The Bah Humbug of Stephen Strasburg

Teams hold fan conventions in the off-season to keep interest high—this will be the year, that won’t happen again.  Players and front-office people make nice, everybody has a good time.  No one is really supposed to make news at one of these things, but that didn’t stop Stephen Strasburg.

The Nationals’ star right hander used his team’s fan convention last week to say he’s inclined to skip pitching in any more All-Star games, the next of which just so happens to be in Washington.  Apparently, the extra effort threw off Strasburg’s routine at last summer’s game, to the detriment of his arm.  At least Strasburg thinks it did.

The 29-year old, whose injuries have included Tommy John surgery in 2010, said, “I was on such a good program with the training staff and massage therapists; I was in this routine.  Then all of a sudden you’re asked to throw, potentially pitch, maybe not, but not have any access or ability to really stick to your routine.  Once that’s over, it’s like right back into it: bullpen, day off, game.  I just know that little lapse, for whatever reason, it pushed me back a bit.  It started making my arm hurt.”

How do you tell a player fearing injury he’s wrong?  Dizzy Dean suffered a broken toe in the 1937 All-Star Game and that threw off his mechanics leading to arm injury and a shortened career.  Of course, it would have been nice had Strasburg cited Ol’ Diz as precedent for his thinking.  It also would have been nice had Strasburg addressed fans directly.  If not at the All-Star Game, when and where can they expect to see him?

Strasburg almost didn’t pitch against the Cubs in the NLCS in October because of the flu, or what Dusty Baker thought was the flu when he said Strasburg wouldn’t be pitching, only he did pitch (and won).  Fans want to see their heroes conquer adversity, to be like Michael Jordan and overcome food poisoning to win the big game.  In the end, it’s what they’re paid to do.  The All-Star Game isn’t the postseason, but strike out six batters in a row, and see what that does to your earning potential, to say nothing of your reputation.  If you’re too afraid to seize one stage, will you know when to seize another?