So that’s why Michael Barrett doesn’t catch Carlos Zambrano.
At least that much was known after a bizarre and troubling Friday at Wrigley Field, where a dugout dustup and a more serious clubhouse fight between regular catcher Barrett and putative ace Zambrano overshadowed another sloppy on-field effort as the Cubs lost 8-5 to the Atlanta Braves.
After the most ambitious off-season shopping spree in franchise history, the Cubs have lost five games in a row and nine of 11. They have a 22-30 record and appear to be sinking fast.
Backup catcher and Venezuelan countryman Henry Blanco is Zambrano’s regular batterymate, but Blanco went on the disabled list Friday with a sore neck. So Barrett caught, and his passed ball and throwing error on the same play were among a handful of gaffes in and before a five-run Braves fifth inning.
Clearly unnerved by such lampshade-on-the-head fielding, Zambrano approached Barrett in the dugout and tapped his own temple in a “keep your head in the game” gesture. Barrett responded by pointing to the scoreboard, which revealed Zambrano’s yield of seven runs and a career-worst 13 hits.
They then lunged at each other and tussled briefly before batting coach Gerald Perry and some teammates separated them, and Zambrano was escorted to the clubhouse.
Barrett joined him there a short time later, and the volatile teammates went at it again, this scrap leaving Barrett with a split lip that required stitches.
“They’ll be disciplined,” manager Lou Piniella sternly declared after the game, his face a mask of “what-did-I-get-myself-into?” bewilderment. “We can’t have that on a ballclub.”
Later, Piniella’s frustration with the Cubs’ recent play boiled over as he lashed out at the team’s baserunning blunders and baffling inability to catch the ball.
You can’t have that on a ballclub either. But these are the Cubs, and they always seem to find a way.
