Strasburg at Citi Field This Season? Unlikely
Ken Belson, Ben Shpigel and Richard Sandomir,
New York Times
June 10, 2010
Mets fans hoping to see Stephen Strasburg pitch in person may have to wait until next season or hit the road.
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The Washington Nationals have already made two of their three trips to Citi Field this season, and their last visit is not until the final weekend of the regular season, from Oct. 1 to 3. By then, the Nationals are likely to have shut down Strasburg for the season to avoid overworking him.
Of course, if the Nationals can find a way to contend for a playoff spot, then the calculations might change. In that case, Strasburg’s workload may be rationed so that he can keep pitching right through the end of the 2010 campaign.
But the odds are that will not happen. And thus far, Mets fans seem to making the same bet. The resale price of tickets to see the Mets play the Nationals at Citi Field in October were unchanged on Wednesday, according to FanSnap.com, which surveys online ticket resellers.
But that final weekend aside, the Mets are likely to face Strasburg at some point this season because they still have seven games remaining against the Nationals in Washington. They play four games there from July 1 to 4, and then return on Sept. 6 for a three-game series.
On Wednesday, Mets Manager Jerry Manuel said he was impressed with the highlights he saw of Strasburg’s debut on Tuesday night, when he struck out 14 Pittsburgh Pirates batters in seven innings. He said, with his customary laugh, that he looked forward to having the Mets face Strasburg “when we’re hot, swinging the bats well.â€
For now, it appears the Cleveland Indians will be next to take on Strasburg. They are scheduled to face him on Sunday, in Cleveland, during an interleague series with the Nationals. The price of tickets for that game has now jumped dramatically, with the average cost of tickets being resold online above $75, or nearly twice as much as tickets for the other two games in that series, according to FanSnap.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/10/sports/baseball/10base.html
