Barb’s Burblings

A while back, a coworker walked up to me and asked me whether I watched the game the night before. I emphatically said that no, I hadn’t. “Wow, I’m surprised,” she said. Which makes sense. She knows that I’m a baseball fan. How could I not watch Stephen Strasburg’s major league debut?

The answer is: I am so incredibly sick of Strasburg that I could scream. All spring, the Washington Post has had article after article after article about Strasburg. And I’m not talking about only the days he pitched. No, no. That would make too much sense. I’m talking about articles practically every day. (Well, they had to fill the space somehow, seeing how the Redskins aren’t playing.) If I wanted to see last night’s box score, I had to dig through the Strasburg News of the Day.

I had hoped that his debut would lessen the talk. Unfortunately, much like how I hoped that winning a World Series might shut Red Sox fans up a bit, I was sadly mistaken. I understand that he’s an incredibly good pitcher. Really. I get that. But can we stop talking about him all the time? And making excuses for when he isn’t totally brilliant? “He walked 5 men in 5.1 innings? The mound was messed up.” Well, the other pitcher walked 3 in 5.2…but who notices that? He gave up 9 hits in 6 innings? They were bloopers. The other pitcher? Five hits and 2 walks in 6. Which means, even with the walks, that he allowed two fewer men on base…but obvously that doesn’t matter.

And now, it’s all talk about whether or not he should go to the All-Star Game. No. No, he should not. Even if he wins his next couple of starts, no. And not because I’m sure he’ll being going to All-Star Games for the next 20 years, which is a lot of people’s arguments. It’s because he hasn’t even played a half-season in the major leagues. You want to send a pitcher from the Nationals to the ASG? Send Matt Capps. He’s been awesome for them.

If you’re looking for an illustration of what I’m talking about, let’s turn to the O’s-Nats game on Friday. Out of nowhere, Rob Dibble is like, “Let’s talk about Stephen Strasburg.” What? Why? So blah blah blah about Strasburg. The Nats’ announcers annoy me enough already (every single play is one of the best ever; if Zimmerman lays his hand on a ball, it’s all, “Well, that’s what having a All-Star/Gold Glover/best third basemen in the majors will do”–even if the play isn’t that challenging), but to add that? Kill me. I muted it. A few minutes later, I unmuted…to hear “Strasburg.” And quickly muted it again.

Look, again, I get it. But you know what? Crap happens. People get injured. They get into accidents. Weird things happen. Hopefully, Strasburg will still be pitching in 20 years. But it’s not something you can count on. Enjoy him now, but realize there’s a lot else going on.

Not that everyone else is helping. I flipped over to the Yankees-Dodgers game last night only to hear one of the announcers ask the other whether Strasburg should be an All Star. That sound? Was me throwing my remote against the wall.

(Also? Strasburg has stupid facial hair.)