By DAN GLICKMAN
Stephen Strasburg made only two starts for the Rochester Red Wings, and only one of those starts came at home. And yet, reports on Thursday that the 2019 World Series MVP is about to retire remind us of the unforgettable memories he left fans in the Flower City. That may be because Strasburg’s major league career was in some ways bracketed by his trips to Rochester.
His first trip to Rochester, in 2010, was as a visiting player, an up-and-coming prospect. No, as the up-and-coming prospect.
Plenty of great, well-hyped pitchers have taken the mound in Rochester on their way up to the big leagues in my lifetime, both before and after Strasburg. The most notable, by sheer number, was when Hideki Irabu came to Rochester in 1997. Nearly 13-and-a-half thousand people were there, and if Irabu’s career had gone better, many more would have claimed to have been there. Those old enough can still remember the wall-to-wall number of people, and how the Red Wings got to the Japanese flamethrower before completing a comeback against the Columbus bullpen. If you were leaving after that game, you’d have seen the grassy knolls for standing-room attendance practically paved with crushed beer cans.
Strasburg, though, was even greater than that. By 2010, information on minor leaguers and prospects had become far more available, so most people knew what they were getting. While Irabu had some mystery about him as one of the first power pitchers to come from Japan, in hindsight, much of the excitement for him came from the fact he was a Yankee. He could have filled Frontier Field even if he were pitching for Toledo or Norfolk, but likely not to the extent he did that 1997 night.
What brought over 12-and-a-half thousand fans to downtown Rochester on May 19, 2010, was almost entirely Strasburg. The clean-cut baby-faced Californian already had a legend about him: he’d played in college at San Diego State for the great Tony Gwynn, he’d been the lone collegiate ballplayer on an Olympic team that won bronze in Beijing, he had an ERA that you needed a microscope to see, and he could throw a ball 100 MPH before unleashing a jaw-dropping curve or a Bugs Bunny change-up. Strasburg would have brought people to the stadium regardless of what team he played for… even the young and lowly Washington Nationals and their AAA affiliate, the Syracuse Chiefs.
It was one of the nights that people like Red Wings general manager Dan Mason dream of: a packed house of people to watch the hometown team face the future of baseball. The previous day’s game had rained out, and there was a worry that Strasburg’s start would instead be a fairly non-descriptive day game, held when too many people would be working to go. The Nationals organization agreed to throw him in that night’s game instead, the second game of a rare day-night doubleheader. Those who were there can probably remember the pre-game scene: sports anchors from the local TV stations held court on the field, Strasburg merchandise on sale, and a huge group of people surrounded the Syracuse bullpen, waiting for Strasburg to come and warm up. Later on, it’d come out that Sports Illustrated had sent the award-winning Joe Posnanski to the game, and he’d write not one but two articles on it. He spoke to Rochester’s Mr. Baseball, Joe Altobelli, who had come to the game to see the rising ace-in-the-making. Altobelli compared Strasburg to Herb Score, a flamethrowing all-star for Cleveland in the fifties who eventually saw his career ended early by injury.
VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM JOE TERRITO.
When the game began, Strasburg lived up to the hype. The 2010 Red Wings were an ultimately disappointing team that finished 49-95. Still, they had players like Trevor Plouffe and Danny Valencia, who would eventually go on to have long careers in the big leagues. They also had a former big leaguer in Jacque Jones. It didn’t matter: Strasburg struck out nine Red Wings over six and a third innings , allowing three hits and walking two. When he left, fans gave him a standing ovation for dominating the home team. Someone later asked him why he didn’t tip his cap. He said he hadn’t proven anything.
Fast-forward to 2022. By then, Strasburg had proved plenty. A dominant debut on national television just a few weeks after his trip to Rochester, three All-Star selections, and, finally, the 2019 World Series, where he beat the mighty Houston Astros twice on his way to World Series MVP. And then came injuries. He’d always had some injury problems, but the ones that struck him after that World Series were different. More permanent.
That is why Stephen Strasburg returned to Rochester on June 3, 2022. It wouldn’t be the first time he wore a Red Wings uniform, having worn one during a road start the year before, but it was the first- and only- time he’d wear it in Rochester. By then, he had grown a beard, a far cry from the babyface of 2010. The crowd for him was smaller, too, about 10.5 thousand. They were still energetic to see him, even if there was no media circus like in 2010.
The fans that came got their money’s worth: he went five-and-two-third before even allowing a hit. He was no longer the flamethrower he had been, striking out just four, but he left after the sixth with the lead. He twice struck out the Blue Jays’ top prospect at the time, Gabriel Moreno. When Strasburg finished, he gave a few fist-bumps, spoke with the coaches, and went down into the clubhouse, never to be seen again.
Little did we know that would be the last good game that Strasburg would ever pitch. On June 9, less than a week later, Strasburg would pitch in what would ultimately be his final major league game, against Miami. He gave up seven runs in four-and-two-thirds innings. Strasburg went on the injured list a few days later, and he hasn’t pitched since. If reports are accurate, now he’ll never pitch again.
Baseball is a cruel game. Pitching, especially, can see careers end quickly. Like Herb Score, of whom Strasburg reminded Joe Altobelli, careers can be fleeting. Strasburg ultimately played in parts of 13 seasons, a few more than Score had, yet fewer than everyone would have liked. Strasburg will, in the weeks ahead, doubtless officially announce his retirement. A press conference will be held in Washington, questions will be asked, tears will perhaps be shed. The press nationally and in Washington will remember his greatest games: his debut start against the Pirates and his heroics against Houston will doubtless bookend most of these retrospectives. For people in Rochester, though, his retirement will bring different memories: of a young prospect on the cusp of stardom… and of a rehabbing veteran dominating on the mound for one last time.
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