Washington Nationals phenom Stephen Strasburg is scheduled to make the first road appearance of his career at Progressive Field against the Indians on Sunday. His debut, at home against Pittsburgh, was nearly record-setting, as he K’d 14 Pirates in seven innings. His strikeout total in a first game has been bettered only once, by Houston’s J.R. Richard.
↵The hype over Strasburg has buzzed all around baseball this spring, from his beginning in Double-A Harrisburg to his stop at Triple-A Syracuse and now into the major’s. It resembles the attention that Roger Clemens got when he broke in for Boston. The Indians also had their own version of the hype when Steve Dunning came up in1970, although Dunning, sadly, did not fulfill the promise he seemed so full of.
↵Let’s hope Mother Nature cooperates and Sunday’s game can be played without interruption. It will probably be a sellout, and it will be good for the focus of baseball to be on Cleveland, at least for a day.