Wednesday, June 9, 2010

What a night

What can I say about last night's Strasburg game that hasn't already been said? I won't even try. Today has been great. My mood has been excellent all day. One of my first thoughts early this morning is that the day feels like a Monday morning after a big Redskins victory. I've had a close friend who has been very critical of the Nats over the past few years make the change and say he's a Nats fan. The National media has been all over the Strasburg game, and the local media all of a sudden feels like they want to talk Nats and Strasburg. I guess that's part of the territory.

I asked a group of friends on email earlier today that I wonder if many of these new fans even know that there is a game tonight as well? As I'm typing right now, they are showing a "crowd shot" of Nationals Park at first pitch. It's overcast, and it looks like "fan base" night. "Fan Base" nights are what I call the nights that only the season ticket holders show up.

The next two starts for Strasburg look to be this Sunday in Cleveland, and then 5 days after that for his 2nd home start on the 18th against the White Sox. I will probably get tickets for the 18th.

A couple of random facts I've heard about Strasburg and the game last night. MASN2 drew a 7.1 local rating. Apparantly that is a better rating than any Capitals game this entire season including post season except for one. Also, the Nats increased revenue by $1.5million for his start. Strasburg set a franchise record for K's with 14. The previous record was 13 by John Patterson.

Things I noticed. It looked like Strasburg was throwing two different curve balls last night. He threw the big nasty hook, but then also seemed to be throwing more of a biter. Also, upon a second (and third and fourth) viewing of the 7th inning, I loved Dibble's reaction/call to the final strike. I can't do it justice in type, but he basically just yelled in excitement. And finally, my favorite pitch of the night was probably his 2nd to last pitch that he threw. It was that big nasty hook and all in one motion it looked like Pudge was so thrilled with the pitch that he caught the ball and side arm slinged it back to the mound all in one "hell yeah" motion.

All in all it was a great night. I will always remember watching this game with my wife and daughter. I will also remember getting multiple text messages from friends asking "what channel is the game on"? Verizon 001. Comcast 844. I sent that response many times.

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