Starting pitcher: RHP Carlos Zambrano
Every now and then, I look back on who my first favorite Cubs were as I was growing up, and Carlos Zambrano is often topping the list.
His line on June 22, 2007 was one of the reasons why.
Big Z took the mound for eight strong innings against the White Sox, allowing just one earned run on three hits and racking up twelve punch outs in this edition of the Crosstown Cup.
2007 also provided some of the script that feeds his legacy as a Cub, with "wild" being the best term to call a year that saw him at both the center of a brawl that put stitches in teammate Michael Barrett's lip, and at the top of the league's walks allowed with 101 on the year for a 10.9% walk rate.
But, nonetheless, Zambrano finished the 2007 season in the top five of Cy Young voting for the second year in a row, posting a 3.95 ERA and 2.8 fWAR over 216 innings of work.