Big news our of Washington yesterday, as the Nationals announced that pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg will mist the rest of this season, and at least part of 2011 after he undergoes Tommy John surgery.  For such a young, unproven pitcher, Strasburg’s pitching has demanded headlines since he was drafted in 2009, and yesterday was more of the same.  After hearing, I couldn’t help wondering how a guy pitching for a last place team could warrant such prominence among the New York media.  Is it East coast bias?  Is it the record bonus that he garnered when he was drafted?  Is it just that they got used to reporting on everything he did, and so this minor tragedy seemed to need equal attention?

Think about Francisco Liriano.  He was/is every bit as talented as Strasburg.  Inside the game he was thought about just as highly, but as a foreign born player he was not eligible for the amateur draft.  That meant he wasn’t subject to the scrutiny or the hype that comes with that.  I don’t know what Liriano received as a signing bonus, but it wasn’t in the range of Strasburg type money.  And of course, he doesn’t pitch for a team on the East Coast, so which is the real reason that the media care about Strasburg having surgery?

If its just about grabbing a hold of someone and lifting them up so there is always a story to write, why not choose one of the other young great pitchers?  Could it be that Starsburg is white?  I don’t know.

Could it be that no one has a steroid story to write about, and Strasburg came a long as the next great thing at just the moment they needed to fill newspaper pages?

I really would love to hear your thoughts on this- because I am just baffled.