Strasburg Action Figures?

Strasburg Action Figures?
He may not be an All-Star yet, but rookie phenom Stephen Strasburg is collecting yet another unique honor. The Syracuse Chiefs will be giving away Stephen Strasburg action figurines on August 27th before their game against Buffalo. The first 3,000 fans who purchase a ticket to the game will receive a voucher for the must-have collectible. Strasburg will be depicted mid-windup in his Chiefs white home uniform. The figurines are limited edition and hand numbered. Each mini-Strasburg stands...

Braves Organist Taking Strasburg Song Suggestions

Braves Organist Taking Strasburg Song Suggestions
Meet Matthew Kaminski, organist for the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field. Kaminski began playing the organ when he was five and eventually studied music at the University of Arizona and Georgia State University under the tutelage of some of the world's finest musicians. But Kaminski is also a baseball fan. Born in Chicago, Kaminski recalls Harry Caray's 7th inning stretch as the highlight of the games he attended as a child. When the Braves offered him the organist position last season,...

Free K Posters

Free K Posters
Don't forget to pick up your free Express today to get a "K" poster for this afternoon's Strasburg start. Wouldn't it be awesome to see these pop up in unison all throughout the park after each strikeout? The Nationals now also have a coordinated "K" sign display below the Miller Lite sign on the giant HD scoreboard. On another note: If you're skipping work today or heading to the park early, the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) will offer free skin cancer screenings to...

Strasburg Praised by Ozzie Guillen

Strasburg Praised by Ozzie Guillen
Ozzie Guillen, the outspoken manager of the Chicago White Sox, held nothing back while praising Nationals' phenom Stephen Strasburg following Friday night's game. Though his team managed to take a run from Strasburg early, their bats fell silent for the next nine innings. Through seven of those innings, Strasburg allowed just that one run and struck out 10. Perhaps even more impressive, he threw only 85 pitches. "You don't see kids, no matter how good of stuff you have, to have that...

This Weekend in NatsTown

This Weekend in NatsTown
On the third day of Strasmas...Ozzie Guillen came to NatsTown. Make sure to follow the outspoken White Sox manager on Twitter this weekend. He's pretty entertaining. After Strasmania tonight, the Nats have plenty of weekend activities planned to celebrate Father's Day. On Saturday, winners of a Father's Day essay contest will be honored on the field during a pregame ceremony. It's also the first bobblehead giveaway of the season. The first 15,000 fans to attend Saturday's game...

Strasburg Graces Sports Illustrated Cover

Strasburg Graces Sports Illustrated Cover
Nats fans, don't forget to pick up your copy of Sports Illustrated this week. Stephen Strasburg, "National Treasure," will be on the cover. With 22 strikeouts, 2 wins and a storybook debut, Strasburg also earned the National League's player of the week award. The cover story is a feature piece on Strasburg by Albert Chen. It caps a big week for the rookie pitcher, who also announced the "Top 10" on the David Letterman Show last Thursday. The only over Nationals related Sports...

The Business of Strasmania

The Business of Strasmania
Before he stepped on the mound, Stephen Strasburg's brand soared to unprecedented levels. A sell-out crowd came from all over the region to see a young, laid-back pitcher from California perform before a national, if not global, audience. Around the country, baseball fans tuned in to see if Strasburg could live up to the hype. Heavy praise from scouts, baseball experts and the media led to intense curiosity about the pitcher and his unfathomable arsenal of pitches. It was an important...

Strasburg Game Earns Record Ratings On MASN

Strasburg Game Earns Record Ratings On MASN
Preliminary overnight Nielsen ratings show that the Nationals game on MASN has set a new record high rating for the network, earning a 7.1 HH rating as more than 165,000 households in the Washington region tuned in to watch an historic pitching performance. Among the key demographic of adults aged 25-54, the game earned a 4.4 HH rating, also a MASN record. For the night, the Nationals game on MASN was the third highest-rated program on television in the entire Washington market. The only two...

Nats Fans React to Strasburg

Nats Fans React to Strasburg
Before Tuesday's game, Nats Buzz caught up with some Nationals fans to talk about the debut of Stephen Strasburg. As you already know, the crowd was electric, collectively hanging on every pitch and creating a playoff-like atmosphere that gave all of us goosebumps. The crowd met every strike with roars of approval and every strikeout with a standing ovation. The fans were very much a part of the game and the win. "When the fans are into every single pitch, we as players feed off of...

Milledge, Bucs Impressed with Strasburg

Milledge, Bucs Impressed with Strasburg
Two outs into Stephen Strasburg's would-be impressive major league debut, the past stepped into the batter's box to meet the future. Lastings Milledge strolled to the plate greeted by a chorus of boos from the sold-out crowd of 40,315. After two called strikes, Milledge swung at strike three and the crowd erupted. Milledge was the first of Strasburg's nine strikeout victims on the night. In fact, every hitter that faced Strasburg struck out at least once and five of them struck out...

Livo: "This is perfect"

Livo:  "This is perfect"
Livan Hernandez knows something about sell-out crowds, national attention and baseball hype in Washington. After all, he was on the mound for one of the most important moments in D.C. baseball history -- the return of baseball to the nation's capital in 2005. While it's a bit of a stretch to compare that exciting moment to tonight's debut of Stephen Strasburg, there are certainly similarities. Both moments closed the book on painful memories and ushered in a new era of baseball in the...

Merry Strasmas!

Merry Strasmas!
To celebrate the arrival of Stephen Strasburg, Nats Buzz will be collecting and posting the best tweets about the phenom. Check back throughout the day as we continue to update it -- and be sure to follow the MASNsports.com team (@masnben, @bkerr32, @masnsports, @khudak11, @jenroylemasn and @rdibs49) for the latest news on "Strasmas." Strasburg and Nats are already trending in Washington. Strasburg is also trending nationally and he's one of CNN's most intriguing people of the...

Could Teddy Win on Tuesday?

Could Teddy Win on Tuesday?
As the Nationals usher in a new era of baseball history in Washington this week, one has to wonder -- is it time for Teddy to finally win the President's Race? Could his first win come on Tuesday in front of a sell-out crowd and a national audience? Tuesday would be a perfect time for our favorite Racing President to shed his lovable loser label. The Nats aren't lovable losers any longer. On Tuesday, they take a giant step forward by closing the door on the problems of 2008 and 2009 and...

MASN to Host Special One-Hour Nats Xtra Pregame on June 8th

MASN to Host Special One-Hour Nats Xtra Pregame on June 8th
MASN will host a special one-hour edition of the Nats Xtra pregame show on Tuesday, June 8th, the network announced today. The extended coverage will cover the Washington Nationals first overall selection in the 2010 First-Year Player Draft and the Major League debut of pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg. Nats Xtra begins at 6 p.m. on MASN 2 and MASN 2 HD. The special edition of Nats Xtra on Tuesday will feature reaction from around baseball about the Nationals' selection in the draft. ...

Suite Seats and Standing Room Only for Strasburg (Updated)

Suite Seats and Standing Room Only for Strasburg (Updated)
If you haven't yet secured tickets for Tuesday's Strasburg debut, the Nationals are offering a few more options. They are opening up some of the suites for individual ticket purchases and offering standing room only tickets and day of game grandstand tickets at the box office on Tuesday afternoon. The tickets cost $95 or $145 and require a minimum purchase of 2 tickets. They will be available at 1 p.m. on Monday at nationals.com/debut. The seats do not include complimentary food. The...

Nationals Offer Exclusive Season Ticket Holder Opportunity to Purchase Tickets For Strasburg's Debut

Nationals Offer Exclusive Season Ticket Holder Opportunity to Purchase Tickets For Strasburg's Debut
The Washington Nationals will offer Season Ticket Holders the exclusive opportunity to purchase up to four additional tickets to the June 8 contest vs. the Pirates - the expected debut of Nationals Pitcher Stephen Strasburg*. One of many exclusive offers for Season Ticket Holders throughout the season, this opportunity will begin at 10:00amon Wednesday, June 2. Tickets will be sold through Thursday, June 3 while supplies last. Earlier this week the Nationals also announced the addition of...

MASN to Televise Strasburg's Final Triple-A Start

MASN to Televise Strasburg's Final Triple-A Start
MASN will televise Stephen Strasburg's final start at Triple-A Syracuse, the network announced today. The Nationals prospect will face the Buffalo Bisons on Thursday, June 3rd at 1:05 p.m. MASN will air the game at 7:00 p.m. on a tape delay. MASN has televised each of Strasburg's five previous starts for Syracuse. The highly touted prospect is 3-1 at Syracuse with a 1.27 ERA and 33 strikeouts in just over 28 innings of work. He is expected to make his major league debut at Nationals Park...

Strasburg's arrival throws curve to expectant couple

Strasburg's arrival throws curve to expectant couple
I know we're all driving ourselves crazy trying to pick Strasburg's debut date. It's a can't-miss event and sometimes it's hard to plan life around baseball especially with so many unknown factors. For season ticker holders Gavin and Rebecca Birch, it's especially hard. The couple is expecting their first child, a daughter, on June 5th. Gavin's been agonizing about the potential conflict for months, though it intensified as the next homestand became a target date in recent weeks. ...

Strasburg Mania Fuels Strong Ratings in Washington

Strasburg Mania Fuels Strong Ratings in Washington
Stephen Strasburg's latest Triple-A start has generated strong ratings in the Washington, D.C. market. While MASN has televised all four of Strasburg's starts for the Syracuse Chiefs, Monday night's game was the first live broadcast of the top prospect this season. The ratings peaked at a 0.9 HH rating, meaning more than 21,000 households in the Washington market tuned in to watch the young flamethrower. Since Strasburg only pitched five innings, the entire-game rating was a 0.5 HH...

All My Single Ladies...(Updated)

All My Single Ladies...(Updated)
...and married ladies too! Each year, the Nationals host a few "Ladies Night" events for female fans. What could be better than a night with the gals at the ballpark? Well, last year the event just happened to overlap with Randy Johnson's 300th win, so that was just a little better. This season, the first Ladies Night is scheduled for June 10th when the Nationals face the Pittsburgh Pirates. It would be a potential Strasburg start if he happens to make his debut on June 4th, so that...