Why wouldn’t the first Cub no-hitter in 36 years happen under the most unusual of circumstances? With Hurricane Ike doing a number on the Houston area, the Astros were forced to play a “home” game against the Cubs at Wrigley North. No one looked more at home at Miller Park than Carlos Zambrano did, as he faced only 28 batters, struck out 10 Astros, and tossed the first Cub no-hitter since Milt Pappas threw one in 1972.

I don’t need to tell you how dominant Carlos’ performance was. He threw a no-hitter, for God’s sake. He was dominant. I will, however, reminisce about a couple of old baseball discussions arguments I used to hear in regards to Zambrano.

  1. Carlos Zambrano is good, but not as good as Juan Cruz. Remember this argument? Carlos and Juan Cruz were coming up through the organization at about the same time, and everyone expected Juan Cruz to be the next Angel Guzman Pedro Martinez, if Martinez were to lose a hundred pounds and overdose on nerve tonic. Yet this big bear of a pitcher named Zambrano, who looked like four Juan Cruzes taped together, was the one who stuck. While Cruz has certainly turned into a very effective reliever, I wouldn’t trade Carlos Zambrano for 10 Juan Cruzes, even though the weight exchanged would be about even.
  2. Who will pitch a no-hitter first? Wood, Prior, or Zambrano? I remember discussing this back in the glory days when the “Big Three” were all healthy, and life was grand. I think the consensus was that Wood was more likely to throw a no-hitter (arguably, he already DID, thankyouverymuchKevinOrie), and that Prior was more likely to throw a perfect game. I guess we were wrong. While Kerry has turned himself into an effective reliever, and Prior is working on his golf game in sunny California, Carlos just went ahead and settled that argument once and for all.
  3. You can jinx a no-hitter by talking about it. Nope. I was at Buffalo Wild Wings watching the game last night. At the end of the sixth inning, I pointed out to everyone at our table that Zambrano had a no-no through six. I mentioned it no fewer than ten more times before the game was over. So, there you have it. Definitive proof that anyone who yells at Len and Bob for “jinxing” a pitcher by pointing out that he has a no-hitter going is an idiot.
  4. Zambrano is hurt, and the Cubs are hiding it from us. HA HA HA HA HA! You stupid jerks. I told you he was fine.

      5. Congratulations to Carlos Zambrano and the Chicago Cubs. Oh, and did anyone notice that the Brewers were busy coughing up sole possession of the NL Wild Card lead? With the four-game sweep at the hands of the Phillies this weekend, the Brewers are now tied atop the NL Wild Card standings, and are a comfortable 7.5 games behind the Cubs. Now don’t you feel a little bit silly for completely panicking last week?