Hitting The Cutoff Man

Yesterday, I got to thinking about legends.

The catalyst for this was two-fold: Stephen Strasburg made his debut for Double-A Harrisburg, and I began reading Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend, a recent biography of Satchel Paige written by Larry Tye.

Satchel Paige, of course, was a terrific pitcher for many years in the Negro Leagues and also for a short time in the majors after they were integrated. He even pitched briefly at age 59 for the Kansas City Athletics, setting a record as the oldest player in the game, which still stands, pending an assault from Jamie Moyer.

But what is so fascinating about Paige besides his verified accomplishments and big personality are the stories. One of these in particular stands out, and it's one that Tye mentions early on in the book. It goes like so: In 1926, Paige was pitching for the Mobile Tigers and was going for his 26th straight win. He had a 1-0 lead with two outs in the ninth inning when three straight errors loaded the bases. A furious Paige then apparently pulled the gutsiest move of all time, waving in his outfielders and having them sit on the grass behind him. He struck out the last batter.

At least, that's how the legend goes. Paige wrote about it, and others have told the story, but there's also some contradictory evidence and no way to know for sure. Whether or not it really occurred, however, it certainly makes for a great story and adds to the Paige mystique.

That brings me back to Mr. Strasburg, whom Washington selected No. 1 overall in last season's draft and whom everyone expects to be the next great pitcher.

Like Paige, Strasburg is tall, right-handed and throws a blazing fastball. Unlike Paige, there is absolutely zero mystery to him.

When Strasburg was still at San Diego State last season, everyone already knew he'd be the top pick in the draft (assuming the team with the No. 1 selection didn't go cheap). Every pitch he threw was scrutinized as such. His Spring Training outings this year were big news. Then yesterday in Altoona, the stadium was sold out, the team apparently gave out something like 75 media credentials -- compared with the usual two -- and you could watch the outing online. Baseball Tonight showed highlights of his performance, and you could find detailed written accounts of it all over (for example, on Keith Law's blog).

The point is, everybody knows everything Stephen Strasburg has done as a pitcher, and we will continue to know everything he does in the future and have analysis of it in a matter of moments. There will never be legends about Stephen Strasburg like there are about Satchel Paige because nothing Strasburg does will ever be unverifiable.

Obviously, part of that is due to the fact that no players today are marginalized in baseball and in general society like Paige and other African-American stars of his era were. Clearly, that's a great thing. But it's not like Negro Leaguers were the only ones who were the subjects of baseball legends. After all, we've got the Babe's called shot, among others.

The fact is that today every pitch that is thrown, even in the minor leagues, is documented. This is great for baseball fans, whose thirst for information can be better satisfied.

But if somebody writes a biography of Stephen Strasburg 50 years down the road -- assuming books still exist -- it will be, a) much easier to research than Satchel, and b) much less interesting.

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