A Major Pitcher in the Minor League

on 05 24, 2010

I’m sure that most of you have heard the hype surrounding the Washington Nationals prodigy Stephen Strasburg.  You got the basic talk—he has 103 MPH fastball, a 90 MPH changeup, stands a tall six foot four, weighs in at 240 and, to be frank, is the best pitching prospect some baseball scouts have ever seen.

The truth is, Stephen Strasburg is worth the publicity and then some.  Last night, I had the honor of watching him pitch in front of a packed crowd of 12,590 at Frontier Field against the Rochester Red Wings, my hometown Triple-A baseball club.  In 6.1 scoreless innings of work, Strasburg struck out nine, walked two and gave up three hits.  He left the mound to a standing ovation from the crowd who, mind you, was hosting his Syracuse Chiefs.  The crowd applauded him for spanking the home team.  It was unreal.

But with Strasburg, arguably the most hyped prospect in recent memory, unreal is the only way to look at it.  His fastball clocked consistently at 96, his changeup was faster than most Red Wings and Chiefs pitchers fastballs and he had, what I dub, a “Looney Tune” curve (you know how in those cartoons the ball curves and curves so the batter can never hit it?  It was like that).

Rochester is a city that very rarely gets talent of this caliber this to pass through.  When it does happen—like when Terrell Owens came to Buffalo Bills Training Camp or when LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers played a preseason game at the Blue Cross Arena—it’s a huge deal.  Our news stations blow it up and promote the hell out of it.  Frontier Field opened up their lawn area and created seats behind the outfield wall, just so they could accommodate the anticipated mob.  They pulled out all the stops to make Stephen Strasburg’s visit everything it could be.  It was worth it, without a doubt.

After the game, I, along with around 250 other Strasburg fans, waited outside the stadium for an hour and a half hoping to get an autograph or even a closer glimpse of the superstar.  When he finally did come out of the locker room, I was shocked, to be honest, by what he looked like up close.  The six-four, 240 pound monster he was on the mound did not transfer well into street clothes.  He looked like one of the college junior’s I’d see in the computer lab at 2 AM.  Even when I was but four inches away from him (as he signed my baseball!) I noticed pimples on his face and unshaven peach fuzz.  Normally, with these superstar young pitchers, you can see their muscles pop and their face looking like Brad Pitt’s.  Not with Strasburg.  I have no clue where his power comes from.  But I know it’s there, and I know that if anyone gets the chance to see this kid pitch in person no matter the capacity, they must take it.

I’m very confident that when he finally gets his turn in the Nationals rotation, he will light up the MLB.  He will be a pitcher major-league batters fear.  But most importantly, he’ll be a guy fifteen years down the road that I’ll say I saw pitch at Frontier Field.  After all, isn’t that why we go to minor-league games anyway?

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