Merry Strasmas!

It's Christmas in June at Nats Park today as Stephen Strasburg, a "once in a lifetime" pitching prospect, makes his major league debut. First pitch is in less than an hour and the publicity over the whole event has been ridiculous. After tickets sold out (which is quite rare for a Nubbinals game) the Nats released 2,000 standing room only tickets at 2pm today. Fans started lining up at 5:30am for the standing room tickets.

If you live under a rock or only read this blog for the gay pop culture posts, Stephen Strasburg is a 21 year old pitcher drafted first overall by the Nats last summer. He signed a record $15.1 million dollar deal and has been dominating the minors ever since. ESPN called him the "most hyped pick in draft history" and he has done nothing since then to let us down. He gets to face the lowly Pirates tonight - 3rd (or should I say 4th) perfect game of the season anyone? Strasburg attacks hitters with a 100 MPH fastball and then can buckle their knees with an 80 MPH curve. I think everyone in D.C. is expecting nothing short of a Steve Nebraska performance tonight. SI just wrote an article about Strasburg's debut, calling it "the most hyped pitching debut the game has ever seen". If that isn't pressure I don't know what is. You can catch the game on MLB Network. Enjoy the poem below.

The Night Before Strasmas (by Billy Blog Thornton)

'Twas the night before Strasmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The gloves were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that Stephen Strasburg soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of strikeouts danced in their heads;

Merry Strasmas to all, and to all a good night!