The Phenom: Stephen Strasburg in the Moment When Anything Is Possible

How would you handle being labeled great – and potentially the best ever -- before you’ve really done anything?

For baseball fans, there has never been a night quite like next Tuesday, June 8 promises to be. That’s the night Stephen Strasburg will make his first start for the Washington Nationals. Baseball long ago coined the word ‘phenom’ (pronounced FEE-nom) for players like him – short for ‘phenomenon.’

Strasburg is the most hyped rookie ballplayer in generations, and maybe ever. In a sport that normally consigns its prospects to years of apprenticeship in the minor leagues, the only reason he spent the past few months in the minors was financial (down the road, it will allow the Nationals to control him for an additional year before he becomes a free agent). So he’s spent the early part of 2010 toiling in Harrisburg (AA ball) and Syracuse (AAA). He hasn’t belonged at those levels (though no one’s complaining -- he has certainly sold a lot of tickets). Never has a player commanded this kind of consensus among scouts and observers:  all the evidence indicates he will be great, immediately.

If he can stay healthy, he should be a Hall of Famer.

However, the expectations aren’t just for unparalleled success on the field. He is being greeted as the savior of baseball in Our Nation’s Capital. If you’re not much of a baseball fan and the name ‘Washington Nationals’ doesn’t ring a bell, it’s understandable. DC went without a team for over 30 years, and this team has only been here since 2005.  Since then, they’ve had to try to build a fan base in a football (and now hockey) town with a consistently bad team. Their nice new ballpark sits mostly empty for games -- and thanks to DC’s ‘everyone’s from somewhere else’ character, many of those present on any given night are rooting for the visiting team. For those who take the spontaneous approach to attending ballgames, it’s appealingly easy to take in a game – just show up, there are plenty of tickets! But most would trade convenience for actual baseball excitement and games that matter.

What does the Phenom mean to Washington? Unverified internet rumors that his first start would take place on June 4 led to a run on tickets, with the game nearly selling out. Everyone – whether a Nats fan or a bandwagon-jumper -- wanted to be there for the beginning of something wonderful, to be able to say they saw the debut of the great Strasburg.

The team threw a curveball (though surely not as good as one of Strasburg’s), announcing that his first appearance would actually be June 8. So tickets to that game quickly disappeared. One wonders what the atmosphere will be line on the 4th, among all the people who will see just another game, if they even show up.

What people are seeking isn’t just a look at a ballplayer. They are looking for a jolt of wonder, the wonder we sometimes feel when we see one another doing the remarkable things we have been made capable of doing. It doesn’t really make sense, but sometimes, sports can bring us joy.

Of course, buried somewhere deep within the myth of the Phenom is Stephen Strasburg, Human Being. He’s 21 years old -- just a kid a few years out of high school, really. And a kid whose baseball experience is several years of (stunning) success at the college level, and now a few months of (astounding) success in the bush leagues.

What is it like to be him right now? He appears confident, but he must understand that the attention outstrips anything he’s done in his short life to date. In public he appears unflappable, and guards his thoughts closely, speaking in ballplayer platitudes. Still, he has to feel the weight of it all, doesn’t he? The thing that makes it all so crazy is probably also what makes it bearable for him -- he’s only 21 and doesn’t understand just how big it all is, how many eyes are on him.

The only analogies that come to mind in recent sports history – prospects labeled superstars long before they competed against the world’s best competition – are Tiger Woods and LeBron James. And, at least between the lines, they’ve both lived up to the hype (though after 13 years, Tiger has now become a cautionary tale of how it can all go wrong). If Strasburg ends up in that kind of company as a player, tickets for his first game are probably worth the trouble it takes to get them.

So what will next Tuesday be? Will it be the debut of a storied career of one of the all-time greats, the man who puts baseball on the map in Washington? Will the Phenom be validated as a reality?  
In this moment of youthful promise, the sky seems to be the limit. He may amaze us with things we’ve never seen before. Anything is possible.

Or is this moment, before it all starts, the peak? Will Tuesday be the beginning of a downhill ride for Stephen Strasburg, Human Being – will he be dragged down to mortality by injuries, or the personal issues that so often accompany fame, or simply the tough competition in a humbling sport?

Reflecting on the incredible weight of hopes and dreams on his young shoulders, it’s hard not to wish success for Strasburg.

7:05 pm Tuesday, June 8, 2010. Pittsburgh Pirates at Washington Nationals. We wait, ready for wonder.