Fans flock to Strasburg's major league debut

Baseball Betting Lines

06/08/2010 -

WASHINGTON (AP) -The crowd outside Nationals Park buzzed anxiously. Some were worried about getting to their seats early. Some were nervous about getting seats at all. All of them were on edge about Stephen Strasburg's major league debut Tuesday night against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

``It's history in the making,'' said Mark Cunningham, 20, of Leesburg, Va.

Cunningham, home from his sophomore year at Newmann University in Pennsylvania, was positioned near the front of the ticket line for grandstand seats, which went on sale at 4:35 p.m. for $5 each. The line snaked across the street from the stadium's main entrance and down the next block.

``I'm not a Nationals fan, but I wanted to say I was here for Stephen Strasburg's first start,'' Cunningham said. ``He has received the most hype of any player in any sport since I've been a sports fan.''

Strasburg - last year's No. 1 draft pick who many are speculating will be the saving grace of the Nationals' losing record - was all anyone was talking about. Fans worried about how long he would be able to pitch, and how well he could do in the big leagues.

Expectations - and the potential for disappointment - were high.

``He represents almost a symbol of optimism,'' said Doug Linton, 62, a retired intelligence officer, who refers to Strasburg as ``Saint Stephen.''

Linton, a fan for 58 years - dating back to when the Washington Nationals were the Senators - said he can't remember this much buzz surrounding any one ballgame or one ballplayer.

``It's big for baseball, across the board,'' said the South Riding, Va., resident. ``(Strasburg) was the most sought after draft pick certainly in my lifetime.''

As a young boy, Linton used to pay 50 cents to ride the bus from Maryland to the old Griffith Stadium, and 50 cents for the baseball ticket. On Tuesday, he paid $75 for his seat, and he considered that a good deal. Some tickets were going for $1,000 and up.

Lindsay LeRoy, 29, and Rob McInturf, 30, were visiting on business from Wilmington, N.C. They bought their tickets on the Internet last week for $10 before the team announced Strasburg would be pitching.

``It was absolute luck,'' McInturf said.

Ticket holders and others hoping to score coveted seats started congregating outside the gates hours before game time. The stadium is sold out; 2,000 standing room only tickets went on sale at 1 p.m for $10 apiece. Hundreds of press credentials have been requested for the game, forcing management to convert a dining area to a makeshift media room. The circumstances are unusual, considering Nationals Park has sold out only one other game this year - the season opener.

Tom McGuire, 47, of Arlington, Va., bought three tickets last week for $38 each and pulled his sons Tommy, 9, and Jimmy, 12, out of school early as a surprise. He originally told them they were headed to a doctor's appointment.

``I thought that sounded odd,'' Jimmy said.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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