This has been a long season for the Chicago Cubs, and in particular their ace pitcher Carlos Zambrano. Successful at the beginning and the middle of the season, it seems the expectations of a World Championship may have started to drag on them as the season went along. Particularly flummoxed was Zambrano. It was only a month ago that he came down with dreaded “dead arm” fatigue that turned out to be tendinitis in his pitching shoulder as the team was dropping seven and eight games in a row. But today that dead arm is gone, and what’s left is the first pitcher in the National League to throw a no hitter since 2006 after he no-no’d the Houston Astros yesterday in a game that was moved to Milwaukee because of Hurricane Ike. It’s also the first Cub no-hitter in over 25 years, so is this the spark that gets the Cubs back on track?

“I’m tired, man. I’m tired from jumping up and down on the mound with my teammates. This is great… [e]very time I go to the Cubs Convention he said ‘You will be the next one.’ I appreciate everything [pitching coach Larry Rothschild] said to me at the Cubs Convention,” Zambrano said.

“The next step is the World Series,” Zambrano said. “That’s the main concern.”

Yeah, it usually is. Welcome to the club, late comer. Your no-hitter will accordingly act as your excuse for us to dismiss that comment.

Zambrano fires no-hitter! Tell us what you think [Chicago Sun-Times]
Image [Chicago Sun-Times]