In today’s episode (download – mp3), Sheps and I discussed Friday’s dugout incident between Carlos Zambrano and Derrek Lee in detail. It was a lot of fun to work through a few of the angles, because this Cubs season has been such a letdown so far. This is a huge developing story that we’re going to continue to focus on it all week, and probably well into the foreseeable future, too.

One of the focuses of our discussion was on the Cubs’ reaction to Zambrano’s bad behavior, which was to suspend him indefinitely. It’s not a surprising response and I definitely see the merit of it, but I don’t buy that it’s only a team discipline issue. Clearly the Cubs are fed up with Carlos, and this like other incidents in recent Cubs past gives the team a chance to dismiss/trade a highly-paid player with personality issues.

In my opinion it’s yet another instance of a player being punished for stating exactly what’s on his mind, in an era when that’s no longer accepted. Bob Brenly’s immediate reaction echoed my thoughts, that essentially this was a chance for the Cubs to build on a “can’t take it anymore” emotion and moment. Yes, Derrek Lee got called out by Zambrano for something stupid, but was that enough reason to suspend the player that did the calling out? Not by a long stretch. What if Derrek Lee had called out Zambrano for giving up a 3-run dong that same 1st inning?

Zambrano’s delivery was poor (also, literally), but no one that has watched the Cubs shorten their season with a variety of miscues and errors can stomach much more. I saw Zambrano’s tirade as a needed catalyst, the “finally” sort of outburst that gets the team on the same page and readies them to turn a corner. Apparently that corner is going to be turned, but without Carlos Zambrano. It’s a real shame. He’s not a Cy Young pitcher anymore, but leave it to the Cubs to take a guy’s passion and reward it time and again with penalty minutes.

Without Zambrano in the mix, this team’s emotional makeup is even scarier to me. Where will the passion come from? I haven’t seen much from the other 24 guys, who are pretty busy making sure it’s known that they didn’t appreciate Z’s critique of their defensive play. If I was D-Lee I’m sure I wouldn’t have appreciated it either at the time, but if another month passes and the Cubs continue to struggle, I’ll continue to wonder if the self-policing clubhouse of past eras being replaced with this new public outrage model has been as big a reason as any that this team continues to flounder.

Sorry for being on the truancy list this week. As Lou noted via our Twitter Feed he’s been battling back from illness, so we decided to resume our regular 3 a week schedule on Monday, June 28th.

Congrats to the Cubs on a hard fought win today, enjoy the Sox series, and let’s hope the Cubs can win that cup. Or at least not completely infuriate us…

Since the Ricketts have taken over the Cubs they have made two notable deals with major corporations. Earlier this year there was the Toyota agreement that brought Wrigley Field its biggest advertisement in memory; a large, fairly unattractive sign hanging above the left center field bleachers. The Cubs then later combined with the Sox to gusher away the Crosstown Classic (or Crosstown Showdown depending on your cable network) and replace it with the BP Crosstown Cup.

So one major deal was with Toyota, a company that shortly after the deal was announced was not so kindly urged to ramp up their massive safety recall resulting in what was at the time thought to be one of the worst corporate PR disasters of all time. And then one with BP, a company that is now the most hated corporation in the country, responsible for wrecking the Gulf Coast and ticking off basically everyone.

Anyway, I don’t blame the Ricketts for those doses of bad advertising luck, I’m happy they own the team and all. But for a family that specializes in the markets and knowing companies, their recent investments have me thinking of switching to Scottrade. That’s why I suggest the following, should anyone with the last name Ricketts come across this site:

1. The BP Crosstown Cup should be redesigned to look like an actual baseball player’s cup, as pictured. Particularly now that a real, legendary cup trophy is residing in Chicago for at least a year, humor is the only way to make this baseball cup work and not get greeted with boos, as it was today at Wrigley.

2. That Toyota sign needs to have a function, beyond dampening my ever present need to gamble. How about if a home run ball hits it, everyone with a bleacher ticket wins a Prius? Or just one person does. I have no idea how far away it is from home, but it seems like it would be pretty hard to hit, so either way. My point is people like advertisements more when they can at least appear to serve a fun purpose.

3. Do some sort of promotional with Cubscast. You’ve tried the big boys a couple times now and what have you to show for it? (Well, beyond the bags full of cash, which we can’t provide by the way.) If you hook up with us, I can personally guarantee that we won’t force the government to demand a recall of our product, nor will we ruin hundreds of miles of coastline while tossing around vaguely pornographic terms like Top Hat and Junk Shot.

While I await a call from the Ricketts, if you, the Cubscast listener/reader, have any other thoughts for improving these ad deals, please share…

Yesterday was an interesting day in Chicago sports. God provided Cubs fans with some blessed (pronounced “bless-ed”) relief as the final game of a 3-game set in Pittsburgh was mercifully rained out, and the Blackhawks lost a tough one in OT. Something about that Hawks loss was comforting to me as a Cub fan, though. Even a great team with awesome momentum can barely lose. Whether or not the Cubs are a great team this season, and/or whether they’ll ever be two games from clinching anything in 2010 is fully up for debate. Still, that said, two losses in Pittsburgh and a rainout has several in the local media talking about trading Derrek Lee or even a Cubs fire sale.

Holes in respective media members’ umbrellas not withstanding, these articles are holy in a most non-religious sense. I submit the following for your consideration in the 2010 Best Cubs Drama Category:

Around Town: Cubs talking Lee trade with Angels: sources

I’m not going to freak out about the fact that the word “sources” cryptically appears in the title of the article. There’s a time and place for discussing the Trib’s choice of sports article title. Something about this rumor just smells bad to me, though. It’s too easy…too simple of an idea. Kendry Morales broke his leg, so the Angels want the Cubs’ first baseman in the last year of his deal? Seems to me like the kind of thing a person with an extra few hours in Pittsburgh would dream up. Just saying.

Is it stupid to write in a Cubs blog that I think this story is light on facts? Maybe. I could be 100% wrong, and I won’t fall over myself celebrating (had to) if I’m right. Just some speculation. Maybe better to stick with facts for now.

Seven days ago the Cubs beat the Dodgers 1-zip to climb to 2 games under .500, a mark they flirted with three times last week. That number of games under .500 was their best mark since early May. Next time I find a few empty hours, this is what I’m going to dwell on, for better or worse.

Hi all,

Sheps and I experienced some technical issues on Friday, which is why there was no episode published that day. We plan to return on Tuesday May 25th with an episode that discusses the Bob Howry signing along with news from the winning weekend in Texas. Thank goodness the Cubs pulled out the victory earlier today!

As always, thanks for listening and Go Cubs!

Lou