It's not only about Carlos Zambrano; it's about teamwork.''
No, it's all about Zambrano. The suits upstairs said that when they paid him $91.5 million in August to be a franchise anchor for five more seasons. And manager Lou Piniella assured it when he said he's going to lean hard enough on Zambrano to bring him back on short rest for a potential Game 4, using what recent history suggests is an ill-advised three-man playoff rotation.
''If anybody can pitch on three days' rest in our regular rotation, we feel Carlos can,'' Piniella said.
So, like it or not, the Cubs' enigmatic 18-game winner and World Series prognosticator is on the hot seat as he tries to balance his passion against some of the emotional meltdowns that have caused his extreme highs and lows this season. All the while trying to shake the Cubs' history of October heartbreak.
Like almost everything else about Zambrano, the team he will face tonight, the Arizona Diamondbacks, represents reason for optimism and pessimism. The Cubs went 2-4 against the Diamondbacks during the regular season, but they didn't use Zambrano against them.
On the other hand, Zambrano is an uninspiring 1-2 with a 4.88 ERA in his career against the Diamondbacks, pitching poorly in three of four starts against them.
Will he step out and become the big-game pitcher his winless 2003 postseason and 8.16 ERA in season openers defy? The Cubs' hopes depend on it.
''Well, this is different than Opening Day,'' he said. ''I think here there's more responsibility. I don't think it's going to be like Opening Day; hopefully not. You just take that out of your mind and just think about this as a normal game of the regular season and go out there and have fun. That's the most important thing -- to go out there and do your job and have fun.''
But what about all that famous emotion that has been at once the strength and bane of his successes and failures?
''I don't want to be pumped up,'' he said. ''I want to be calm and let the moment come and pitch my game. I don't want to be too excited.''
How he walks that fine line might be the difference between the Cubs playing until Halloween or turning into pumpkins.
''That's a good question,'' Piniella said. ''The last game he pitched, he really stayed within himself well. A pitcher probably has to stay within himself, but Carlos has always been an emotional guy. I think he's just got to be himself.''
Which might give him an opportunity in the next few days to define exactly who that is.
''I'm ready,'' he said. ''I'm ready for this postseason, and I look forward to being in command and doing something for this team.''