What seems to be the obvious trend these days is the anointing of the next savior in sports before he or she (pfff, woman's sports...chea right) ever plays a single professional contest. Each respective sport has done this...with the help of ESPN. ESPN took hockey and shoved Sidney Crosby down our yaps. With basketball it was LeBron James (nice game the other night by the way), soccer it was Freddy Adu, and with football, it was Shotgun Jesus himself, Timothy Richard "Jean Shorts" Tebow.
So, why, why oh why, would I ever think that baseball would be spared this kind of completely logical assesment of someone who hasn't reached the Big Leagues yet? Yes, I am talking about Stephen Strasburg. Now, don't get me wrong, Strasburg himself should not be condemned for this. He has been quite a spectacle merely on his talent alone, which in this era of sports is miraculous. But let's be realistic, the kid is dominating the minor leagues. He hasn't pitched a major league inning. Joe Borchard used to tear up the minors, and look at his career stats in the majors. Not to diminish Strasburg's performance at this point, because quite frankly, it has been alarming, but this need by quote on quote "baseball experts" to attach a stigma of transcendence to a player who has yet to pitch at the highest level is only setting the kid up for failure.
What makes it so frustrating to watch is there is a network that has such an appetite for this kind of grandiose storyline that they seemingly force feed it at all costs. This is exactly what ESPN did yesterday with Karl Ravich, and Curt Schilling. During the course of the interview with Schilling, who knows excellence better than anyone citing that he channeled God during game 6 of the 2004 ALCS against the Yankees, Schilling made the following, rock solid prediction about Stephen Strasburg:
"If he comes up to the big leagues, which he will in the next probably month, you know, some period of time before the halfway point of the season, he'll immediately potentially be the best pitcher in the game."
Wow, immediately potentially!? I haven't heard a statement with that much conviction since an NFL scout once said of Al Del Greco, "He is quite possibly unquestionably potentially presently without a doubt the most accurate kicker I've ever seen...sort of." You can't find analysis that lock down reliable anywhere but ESPN.
My issue with this is it seems as if Schilling believes the kid is good, as do I and the rest of the baseball world, and Schilling seems to believe Strasburg very well could become great, but it also seems as if he's being forced to make projections about the kid that any current or former athlete this side of Ryan Leaf's view of reality knows isn't fair. Does Strasburg have all the tools to become one of the best we've ever seen? Absolutely. Does he have all the make-up and intangebles that make up a future ace of a staff? Of course. The problem then? This is exactly what everyone was saying about Mark Prior when he was the next big thing in sports.
Prior, as we all know, was a very good pitcher until injuries derailed his career. That is, in essence, my entire point. Let this kid earn the right to be the greatest of all time, rather than thrust this onto his back and force him to carry it throughout his career. This seems to be necessary so that if Strasburg does fail, ESPN has a spoon fed narrative about how much of a bust he was. The reality is that pitchers, more than any athletes in sports, are prone to unexpected physical break downs, thus impeding their progress as pitchers at any level, making it hard to fulfill what one's potential was. Take it from someone who has his own shoulder carved up and pieced back together. It's a very humbling experience when you try to come back from surgery and realize that your fastball isn't quite as fast as you or any hitter you've ever faced remembered it, or your breaking ball is now just, well, a ball. Trying to reinvent yourself from sixty feet six inches isn't the easiest thing to do, especially when you have the natural talent that has been bestowed on Stephen Strasburg's right shoulder. It would be unfair to conclude any injury suffered by Stephen Strasburg would mean his career's imminent doom, but it's something we can't predict, so why try?
Please, ESPN, don't force this kid into my living room every night and have people who are as sane as Curt Schilling make such ridiculous, and,uh, confusing statements to the point I can no longer respect or enjoy this kid's journey. Report on what he is doing, not on what he should or may do. Give me updates, not prophecies. Please, let me relish in the journey of this young man, and do him a favor...let him earn his place in history.
-Ben Wills
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