Washington Nationals phenom pitcher Stephen Strasburg can add another title to his young and blossoming career, Hall of Famer. Despite his career just getting started, Strasburg has been announced as a surprise additional inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
On the final weekend of July, the rookie pitcher will join outfielder Andre Dawson, umpire Doug Harvey, and manager Whitey Herzog as the newest class of the Hall of Fame.
Strasburg was informed of the decision as he got ready for his start Wednesday against the Kansas City Royals, his fourth career start for the Washington Nationals.
"Well, I'll be in Milwaukee for the weekend," said Strasburg, referencing the Nationals' weekend series against the Brewers that weekend. "If I'm not pitching, then I'll see what I can do."
Strasburg's fellow members of the class of 2010 were all voted to be elected back in January, roughly five months prior to Strasburg's major league debut.
"Someone had mentioned his name when we were voting and many of the voters wanted to vote for him," said Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post, a non-voting member of the Baseball Writers Association of America, which votes players into the Hall of Fame. "We said that they couldn't because he hadn't even played yet. So, they waited for his debut and said, 'let's do it now while he is still pitching this well.'"
In a written statement from the BWAA, Strasburg will be the first active player to be allowed into the Hall of Fame because of his "amazing fastball-slider combination." Additionally, Strasburg was able to be waived past the required 75 percent voting process because "he just keeps striking guys out."
Strasburg's induction will be the first for a Washington Nationals player and first for the franchise since Gary Carter, who was inducted as a Montreal Expo. When reached for comment on Carter, Strasburg had confused the former catcher with recording artist Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter.
Strasburg has 32 strikeouts in 19 and 1/3 innings pitched in the Major Leagues, one of the fewest amount of strikeouts of any Hall of Fame candidate.
MLB commissioner Bud Selig said he was thrilled about the announcement, citing during a conference call that he's "glad that he picked him up in his fantasy baseball league."
Strasburg added how the honor will be a "sweet birthday present" for the pitcher, who turns 22 on July 20.
The Nationals organization also hopes to honor their ace pitcher with a statue in front of Nationals Park. The unveiling of the statue, however, has been said to be delayed, citing a lack of pictures of Strasburg pitching in a Nationals uniform to go off of for the statue design.
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