Zambrano takes no-hitter in stride
MILWAUKEE - Carlos Zambrano got right back to business Monday morning, putting on his running shoes and doing his cardio work with strength coach Tim Buss.
Of course, Zambrano did take time to celebrate Sunday night's no-hitter over the Houston Astros at Miller Park, and his phone was still ringing Monday.
"I celebrated with my family," he said. "I don't have to go out. I was in the room, the suite. I stayed in my room with family and friends. If I drink two or three glasses of wine, I'll be a little dizzy, and then people will start looking at me and saying, 'Look at Zambrano.' That's why don't go out."
Zambrano said his teammates greeted him in the clubhouse after the game in a "receiving line." Of course, those teammates were armed with cans of a sudsy beverage.
"When I was coming in, the players were side by side," he said. "I was getting wet. I was walking in the middle of my teammates. They were playing with me."
Zambrano appeared to be soaking it all in - literally and figuratively - after pitching the Cubs' first no-hitter since Milt Pappas tossed a near-perfect game against the Padres on Sept. 2, 1972.
The Hall of Fame will get Zambrano's baseball cap and one of the game balls, but not the one he threw to strike out Darin Erstad to end the game.
Speaking of Pappas, Zambrano said he had not talked with him yet, but that Pappas has an annual message for him each January at the Cubs convention.
"I didn't know that it was that many years," Zambrano said. "I just knew that the last one was Milt Pappas - 'Milt Potato' (mixing in some rough Spanish translation) or whatever you want to call it. Every time I come to the Cubs convention, he keeps telling me, 'You will be the next one.' Every time. He said, 'I have a feeling you will be the next one.'
"I've been in the Cubs convention for about 6-7 years. It's amazing. Every year, he keeps telling me the same thing: 'You will be the next one. You will be the next one.' Finally, it's done. Thank God."
Zambrano became the third Venezuelan to throw a no-hitter, joining the White Sox' Wilson Alvarez (1991) and the Marlins' Anibal Sanchez (2006).
He also became the first pitcher to toss a no-hitter at a neutral site. The Cubs and Astros played at Miller Park because of the effects of Hurricane Ike in Houston.
Zambrano also pitched his no-no less than two weeks after taking himself out of a game because his right shoulder was acting up.
"As a team, we're winning, we're in first place, we're having a good year overall," he said. "Personally, I'm having a decent year, 14 wins. Just keep helping your team and forget about everything else. Whatever happened before has happened. The good thing is I'm the kind of pitcher who goes by streaks. When I do good, it's like a month, month and a half that I'm doing a good job. If I have two or three or four bad outings, that's normal for any pitcher."