The Golden Age of DC Sports?

Jim Schwartz back in my regular corner now (be sure to catch my guest appearance on LP Trax' "Old Guys Playin Rock and Roll" to understand why I wasn't at the Strasburg Inaugural!)

A remarkable sports event happened in DC this week. No, not that one!

My phone rang at 10 AM, and when I answered it, I heard the voice of local sports legend Dave Johnson on my phone. That would have been jarring enough, especially after meeting him recently at a local promostional appearance for a certain mattress company, and discovering that he looks NOTHING like his voice led me to visualize.

But he was asking me to hold on; I was about to join, at THEIR initiative, a conference call with Ted Leonsis, the new owner of the moribund Washington Wizards! Me -- who has purchased tickets to only a couple of Wizards' games in 10 years!

The gesture in itself was remarkable -- Ted's candor and desire to reach out to "his" fan base, unprecedented.

But it got me to thinking, in light of some of the OTHER events this week. And I realized that we are very likely on the verge of the dawning of the first great era of DC sports -- overall -- ever!

It was just last month that my idol, Tom Boswell, posed and tried to answer the following question: Assuming that Alex Ovechkin is the biggest star in the DC sports firmament, at this moment, who is #2? He came down to two choices -- neither of whom had yet played a single inning or down in DC -- Donovan McNabb and Stephen Strasburg.

After Tuesday night, I believe that question has been answered -- at least until October, Ovechkin is the #2 -- Strasburg is already #1!

I remember the (relatively unheralded) arrival to New York in 1984 of the phenom Dwight Gooden. We had no idea what we were getting, but we soon found out! He, at least, was protected in that he was preceded by the arrival by trade of Keith Hernandez, and the debut of the bigger phenom -- Darryl Strawberry -- the year before. More on this comparison in a moment.

Strasburg has a far less imposing cast of leaders around him. Sure, having sure fire Hall of Famer Pudge Rodriguez back from injury to handle him was a huge help (and probably the best explanation for the delay in his debut!). Sure, Ryan Zimmerman is making his case as the top 3rd baseman in an era of outstanding third basemen. But that is it -- and as good as these two are -- they are no Hernandez and Strawberry!

By the end of that rookie year, Gooden was to be forever known as "Dr. K," a powerful play on the great Julius Erving, just as Strasburg very quickly became known to his teammates in spring training as "Jeezus" -- not for being the anointed savior of the franchise, but as in the ubiquitous "Jeezus -- did you see how hard that kid throws?!" reaction of the veterans when they first saw him pitch!

In his second season, Gooden went 24-4 with a 1.53 ERA and almost 300 strikeouts, but the Mets came up just short of the playoffs again. During that off-season, no less than Bob Gibson uttered this now ironically prophetic question when asked about Gooden: Will he be able to deal with the reality that he may never have a better season than he had last year, at age 21?

By the time his Mets won the '86 World Series, Gooden was no longer the absolute ace -- he was arguably the WORST Mets' starter that post-season, and his receipt of his ring at the start of '87 was delayed by his first suspension for drug abuse. His running mate, Strawberry, soon followed suit as well.

I remind everyone of Gibson's comment, and the premature self-inflicted downfall of Gooden AND Strawberry, as a cautionary tale. What if we have already seen the best of Stephen Strasburg? Of the 5 pitchers in the modern era to strike out 12 or more in their first Major League start, 2 never matched the numbers from that opening game in the rest of their career. A third, JR Richard, matched his total, but became a different pitching tragedy. Strasburg is the fourth -- jury still out, but hype forming to the left! Only the masterpiece of Juan Marichal's premiere led to greatness following.

And sure, it is easy to be euphoric at the thought of Bryce Harper joining Strasburg in a couple of years, as Gooden joined Strawberry, to form the best young pitcher/hitter combo of their day. And from all appearances, outside of his choice of agent, he, too appears to be the kind of kid who should make it big. But -- he is not going to be rushed. And potential is one thing -- performance another.

But still, realize what this week was -- and what it almost was. We saw the present and the future of the Nationals, and we need dark sunglasses because of the bright glare as for one night at least, DC became the center of the baseball universe, and the performance actually exceeded the expectations. As the Chicago Blackhawks raised the Stanley Cup for the first time in a half century (minus 1 measly year), it was easy to be glad for them, thankful that the despised Flyers DIDN'T win. But it also reminded us how close that event was to ALSO being held here in DC this week, and the appearance of the Hershey Bears in the Calder Cup Finals tonight tells us that the Caps will only be getting better.

So to have Ted Leonsis calling me this week, with his positive model of ownership, his track record of rebuilding success, and armed with the #1 pick in the draft this summer, and to have a new regime and a star quarterback about to report to Redskins camp in a few brief weeks, it is all VERY overwhelming. Maybe even enough to take away our sadness, during this month of World Cup soccer brilliance, at the collapse of the one consistant champion in DC sports -- DC United.

Oh what might have been! Oh what might still be!