I couldn't help but be reminded of Kerry Wood's 5th career start in 1998 when he struck out 20 Houston Astros and came within an eyelash of a no-hitter. One major difference between that start and Strasburg was I feel much better about Strasburg's mechanics than I did Wood (then again I liked Mark Prior's mechanics too, so take it with a grain of salt). Another interesting correlation is that both Wood and Strasburg had the same manager in Jim Riggleman. You recall that earlier this season Riggleman apologized for leaving Wood in games too long and for letting Wood's pitch-count reach the 120's on several occasions. Well apparently Riggleman wasn't paying lip service to his apology because he didn't even let Strasburg throw 100 pitches tonight, even though he certainly had to be tempted to let him take the mound in the 8th inning.
Anyway, I know it was against the Pirates - who don't really know how to play against anybody not named the Chicago Cubs, but still this was a debut that belongs as one of the best of all time. There are only two other pitchers that struck out more hitters than Strasburg in their debut, and they are J.R. Richard in 1971 and Karl Spooner in 1954. It bears pointing out though, that BOTH Richard and Spooner needed 9 innings to get to 15 strikeouts. So considering they got 6 more outs, it really adds to how remarkable Strasburg was tonight.
Hopefully it's the start of good things to come for both him, and for the ever increasing attendance figures of National fans.
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