Strasburg's already a national treasure

WASHINGTON - The baseball world rubbed its eyes Wednesday, shook its head and thought: "Did that really happen?"

Restaurants in the nation's capital started renaming menu items after a certain young pitcher, including one place that now serves a "Strasburger" with 14 pickles - one for each strikeout.

In Cleveland, where the sequel plays on Sunday, the box office sold 3,000 tickets in less than 24 hours. And the topic was even raised on the floor of the U.S. Senate. Baseball has an overnight sensation. His name is Stephen Strasburg.

"We can only hope and pray that his arm holds up," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky told Democrat Harry Reid of Nevada, "and that he has the kind of career that everyone is anticipating."

Said Reid, "Really, for Washington - which has been so starved for a good athletic team of some kind - it was nice."

Bipartisanship! Strasburg's not only good for the Nationals, he's good for the nation!

Strasburg struck out 14 and walked none in seven innings and hit 100 mph before a sellout crowd. But if you ask the 21-year-old himself, he hardly noticed the fuss. "I try and stick away from all the media stuff, so I really don't know what you're referring to," he said when asked about the national attention.

How did he celebrate? "Just went home," he told reporters. "You guys kept me here till midnight. I needed some sleep."

He continues to be humble; he actually said with a straight face: "Hopefully, I can keep my spot up here for a long time to come," and added, "the moment you start to relax, this game's going to humble you. I'm still hungry. I still want to get better."