On Friday the 13th, in June of 2008, the headline from the Salem Gazette blared "SALEM ACQUIRES FUTURE ACE!" Accompanying the headline was a story by a fanboy writer who boasted that the newly-acquired Stephen Strasburg's blazing fastball and pinpoint command were "a recipe for future stardom."
"We have had our eye on this kid since he made national headlines by striking out 23 batters in one game," proclaimed the team's handsome young 38-year-old GM. "There aren't too many pitchers in amateur baseball that you can point to and say, 'This guy is a franchise player,' but Stephen is definitely one of those guys...A guy like that comes along once in a decade."
Officially, the trade involved the Cowtippers dealing their #1 draft pick from the previous winter, Josh Vitters, along with a throw-in, to the Great Lakes Sphinx in exchange for Strasburg and a throw-in player. The two teams had agreed to that deal prior to the Chapter Four midseason farm draft, where Great Lakes held the #3 pick. Fortunately for Salem, both of the top two teams in that draft passed on Strasburg. In fact, only seven teams in the BDBL had listed Strasburg on their free agent form. Despite that apparent lack of interest, the backlash from the BDBL press corp was swift:
"Congrats, Mike," wrote Bobby Sylvester. "You've killed every ounce of happiness in my life."
"Can't get more lopsided than that," Jeff Paulson grumbled.
"You have got to be kidding me," Anthony Peburn whined. "Worst trade ever...This trade sucks, and there is no way Glander can rationalize it."
"I never even heard of the guy before last night," Mike Stein chimed in.
The lone voice begging for calmness and perspective came from, oddly enough, Tom DiStefano. "What's with all this bizarre hype?" he wrote. "The scouting reports are nice, but the reason for the big numbers is that he went to SD freaking State. In fact, having read some of the reports, I feel like I'm missing something. Is he even a starting pitcher?"
The rest, as they say, is history. Strasburg was selected with the first overall pick in the 2009 MLB amateur draft. He blazed through the minor leagues, and on June 8, 2010, he made his big league debut. It was among the most dominant debuts in MLB history. He tossed seven innings, and allowed two earned runs on no walks and fourteen strikeouts. He struck out every batter in the opposing Pittsburgh lineup at least once, whiffed the last seven batters he faced, and threw 34 of his 94 pitches at 98 miles per hour or faster.
With visions of future Cy Young awards dancing in the heads of Salem fans across the land, Strasburg's brilliant rookie season came to an abrupt end when he was removed from a game in July with a shoulder issue, and then was removed again in August -- this time with a torn UCL. Just like that, Strasburg's BDBL Hall of Fame career was put on hold for 12-to-18 months.
Stras made his BDBL debut in 2010, and posted an ERA that was nearly two runs higher (4.62) than the 2.91 ERA he flashed in his brief MLB debut. In 2010, he managed to rehab quickly enough that he earned five starts at the end of the MLB season. In the 2011 BDBL season, the Cowtippers made the most of those 25 innings, using him in relief, where he earned eight saves in twenty games, with a 1.79 ERA.
At long lost, Strasburg made his full-season BDBL debut in 2013, at age 24. He went 15-4 with a 3.65 ERA in 175 innings, with 222 strikeouts, earning three votes for the OL Cy Young award. At the end of that season, he was rewarded with the Salem Cowtippers' first franchise player designation. He signed an eight-year deal with the club that would take him through age 32. He followed that 2013 season with an even better performance in 2014: 16-7, 2.64 ERA in 201 innings, with 208 K's.
In 2015, Strasburg suffered through a strange season in which he allowed 37 home runs and posted a 4.01 ERA -- numbers that were nowhere near his MLB performance of 23 homers allowed and a 3.14 ERA.
Over the following two seasons, Strasburg dealt with one nagging injury after another, which limited his innings to just 139+ in 2016 and 157+ in 2017. His worst season came in 2017, when he posted a stunning 5.10 ERA in 157+ innings. Once again, his numbers that year paled in comparison to his MLB performance (3.60 ERA in 147+ IP.)
Strasburg's best season as a Cowtipper came in 2018, when he went 15-4, and posted a sparkling 2.26 ERA in 191+ innings, with 213 K's. He didn't earn a single first-place vote for Cy Young that year, as the award went nearly-unanimous to Chris Sale, but he did earn ten second-place votes and sixteen overall.
In Salem's championship year of 2019, Strasburg (10-7, 3.60 ERA in 140+ IP) did not play much of a role during the regular season. He did, however, contribute greatly in the Division and League Championship Series, allowing just two runs in seventeen innings. Although he posted a 4.96 ERA in the World Series, his crucial effort in Game Four helped to turn the tide of that series.
Strasburg's final two years under contract were his healthiest. He went 16-8 with a 3.85 ERA in 229 innings (285 K's) in 2020, and then went 15-12 with a 2.96 ERA in 201 innings (280 K's) last year. In a just and fair world, he would have ended his Salem career with a Cy Young award. The BDBL's voters are not just nor fair, so that award (for the second year in a row) went to the far-inferior Gerrit Cole instead. In the end, Strasburg received twelve votes, and was completely left off of the ballots of four voters who should hang their heads in shame for all eternity.
Given his injury status, we had no intention of bidding on Strasburg in the auction this year. With his salary now above $5 million, that hammers the final nail into that coffin. We say good-bye to Stephen Strasburg and thank him for all that he has done for the Salem franchise.
His BDBL Hall of Fame status is yet to be determined, but we feel he has a strong case for induction. He currently ranks #10 among starting pitchers in all-time lowest ERA. He ranks among the top-12 in lowest BA, OBP, and SLG. The one category he lacks is wins ("just" 125), which seems to be the only category some voters care about. Even so, he may not have the gaudy career total or a 20-win season on his resume, but his career winning percentage is over .600. If he does make it to the Hall, you can bet he'll be wearing that spotted cap.
Best of luck to Stephen, and thanks for the memories.
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