Strasburg a 'Sensational', 'Spectacular' 'Stunner'

Sportswriters need some new terms to describe Stephen Strasburg, says word ref Delia Cabe on Boston.com. "Wunderkind" is overdone when talking about the Nats', well, wunderkind, she opines in her "All the Cliches Fit to Print" essay.

Cabe writes:

Wunderkind. Did you hear about Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg? A wunderkind. Also, some bloggers, a convicted real estate mogul, conductors, musicians, writers, ad infinitum. You’d be surprised how many wunderkinds there are out there.

C'mon, are the baseball pundits out there really that lazy and simple-minded? I mean, Batter Chatter would never fall into the trap of spitting out the same hackneyed terms used by mediocre sportswriters who are biding their time until their Chapt. 11 owner offers them a buyout.

Er, in fact, we did. In a post a few weeks ago about people describing Strasburg's repertoire in video-game terms, we said this:

Today of course marks the Major League debut of wunderkind pitcher Stephen Strasburg, and the MLB Network is capitalizing on the monstrous interest in the Nationals' #1 pick by showing the game tonight...

It seems Strasburg is simply too much of a wunderkind to describe him any other way: his age, his ability, his Germanic surname.

Dictionary.com defines "wunderkind" as "1. a wonder child or child prodigy. 2. a person who succeeds, esp. in business, at a comparatively early age."

Certainly both apply to Strasburg.

Then over to Thesaurus.com (will my children ever know what an actual reference book feels like?), where the suggested synonyms include: brain*, child genius, curiosity, enormity, freak*, genius, intellect, marvel, mastermind, miracle, monster, natural, one in a million, phenomenon, portent, rare bird, rarity, sensation, spectacle, stunner, talent, whiz kid, whiz*, wizard, wonder, wonder child. (The * denotes informal usage.)

We promise to not use wunderkind to describe Strasburg, who turns 22 next month, in these cyber-pages for a period of not less than 18 months--at which point Strasburg may still be a "wunder" (meaning "wonderful," according to Google's German-to-English translation), but most certainly will not be a "kind" (a "child", per Google Translate).

ESPN.com scribe Rick Reilly uses a loose translation of wunderkind in his name for Strasburg, "The Superkid."

Another baseball writer cliche made Delia Cabe's list: embattled. Among the "embattled" folks kicked around in the media these days are BP boss Tony Hayward, of course, Lindsay Lohan, GOP chairman Michael Steele, and Mets skipper Jerry Manuel.

Manuel of course was embattled before the Mets' recent hot streak, though dropping a pair this week in Puerto Rico likely has Jerry back in the 'battle.


[image: Yahoo]

It Is Unclear if Strasburg is 'Nuclear'

A piece on ESPN.com today compares the hype surrounding Stephen Strasburg's nascent career to other media circus events in baseball history, such as the Sosa-McGwire home run derby of 1998 and Doc Gooden's unforgettable rookie campaign in 1984.

Fireballer Kerry Wood is also included on the list, after he struck out 20--while walking none and allowing one hit--in his fifth career start back in 1998. Here at Batter Chatter (not to be confused with '80s snack food Better Cheddar), we like to detail how various baseball terms pop up and catch on.

Jerry Crasnick's ESPN story suggests that the term "electric", as in a pitcher having an electric fastball, was hatched around the same time Kerry Wood's arm was trouble-free and he was mowing down every hitter in his path.

"There's a new term being used in baseball these days: electric," veteran scout Gordon Lakey said that season. "Like, 'This guy has an electric fastball' or 'This guy has an electric curveball.' Well, this guy ain't electric. He's nuclear."

Interesting.

It doesn't seem as though "nuclear" ever caught on. Maybe it's because the word calls to mind bombs and the utter annhilation of nations, or because it's hard to say--hey, no lighter luminary than our 43rd president had lots of difficulty saying "nuclear."

Unfortunately, Kerry Wood, with a Pavano-esque knack for injuries both mundane and bizarre--the guy once was injured climbing out of a hot tub--didn't stay "nuclear" for long. Sadly, Wood--who turns 33 today, as luck would have it--is hardly even "electric" anymore.

[image: wikipedia.org]

Even Better Than a Saturday Night Special

Friday night lights is all about football, right?

I mean, there was Friday Night Lights, the book, and Friday Night Lights, the movie, and Friday Night Lights, the TV series--each one looking at our violent other pastime in the dusty Texas plains under the lights, with the whole town watching as a strapping kid named Cody throws three TDs and runs for four more.

Surely kids down in the ol' Don't Mess With state carry Friday Night Lights lunchboxes to school, emblazoned with their favorite gridiron stars.

But don't count baseball out of the Friday night, under the lights action.

Reds pitching wunderkind Mike Leake was described by Mets slugger Ike Davis in the NY Times as "our Friday night guy" while both played at Arizona State. (Freaky stat of the day: Leake is not only 5-0, but is hitting .417 this season.)

An explanation from reporter Tyler Kepner:

The Friday night pitcher is the ace of a college team, the one who pitches under the lights to open a weekend series.

Kepner adds that Nationals superman Stephen Strasburg too was, surprise surprise, a Friday Night Guy at San Diego State.

[image: baseballbeginnings.com]

Fun and 'Games' for Strasburg

Today of course marks the Major League debut of wunderkind pitcher Stephen Strasburg, and the MLB Network is capitalizing on the monstrous interest in the Nationals' #1 pick by showing the game tonight.

It may be the most eagerly awaited rookie pitcher start since portly pitcher Fernando "Eyes to the Sky" Valenzuela was taking the hill for the Dodgers back in '81.

One thing to look for amidst all the Strasburg hoopla--his pitching repertoire is so wicked (notice I didn't say "nasty") that pundits often compare it, not to other flesh-and-blood pitchers, but to video game pitchers. In short, mere mortals do not compare.

Harrisburg Senators closer Drew Storen had this to say about his former teammate:

“He’s got Nintendo stuff. You create a player on a video game, and that’s what he has. The ball just comes out differently from his hand. He does something that nobody else can do.”

Strasburg was also said to post video game-worthy statistics while at San Diego State. Strasburg turned a few heads when he struck out 23 against Utah back in 2008.

Reported the Las Vegas Sun:

His coach had never seen anything like it, and that’s saying something, because his coach has seen a lot. Tony Gwynn, a baseball Hall of Famer, once saw Kevin Brown strike out 16 Astros. But he never saw anybody strike out 23. That’s just crazy, Gwynn said.

“It was like a Nintendo game,” he said.

Writes BaseballDraftReport.com:

He also has Nintendo numbers through two seasons at San Diego State with 180 strikeouts, 31 walks, and 79 hits allowed — only 18 of them for extra bases — in 134.1 collegiate innings."

The first Stephen Strasburg-as-video game-reference I found came from none other than Tony Gwynn, MLB Hall of Famer and Strasburg's old coach at San Diego State.

Strasburg also tallied exBoxcellent numbers in the minors, reports Buffalo News.

Strasburg allowed just three hits, struck out nine and walked two. He's 3-0 in Triple-A, throwing 18 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing just four hits and four walks and fanning 22.

Those are PlayStation numbers.

Sadly, no one references Atari 2600 anymore. I remember Atari skiiing (good), hockey (very good) and track (lame), but did Atari ever do baseball?

Either way, get those joysticks out of storage--it's game on at 7 p.m. tonight.