Piniella safe, Zambrano not so much

A couple hours before the White Sox stomped the Cubs on the South Side Friday, Cubs GM Jim Hendry made a couple things clear regarding Lou Piniella.

"I'm not changing managers," Hendry told me without hesitation, as Piniella held court with the media in the visiting dugout. "He's the same guy he was in '08 when we won the division, and the same guy he was in '07 when we overcame a bad start and won the division.

"He's still got the fire and the passion, even though he doesn't always show it."

A couple hours later, he did.

Piniella watched an insane Carlos Zambrano act like a fool on the field and attack teammates in the dugout after allowing 4 first-inning runs, and like a child to his room, Piniella removed Zambrano from the game and sent him home.

"We've got our share of problems. We don't need those," Piniella said after the 6-0 defeat. "I told him to go home. I told him (to leave) before the game was over. We didn't want any problems in the clubhouse after the ballgame."

Piniella also told Hendry he didn't want to see Zambrano again any time soon, and Hendry suspended Zambrano after the game in what the GM described as a very short conversation with the pitcher.

One player agent told me Friday night he has doubts about whether the players association will let this suspension go without a fight, and though Hendry said he'd like the punishment to be without pay, that's something else that may not survive the MLB process.

Nevertheless, Zambrano won't be with the team Saturday and it's at the very least a serious statement by Hendry and Piniella that they're done trying to change Zambrano, and would welcome any opportunity to get him out of Chicago.

"I haven't really given that any thought," Hendry said, when asked if Zambrano would ever pitch for the Cubs again. "I certainly wouldn't rule it out. I would say the possibility exists that he would."

But Hendry also went further than he has to this point in criticizing Zambrano's performance on the mound, saying - essentially - that the erstwhile ace has been awful the last two-plus years, and that if Zambrano had done his job properly and been one of the Cubs' best five starters at the time, he never would have been moved to the bullpen early this season.

Said Hendry, "He certainly hasn't been the guy we expect him to be."

After the Sox scored 4 runs, Zambrano stomped on first base when taking the throw from Derrek Lee to end the inning.

He screamed all the way back into the dugout, where he walked past Piniella and brushed past Lee, before doubling back and shouting at Lee.

Perhaps Zambrano thought Lee should have had Juan Pierre's double over the first base bag leading off the game, and maybe he's right.

He probably also thought third baseman Aramis Ramirez should have had a popped bunt attempt by Omar Vizquel, and Zambrano is correct about that.

And then there was the Alex Rios double past Ramirez, who took one step to his right but moved so slowly that Zambrano had every right to wonder if Ramirez cared at all.

But that doesn't explain the single by Paul Konerko up the middle or the hanger Zambrano threw Carlos Quentin, whose 3-run bomb gave the Sox a 4-0 lead.

And it doesn't excuse Zambrano acting like an imbecile, which brought out a rare display of sarcasm from a distraught Piniella.

"He was upset that some our players didn't dive for those balls," Piniella said. "Let me tell you, a few of those balls were hit really hard.

"The ball by Ramirez was hit really hard. The ball by (Mike) Fontenot was hit hard, and the ball in the seats couldn't have been caught."

After being banished, and in another exchange between the two unfit to print, Zambrano said something to Piniella as he walked toward the clubhouse, but Piniella waved him off and offered a few words of his own for Zambrano.

"There's no excuse for this," Piniella said. "I know one thing: He's going to have to apologize to his teammates. That is for darn sure."

Fans have been waiting for Piniella to show that he's paying attention, and he certainly did that much Friday.

And while it appears at times as though Piniella is less than engaged, those closest to him say it's far from the truth.

"I think he's taking it worse this year than I've ever seen it. It's killing him," Hendry said. "He doesn't show it publicly, but he cares a great deal. He takes these losses worse than anyone."

And there have been a lot of them lately, leading Cubs broadcaster Bob Brenly to blast the lifeless squad on the air Friday.

Brenly isn't wrong, and in fact has shown great restraint watching the likes of Ramirez patrol third with all the passion of a dog taking a nap on a hot summer afternoon.

You wonder what effect someone like Brenly would have taking over this team, but when your supposed top starter has lost velocity - and his mind - and your 3-4 batters couldn't hit their way out of a wet paper bag, it might not make any difference who manages this group.

So on a day when the Sox won their 10th in a row behind another dominating start, the Cubs managed to steal the headlines because the Clown of the Mound threw a fit, and the Cubs just can't hit.

In a stunning contrast to the Cubs in chaos, the Sox stayed on a roll behind the man who wanted to be a Cub, Jake Peavy.

He remained hot with his fourth straight solid start and improved to 7-5, going 3-1 in his last 4 starts (1.20 ERA) with 6 walks and 24 strikeouts in 30 innings.

"Jake was great today," Quentin said. "He was the story of the day."

Only in a world without clowns.

brozner@dailyherald.com

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