Flashback: As Stephen Strasburg Retires, We Remember His Debut
Image credit: WASHINGTON - JUNE 23: Stephen Strasburg #37 of the Washington Nationals throws in the bullpen before a game against the Kansas City Royals at Nationals Park on June 23, 2010 in Washington, DC. The Royals defeated the Nationals 1-0 (Photo by Rob Tringali/SportsChrome/Getty Images)
Stephen Strasburg’s MLB career had plenty of high points. He was World Series MVP in 2019, a three-time all-star and the National League strikeout leader in 2014.
But with the Washington Post reporting that Strasburg plans to retire after struggle to come back from surgery to deal with thoracic outlet syndrome, we wanted to take a step back to one of the most enjoyable days in prospect watcher history.
On June 8, 2010, Strasburg made his incredibly highly anticipated MLB debut. Considering that he had just finished one of the best careers in recent college baseball history, it seemed nearly impossible that he would live up to or even exceed expectations, but with an electric 14-strikeout performance against the Pirates, he did just that.
Strasburg would have other great outings, but he topped that 14-strikeout debut only once during his MLB career (he had a 15-strikeout game some six years later).
For anyone who worked at Baseball America at that time, June 8 ranks as one of the greatest days of your work life. Because of the MLB Draft, everyone was still working when the 7 p.m. ET start arrived. So everyone in the office stopped what they were doing and gathered in the break room to watch Strasburg’s first inning.
We all went back to work as soon as Strasburg finished the first with the exception of one person. But he yelled out that the second inning was starting, and the stampede returned again.,
So step into a time capsule with us to remember what it felt like the day the top pitching prospect in baseball was utterly electric. Remember when Tony Gwynn was still with us and beaming as he watched the player he coached at San Diego State dominate.
