Not since Mark “The Bird” Fidrych came onto the scene in 1976 has a pitcher generated as much fan interest as the Washington Nationals’ phenom, Stephen Strasburg. But Fidrych was an unknown who created a buzz that eventually led to sellouts at home – nearly doubling a typical Tigers’ home game crowd – and on the road. Strasburg has achieved unparalleled popularity out of the gate.

His anticipated home game starts sell out in hours. In his first effort, he delivered a 14 strikeout, no walk performance against the Pittsburgh Pirates (ok, not exactly a powerhouse lineup). Still, that’s a feat Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan did just once in 27 major league seasons. A guy with the control of Strasburg – AND a fastball that reaches 100mph – that is a true rarity.

His second outing, at Cleveland, was less spectacular but he still delivered a dominant performance against the Indians. And the crowd of just under 33,000 was nearly double what the Indians have been drawing.

Round 3? Another home sellout and impressive showing by the kid – 10 strikeouts and no walks, one run in seven innings. The strikeouts set a record for a pitcher at the outset of a career with 32 whiffs in his first three starts.

Scoresheet owners that managed to snag the 2009 number one overall pick in the MLB draft are surely looking forward to years of dominance from the kid, as are the Nats. And Washington still has 2010 number one pick Bryce Harper to look forward to. Any Scoresheet owners that managed to snag that combo should also be set up nicely for the future.

This should be fun to watch gang…