The Washington Nationals are a franchise that has certainly seen better days. While it might feel like an eternity at this point, the Nationals once were a club that was going to factor into the National League playoff picture basically every season.
It has been a long time since those days, but there are still guys from those competitive teams all around baseball. Bryce Harper and Trea Turner are up north in Philadelphia, Juan Soto is also in the NL East still up in New York, and even Max Scherzer is still hanging around trying to figure out his closing act to a Hall of Fame career.
But speaking of Hall of Fame, Scherzer's one-time running mate and co-ace atop the Nationals rotation in the 2010s can now officially say he is a Hall of Famer. Stephen Strasburg, who had to retire due to injuries a couple years ago, has now officially been enshrined in baseball lore for eternity.
No, you did not miss some sort of shocking announcement that Strasburg is headed for Cooperstown, but was inducted into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame a couple weeks ago. After being officially selected for the 2025 class last year, he officially got inducted back on February 12th alongside fellow big leaguers like Alex Gordon, David Price, and even Mark McGwire, among others.
It is a legendary class for some legendary players, and Strasburg's amazing college career will now be alongside some fellow college legends. His professional career may end up falling a bit short of Cooperstown due to injuries, but it had to be an awesome moment for him to be recognized.
In his 3 seasons for the San Diego State Aztecs, Strasburg appeared in 53 games, starting 28 of them, and pitched to a 1.59 ERA while striking out an absurd 375 batters in 243.1 innings. He threw 6 complete games including 4 shutouts, and even threw a no-hitter against Air Force in his final home collegiate start.
He was a reliever as a freshman, and even saved 7 games for the Aztecs. He had a 22-7 record in college, with his only loss in his final season coming in Regionals of the NCAA College World Series. His absurd college career that parlayed into his ultimate rise as a prospect and led to him being drafted #1 overall by the Nationals is now forever immortalized.
What was your favorite moment of Stephen Strasburg's baseball career? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.