STRASBURG GOES #1 OVERALL

For Immediate Release
February 21, 2009

Draft Central —

There will be 288 players selected in the Mid-West Baseball League’s 2009 Draft Day.  Many major leaguers, minor leaguers and the #1 Overall pick yet will be a college pitcher.  Stephen Strasburg will head up the list.

This year, 23 MWBL teams will not have a chance to choose him even if they want to. All 23 other teams will scratch Strasburg off their lists.

The Detroit Crime has the first pick in the 2009 MWBL Draft. Strasburg, a junior right-hander at San Diego State, will the first choice. So just how does a College pitcher go at the top of the draft?

• By hitting 101 mph on a radar gun.

• By striking out 23 batters in a game.

• By being the first collegiate player selected to the U.S. Olympic team since professionals were put on the roster in 2000.

Strasburg did all that and more last year, making him The Next Big Thing. Everyone, it seems, is now on board.

Strasburg will receive a 6.5 Million dollar deal good for a guaranteed 3 years.  Detroit General Manager said “If he’s going to get $6 million, or whatever it is this year for the No. 1 pick, he’s got to show that he’s matured, 100 percent, all the way against adversity. I want to see how he handles that. I don’t want him to be happy about it, but I want him to be able to handle it with pride and poise and still believe who he is.  We want him to represent the Detroit Crime with dignity”

San Diego County has produced more than a dozen major league pitchers over the past decade—Cole Hamels, Aaron Harang, Mark Prior, Barry Zito and Joel Zumaya among them.  Strasburg’s name now seems destined to join the list.

“Playing at the next level is great and I think it’s going to work itself out,” Strasburg said. “But my goal right now is to make an impact on this program and leave a footprint to help build a tradition for the future.”