Watch: Carlos Zambrano in the middle of brawl at Venezuelan Winter League

Carlos Zambrano hasn't pitched in the majors since Sept. 21, 2012, partly due to a reputation for bad behavior. From the looks of things, he's still having

Carlos Zambrano hasn't pitched in the majors since Sept. 21, 2012, partly due to a reputation for bad behavior. From the looks of things, he's still having trouble controlling his temper.

During Saturday night's Game 3 of the Venezuelan Winter League championship series, Zambrano came off the bench and inserted himself in the middle of a bench-clearing brawl. In the top of the sixth inning, Zambrano's teammate, Robinson Chiniros, hit his second homer of the game to give Navegantes del Magallanes a 6-1 lead over Caribes de Anzoátegui. Caribes pitcher Mayckol Guaipe apparently wasn't happy with the length of time that Chiniros spent admiring his towering solo shot; after the next batter, Ezequiel Carrerra, showed bunt on a 1-1 pitch, the righty drilled him in the ribs. Zambrano charged out of the Magallanes dugout and took some wild swings before being restrained by teammates.

Above is the full video of the game -- which Magellanes won to take a 3-games-to-0 lead in the best-of-seven series -- from Livestream. Chiniros' homer comes just after the 2:12:00 mark, and the brouhaha starts about two minutes later:

Zambrano earned All-Star honors three times during his 11 years with the Cubs (2001-11), but he gained infamy for his penchant for high-profile outbursts, including a 2007 dugout brawl with teammate Michael Barrett, a 2009 suspension for bumping an umpire, a 2010 suspension by the Cubs following another dugout altercation and a 2011ban by the team after an ejection followed by his cleaning out his locker and declaring his intention to retire.

Marlins

signed a minor-league deal with the Phillies


Published
Jay Jaffe
JAY JAFFE

Jay Jaffe is a contributing baseball writer for SI.com and the author of the upcoming book The Cooperstown Casebook on the Baseball Hall of Fame.