He’s making fans hungry for more

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This article was published 10/06/2010 (5892 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WASHINGTON — The baseball world rubbed its eyes Wednesday morning, shook its head and thought: "Did that really happen?"

Restaurants in the nation’s capital started renaming menu items after a certain young pitcher, including one place that is now serving a "Strasburger" with 14 pickles — one for each strikeout.

In Cleveland, where the sequel plays on Sunday, the box office had a run on tickets — 3,000 sold in less than 24 hours.

A day earlier, Stephen Strasburg, last year’s overall No. 1 draft pick, pitching before a stading-room-only crowd and seemingly oblivious to the incredible hype, had one of the best pitching debuts in major league history. He struck out 14, walked none, hit 100 miles an hour on the stadium radar gun and thoroughly embarrassed the Pittsburgh Pirates over seven innings Tuesday night in a 5-2 victory.

"I think everybody in baseball watched him yesterday," Milwaukee Brewers slugger Corey Hart said before his team’s game against the Chicago Cubs. "I think it’s impressive just because you obviously watch him pitch and he’s really good, but to be able to overcome everything that was on his shoulders… That’s a lot of pressure, and he was able to overcome it."

But if you ask Strasburg himself, he hardly noticed the fuss.

Sure, the 21-year-old from San Diego relished the fact that he was achieving his dream of pitching in the majors and was moved when he saw his father shed a tear or two for the first time, but he otherwise shrugged off the glare the same way he dismissed the Pittsburgh hitters. "I try and stick away from all the media stuff, so I really don’t know what you’re referring to," he said Wednesday when asked about the national attention he was getting.

How did he celebrate Tuesday night?

"Just went home," he told reporters. "You guys kept me here till midnight. I needed some sleep."

Strasburg continues to exude both humility and extreme confidence.

 

— The Associated Press