Former Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano joined Off the Mound with Ryan Dempster, presented by Sloan, to reflect on his career pitching and hitting for the Cubs. 

Zambrano — who pitched with the Cubs from 2001 to 2011 — had a career record of 125 – 81 with an ERA of 3.60 and over 1,500 strikeouts in a Cubs uniform. For Zambrano, it meant everything to pitch for the Cubs.

“The fans and everything in the clubhouse and the atmosphere of Wrigley Field plus playing in Chicago was one of the best things that’s ever happened to me,” Zambrano said. “We had arguments and things in the clubhouse because we all wanted to win. But at the end of the day, we were brothers, we were teammates.”

For all his dominance on the mound, Zambrano also had some pop in his bad. His three Silver Slugger awards put him in a three-way tie for most all-time among pitchers.

“Since I was in the minor leagues, I was very dedicated to hitting,” Zambrano said. “I knew that I was part of being a National League pitcher. I knew that when I first came up, I knew that I had to help myself.” 

Zambrano recalled a story of when manager Dusty Baker told him he was going to hit. 

“I remember in Houston, I was losing the game, I think was losing 4-2 or 4-3 something like that,” Zambrano said. “Wade Miller was pitching and Dusty came to me and said ‘You’re going to hit’ and I said ‘I want to hit.’ It was the 6th or 7th inning and he (Dusty Baker) let me hit and I hit a 3-run bomb off of Wade Miller and we ended up winning the game.”