Strasburg Mania Continues

Got this email from my friend John with the Nationals:

By now most, if not all of you are aware that Stephen Strasburg pitched pretty well during his Major League debut this past Tuesday. Some tidbits from his performance:

*More than 200 members of the press were credentialed for Strasburg’s Major League debut. About the same number for a League Championship Series game.

*More tickets were sold for this game at Nationals Park than for any other game in Nationals history.

*As of today, ticket sales for Strasburg’s next home start (June 18 or 19th barring rain) have exceeded

30,000.

*More than 165,000 households in the Washington region watched the game on TV. The highest viewing ever for any Nationals game.

*For Strasburg’s start this Sunday at Cleveland, the Indians have already sold 10,000 more tickets since his MLB debut Tuesday.

*TBS has dumped their scheduled national Sunday telecast of the Phillies vs. the Red Sox in favor of the Nationals vs. the Indians.

*FOX has picked up the Nationals vs. Chicago as their national game on Saturday, June 19.

*MLB Network has scheduled our Friday June 18th game as their national TV game.

It is amazing as to the impact of one player on a team, MLB and on a city. In Stephen Strasburg’s case his impact was felt around the country as well. It was the rarest of cases where the performance far exceeded the hype. As noted in my last letter there are 24 other players on the Nationals that make up a team. During Strasburg’s debut the nation got to see our big three-Ryan Zimmerman, Adam Dunn and Josh Willingham-go yard. They saw Hall-of-Fame bound catcher Pudge Rodriguez steady the nerves of a 21 year old so much so that he had arguably the best MLB debut for a pitcher ever with 14 strikeouts and no walks. They saw the “Wild Thing”, Tyler Clippard, pitch a scoreless 8th inning while striking out two more Pirates and then the major league leader in saves, Matt Capps-a Pittsburgh castoff-record his Major League leading 19th save in the 9th. The Nationals expect to win on the field. And we expect to deliver results for our partners and fans alike. Expect it!

And finally I leave you with the Top Ten list of little known facts about Stephen Strasburg as read on Letterman last night Enjoy!

Last night’s Top Ten list was “Little-Known Facts About Stephen Strasburg.” The list was read via satellite from Nationals Park in DC by the rookie pitcher. CBS’ David Letterman: “This guy is already selling tickets. In his Major League debut for the Washington Nationals, struck out 14 batters against the Pittsburgh Pirates and went on to win that ballgame 5-2. He has four incredible pitches. He has a 91-mile-an-hour changeup. He has a curveball – the only way you can see this curveball is if you actually have seats in the parking lot. It breaks that severely, honest to God, and I spent seven years of my life in the Dominican Republic as a scout so I know what I’m talking about” (“Late Show,” CBS, 6/10).

10) “To keep my focus on pitching, I sleep on a mound of dirt.”

9) “Every morning I spread Icy Hot on my toast.”

8) “Got 3 of my 14 strikeouts while Twittering.”

7) “To celebrate my first big league win, I bought a hot tub time machine.”

6) “I wasn’t really good till I got bitten by that radioactive spider.”

5) “Dumb guys think I directed ‘E.T.'”

4) “I also scored the winning goal for the Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Finals.”

3) “I blew my signing bonus on laser back hair removal.”

2) “Don’t even try to talk to me before a start or while I’m watching ‘Glee.'”

1) “If I would have known I’d be on Letterman, I wouldn’t have pitched so well.”