"Big Z" reaches 100

Carlos Alberto Zambrano of the Chicago Cubs reached victory 100 last night ! Now I know that his 100 wins is over shadowed by Randy Johnson reaching 300 wins earlier this week but the Cubs and Zambrano should celebrate just a little bit.

Zambrano becomes only the fourth Chicago Cub pitcher in the last fifty years to reach that plateau with the club; thats right he is now in the company of HOF'r Ferguson Jenkins, soon to be HOF'r Greg Maddux and the powerful Rick Reuschel as the only Cub pitchers in the modern era to garner 100 wins wearing Cubbie Blue.

Zambrano also hit his franchise record 18th career homerun to help the Cubs win 2 - 1 while allowing only 2 hits through 6 2 /3 innings. He celebrated his 28th birthday last week; comes off his suspension, hits a homerun, pitches a gem and then announces he "wants to retire when his current contract expires" in 2012.

It bothers me that after a strong performance on the mound (and at the plate), reaching a minor milestone (100 wins is minor in the overall scheme of things) this three time all-star and two time silver slugger awardee is bombarded with questions concerning reaching 300 wins. I guess that is the state of the game these days - the constant comparison and pressure to achieve stratosphere status. Zambrano makes $ 16 million this year, will make upwards of $ 50 million more by the time his contract runs out . . . why should he even contemplate pitching after he turns 32 ? ! He is the state of the game - play hard, play to win, play with emotion and energy, get paid buckets of money and "retire" !

I like to celebrate "little" things like; a beautiful Florida sunset, an unsolicited hug or "I love you" from my daughter, finding an extra $ 20 in my pocket, receiving a bubble mailer with baseball cards from the mail box, and a Chicago Cub pitcher reaching 100 wins !

Congratulations "Big Z", this Cubs fan wants you to pitch strong, hard and win as many more games as you can. Never mind personal milestones, lets get the World Series Ring . . . then you can "retire".

Birthday Wishes for . . .

Rick "Big Daddy" Reuschel, born on May 16 1949. Standing 6 foot four and weighing in at 225 pounds Reuschel was an intimidating figure on the mound.

A 3X all-star (1977, 87 and 89) Reuschel played for nineteen season and is most remembered for being a Chicago Cub (more than half his career was in Chicago). His only 20 win season came in 1977 as a Cub and was 3rd in Cy Young voting that year.

His career numbers of 214 - 191 with 102 complete games, 26 shutouts tell just a small part of his story. Reuschel pitched over 3500 innings; and in a eight year span form 1973 to 1980 he had more than 230 IP each year. His strikeout to walk ratio of 2.15 (2015 K's to 935 walks) and his career era of 3.37 are both very respectable. He did have two World Series appearances; 1981 with the Yankees and 1989 for the S F Giants.

Happy Birthday "Big Daddy" Reuschel . . . today I celebrate with you . . . oh did I mention that today May 16 is also my birthday and I got myself a new set of wheels.