By Alex
I’ve been watching sports for an awful long time and seen, like many people older than I, many great athletes come and go. I’ve witnessed phenoms take different sports either by storm or by whimper.
Over time, one naturally becomes skeptical of over hyped athletes. Living up to hype is practically an impossible task. I remember reading an article about Bruce Springsteen during his first concert to Europe. Plastered all over the Hammersmith-Odeon venue were posters of him promising patrons an unforgettable rock journey. Springsteen later told the story of how the posters posed needless additional pressure and tore them down.
Nothing hurts a performing person in whatever field more than not measuring up to a media driven promise.
In sports we’ve seen Tony Mandarich and Lebron James and everything in between.
That being said, I don’t recall a more hyped up athlete (Eric Lindros maybe?) than Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg. So high were the expectations one could wonder even if he did pitch well would it satisfy observers?
We won’t have to ponder that question.
In his pitching debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Strasburg’s performance was one for the ages. It was stratospheric in its supremacy as he allowed two earned runs, struck out 14 and issued no walks in seven innings worked. Let me repeat the 14ks and 0 walks. All under 100 pitches; 96 I believe.
He came up one strike short of the all-time record for a pitching debut held by both Karl Spooner and J.R. Richard who each pitched a full nine innings. Judging by how Strasburg was dictating the pace of the game – literally. The game had barely been two hours old by the time he was done – it’s not a stretch to think he could have beaten the record.
I don’t know why, but for some reason, he reminded me of Steve Carlton, Doc Gooden and Pedro Martinez – all rolled into one.
His change up was clocked at 91 mph, a lethal curve at close to 80 mph and fast ball that hit 100 mph. Such was his nasty dominance.
Granted, it’s but one game. The hype machine can yet still sink its fangs (through injuries for example) and claim another young career. However, you can be forgiven for thinking not with this guy. No way.








