WASHINGTON, D.C.-- Friday afternoon was a huge day for residents of NatsTown as the Washington Nationals went all out in introducing prized hurler Stephen Strasburg to the public.

 

Rather than hold a standard press conference for Stephen Strasburg inside the lower reaches of Nationals Park, the team flipped the script and held it in the seating bowl, plus invited fans to join along -- some lured by $1 dollar tickets as a part of a promotion in conjunction with the momentous day.

It was hot out with temperatures well above ninety degrees with the sun blaring above, but several hundred fans, most of the Washington sports media, members of the front office and ownership -- with principal owner Ted Lerner and family in attendance, Friday belonged to Strasburg. He shared the stage with Washington general manager Mike Rizzo, team president Stan Kasten, and agent Scott Boras. To add to the atmosphere for the afternoon, his family along with girlfirend were in attendance.

This was no ordinary meet-and-greet, as fireworks blared in the air, and there was a short video played on the massive video screen showing highlights from his career.

The pitcher -- at 6-foot-5, athletic and lean, and newly rich thanks to a $15.1 milllion, 4-year contract -- wore a navy polo shirt adorned with the 'curly W' and gray slacks, perhaps got his first taste of the humdity notorious in the nation's capital in August; however, he took it all in stride and upon being introduced, he gave everyone in attedance a quick wave.

Strasburg looked at the crowd, the park and as he took it all in, he quipped, "This is amazing. To play at San Diego State where we didn't get many fans until this year. This is probably the amount of fans we'd get at one of our Friday night games, here for a press conference. So it's pretty special."

Based on the entire scene at Nationals Park, Strasburg isn't just a piece of the a larger puzzle, the expectations for him are great. One could also gather that based on the response that he got from the crowd -- a small sample -- he might want to get used to the adoration.

Then again, despite the enormous pressure that Strasburg has on him, he seemed to take the afternoon all in stride. The pitcher even showed a sense of humor when MASN's Bob Carpenter asked based on the crowd that showed up to the event would react when he threw his first major league shut-out.

He joked, "Maybe a flyby from Air Force One or something like that. "

That line, of course, got a nice little reaction from everyone in attendance.

To cap off the day, third baseman and current face-of-the-franchise, Ryan Zimmerman, officially made him feel welcome as he took the stage and handed Strasburg a gleaming white Nationals jersey with the number 37 adorned on the back on the back of it.

Zimmerman said a few words, plus gave Strasburg perhaps a very important piece of advice as he transitions from college to the fast-paced and amazing world of Major League baseball.

"Don't worry about everything here, but to go out and have fun and continue to be the player he was in college."

As well, Strasburg -- in light of the pomp and circumstance of the day -- said about his future, expectations, and the hype, "I can't predict the future. I just have to go out there and do my thing day to day and get better. You know, God has a special plan for you, and if he wants me to be extremely successful in the big leagues then I am. If he has another plan for me, it will show itself in the long run."

Strasburg was featured on the MASN game broadcast yesterday, spoke with various members of the Washington sports media and will be at a team function on Saturday; however, his stay in the national capital region will be short. He will not pitch for Washington at all in 2009, as he will go to Florida and work his way back from a three-month layoff and should spend some time in Arizona and participate in the Fall League.