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We can all get our lives back to normal! Stephen Strasburg has finally thrown his first pitch as a professional baseball player.
The number one overall pick in last year's First-Year Player Draft had wanted that first pitch - clocked at 99 mph on the radar gun - to be a strike. It wasn't.
But what a terrific debut for the 21-year-old right-hander: 5 innings on the mound, 4 hits, 4 runs allowed, one of them earned, 4 walks, and 8 strikeouts.
Talk about drawing a crowd - 7,877 were on hand in Altoona, Pa on Sunday to see Strasburg in person. No one left the ballpark disappointed. Most everyone departed knowing full well that this kid has everything it takes to be a big league pitcher, and it's just a matter of time before he'll be wearing a Washington Nationals uniform.
But one thing we can all take to the bank: Nats VP and GM Mike Rizzo is in no hurry to rush Strasburg to the Bigs.
The club has a plan in place. Heck, it's only one game as a professional; he's only thrown 82 pitches. The more starts he gets, the better the measuring stick will be.
And let's not forget that he might be able to help himself at the plate. The last three years, he never hit at San Diego State. That was Tony Gwynn, his coach's decision. Sunday, he banged out a double and eventually scored a run.
Randy Knorr is Strasburg's skipper at Harrisburg and was impressed with how tough a young man Strasburg is on the mound - Tough, but still humble...
See you this weekend at Nationals Park.
