May 11--Leave it to the flamboyant Carlos Zambrano to come up with something different to celebrate Mother's Day: pink shoes and batting gloves.

Really. Pink shoes, and he opened a box in his locker just to prove they existed.

"I will be wearing pink shoes and pink batting gloves, approved by MLB," he said. "This will be for breast cancer. It is a great thing; anything I can do for the people."

Zambrano, a staunch family man, is proud to pitch on Mother's Day, when players help raise awareness of breast cancer.

"It's a privilege to honor my mom," he said. "I will dedicate the game to my mom watching in Venezuela. And not only to my mom, but to all the moms."

Eight Cubs will be using pink bats, which will be auctioned for charity: Henry Blanco, Ronny Cedeno, Mark DeRosa, Mike Fontenot, Felix Pie, Geovany Soto, Ryan Theriot and Daryle Ward.

Pitcher Ryan Dempster and wife Jenny will host a number of families from the area whose mothers are serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, or did last year.

Of course, Zambrano has more to worry about Sunday than mothers. There's Randy Johnson, undefeated against the Cubs, waiting as his Arizona mound opponent. While in the past that might have bothered Zambrano (5-1, 1.80 ERA) to the point of distraction, this season is different for him.

He is more mature mentally, and physically as well. He is in control of his emotions and the strike zone. It has taken time.

"Sometimes you can't do more than you can, I don't know if you understand me," he said.

He then tried to explain:

"On any floor, you can always see the ceiling and your next step. So when you climb to the ceiling it will be a floor down. So you have another ceiling to step up to. That's the philosophy in my mind."

OK ...

"I've known 'Z' since 2000," said ex-Cubs teammate and current Diamondback Augie Ojeda. "He was a puppy, but we knew he had great stuff. Now he knows how to pitch and control his emotions better."

While Zambrano says the team has 25 "aces," manager Lou Piniella says, "To me, the first and 15th, when that paycheck comes in, it tells you who the ace is. They don't get paid really, really well unless they've done some productive work. Zambrano is the guy we lean on the most."

The paycheck says Zambrano makes an ace-like Cubs pitching high of $18 million a year.

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