We had our first Stephen Strasburg media blowup earlier this week. The Nationals’ No. 1 draft pick was confused and a little annoyed that a handful of reporters showed up for his first workout at the team’s spring training complex in Florida. No big deal. Just a 21-year-old kid getting used to the attention that comes with being pinned a phenom.
But his ornery remarks to the assembled reporters led to columns chastising Strasburg and others defending him. This isn’t the first time Strasburg has been miffed at the media. During his very first conference call, he sniped at a reporter from the New York Times who asked if there was anything to learn from elite pitching prospects who failed to meet expectations. Now, the question was poorly worded and on its own could cause offense.
“I’m sorry, but what would I learn from other top picks?,” was the brusque response. Fair point. Probably nothing. It was obvious that Strasburg thought the question absurd. Which is fine – except he can expect to field about 500 absurd questions every year for the rest of his career. No sport gives reporters more time to come up with them than baseball.
This isn’t to kill Strasburg, who went from obscurity to national phenom in less than 18 months. He deserves some slack and fans don’t care how he deals with reporters, anyway. But his first start in the prestigious Arizona Fall League next month? ESPN will be there. His first warm-up toss in spring training? In front of a half-dozen local television cameras and dozens of reporters. And even if he doesn’t begin 2010 in the big leagues, the team’s minor-league affiliates are a close drive for fans and local media. At low-A Hagerstown, Double-A Harrisburg or – especially – at Single-A Potomac, in nearby Woodbridge, Va., it would be a mob scene if Strasburg pitches next spring.
It’s against the nature of a baseball player to treat one particular game as an “event”. They are creatures of habit with no one contest more important than another. But when Strasburg pitches it will be an event every single time. Dealing with that is as important to his development as anything that happens on the field.
In other Nats news, the club is finally returning home from its long road trip to Chicago, St. Louis and San Diego. After an off day Thursday, Washington faces the Marlins at home this weekend, gets another day off Monday and hosts the defending world champion Phillies Tuesday through Thursday. The organization received a welcome result from the minors on Thursday when its Gulf Coast League affiliate swept the league championship series from the Florida Marlins’ GCL team. Based out of Washington’s spring training complex in Viera, Fla., the GCL club pays on the lowest rung in the Nats’ minor-league system.
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