‘Strasburg Railroad’
courtesy of ‘jpmueller99’

There’s been a whole lot of talk in this town about welcoming the prodigal son to his baseball kingdom. As much as I love the hustle and bustle of DC getting caught up in the great commotion that is Major League Baseball, I have to say that all the hype over Stephen Strasburg is getting to be a bit much.

We know he’s good. He’s got the numbers. He’s been called up. He’ll start on Tuesday (pending weather, etc.).

With that said, while I’m just as excited as the next DC-area resident to watch a young’n breathe life back into District baseball, I must say the Virginia attempt to re-name Strasburg, Va. in honor of the Nationals’ pitcher is quite an admirable stunt.

The “Rename Strasburg” campaign launched by Virginia residents Justin Ritenour and ESPN Page 2 writer Shane Igoe was mentioned via Twitter by the Sports Bog earlier today. What exactly are they campaigning for?

“1. On June 8, 2010 the town of Strasburg, VA plans honor Stephen with a “Pride of Strasburg Recognition” Award
2. The Strasburg town council will also draft a resolution to rename the town “Stephen Strasburg, Virgina” should Mr. Strasburg decide to visit the town situated less than 90 miles away sometime this year
3. Upon which the newly named town would welcome Stephen into town on the back of a firetruck and honor him with a welcoming parade and police escort
4. We also invite Mr. Strasburg to throw out the first pitch to our new traveling little league team which would henceforth be known as the “Stephen” Strasburgs”

I sure do hope someone asks Stephen what his thoughts on all this are after his first outting on Tuesday. Inquiring minds (mine in particular) would like to know.

Rachel Levitin

Rachel moved to DC in the fall of 2005 to study Journalism and Music at American University. When she’s not keeping up with the latest Major League Baseball news, she works on making music as an accomplished singer-songwriter and was even a featured performer/speaker at TEDxDupont Circle in 2012. Rachel has also contributed to The Washington Examiner and MASN Sports’ Nationals Buzz as a guest blogger. See why she loves DC. E-Mail: rachel@welovedc.com.