Strasburg dominates AAA debut, brings old fans back to Chiefs

No one can ever ask Stephen Strasburg which Hollywood actor he would choose to portray him in a movie.  Robert Redford took that gig four years before the stud Nationals prospect was born.

Strasburg is Roy Hobbs: a tall, slender, blond-haired northpaw who can bring the heat and swing the lumber.

He may not have a "wonderboy" inscription on his bat, but he did have two RBI's in it on Friday.  One of which came from a suicide squeeze play--senior circuit baseball at its finest--the other from a line drive through the middle of the diamond in a 7-0 Syracuse Chiefs victory over the Gwinnet Braves at Alliance Bank Stadium.

And then there was the pitching.  The most impressive number in Strasburg's line might just be the goose egg that represents the number of times the ball left the infield on the fly off a Gwinnett bat.

Strasburg starts Syracuse stint tonight

The Salt City is buzzing with anticipation for the Syracuse Chiefs debut of stud pitching prospect Stephen Strasburg.

The Gwinnet Braves will serve as the first AAA-level lineup to get a look at the right-handed flame thrower whom Washington Nationals outfielder Nyjer Morgan dubbed "Jesus" earlier this year in sprint training.

Ernie Harwell dies after battle with cancer

"For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land."

The man whose voice welcomed baseball fans to every new season with a reading from Song of Solomon has passed.

Longtime Detroit Tigers announcer Ernie Harwell succumbed to cancer this afternoon at the age of 92. He had publicly announced in September that a tumor in his bile duct was inoperable.

The 3rd Annual Kentucky Derby Preview with Gladdy and VOTL

Will we see another longshot upset?  What sort of condition will the track be in on race day?  Is Barbaro still dead?

Ryan Maloney and InsideCollegeHockey.com senior writer Joe Gladziszewski answer all that and more on the third annual Kentucky Derby preview podcast.

Click here to listen