Shutdown Day Is Coming

Every kid who plays sports dreams of that moment.

That moment of hitting the game winning jumper in an NBA Finals game and sending the crowd into an unparalled frenzy. That moment of throwing the game-winning touchdown to win the Super Bowl and having the confetti rain down on you.

Now imagine having a realistic opportunity to live that once-in-a-lifetime moment. Then imagine it being taken away.

Such is the life of Stephen Strasburg.

With the Washington Nationals owning the majors’ best record, Strasburg could make that childhood dream of pitching in the World Series under the bright lights a reality.

But “Shutdown Day” is imminent for the 24-year-old Nationals’ ace.

When Strasburg, a strong candidate for the NL Cy Young, reaches his preset innings limit somewhere between 160 to 180, he will be shut down for the remainder of the season.

Not sure what’s more famous, Stephen Strasburg’s pitching, or his innings limit?

At this pace, he would likely miss the Nationals’ last two or three starts.

The infamous argument remains – Should the Nationals shut down Strasburg, or let him keep pitching?

Strasburg had Tommy Johnny surgery in 2010, and then pitched 44 innings in 2011.

Doctors recommended limiting his innings this year to decrease the stress on his arm and avoid future injuries. So the Washington Nationals set a limit of 160 innings for him.

But that was before the Nationals played themselves into World Series contention for the first time in franchise history. It’s a monumental change for a club that hasn’t made the postseason in 31 years.

The Nationals management wants a healthy Strasburg leading the team to the postseason annually instead of risking it all for one postseason run.

Kerry Wood, once a young, electric pitcher, had surgery at 22. From ages 24-26, he averaged ~200 innings per season, only to be plagued by injuries the rest of his career. But for every Kerry Wood, there are tons of pitchers who had healthy careers.

It’s the ultimate what if game.

Strasburg could be shut down this September and be injured in a few years. He could play it out and get injured down the road or never get injured again.

Nobody knows, but the Nationals seem intent on playing it risk-free.

Strasburg is the pitcher of the next decade, like Sandy Koufax, Roger Clemens, and so many others have once been, so why jeopardize that?

For any team other than the New York Yankees, opportunities to make the World Series don’t happen that often. Heck, it will be 31 years between chances for the Nationals.

How about the Nationals’ 24 other players, shouldn’t they have a say in this?

Is it fair that Adam LaRoche, age 32, may have his only chance to make the World Series taken away from him?

For most of them, this may be their only chance to make the postseason, let alone the World Series. Those ’24-other’ players have invested hundreds of hours into this and probably spent much of that time away from their families. Now they’ve earned an opportunity to do something special, and their best player won’t be available to help them do it?

It doesn’t seem very fair at all.

Just like any other sport, baseball players don’t play for the regular season. It’s about the postseason. It’s about October.

There has to be a way around this predicament, right?

How about shutting him down for the final three weeks of the regular season and bringing him back for the postseason? Or they could let him take a short stint on the DL for some minor injury (thumb, toe, etc.)?

Doctors say that taking Strasburg out of his routine then throwing him right back into the mix would only increase his chances of injury.

For the Nationals, “Shutdown Day” is not up for debate.

“You know, there’s a lot of different ways you could trick this thing up and a lot of different ways you could try to stretch him out,” Nationals’ general manager Mike Rizzo said. “We want to do what’s best for Stephen in the long run. So we’re going to let him pitch on a regular routine, get him to an innings limit that he’s comfortable throwing and then shut him down, and ramp him back up in spring training to take us to the next level.”

What does Strasburg himself have to say on his innings limit?

“They’re going to have to rip the ball out of my hands.”

The Power of Facial Hair

A good beard can get you a long way in life. Just ask James Harden. Harden’s play this season (and his beard of course) have propelled the Thunder all the way to the NBA Finals.

If you look closely, you can see a small bird living inside Harden’s beard.

While Harden has had his beard for several years now, many others grow theirs specifically for the playoffs, most famously in the NHL. That tradition dates back to the 1980’s when the New York Islanders had four games in five nights and didn’t have time to shave. Since then, come playoff time, players in nearly every sport will follow the tradition and hope the superstition proves useful.

But the effects of impressive facial hair have been well documented throughout sports history. Let’s take a look.

Even Davis can’t believe how nice his beard was.

Baron Davis: Just as Baron’s beard reached its maximum volume, miracles began happening for the 2007 Golden State Warriors. Finishing the season 16-5 to earn the 8th seed with a 42-40 record, the Warriors faced the NBA’s best team in the Dallas Mavericks and Dirk Nowitzki coming off of an MVP season. The rest, obviously, is history.

Davis and the Warriors dismantled Dallas  and nearly snuck by the Utah Jazz in round 2 in a series that featured arguably the best play of Davis’ career. Davis and his beard gained notoriety after that season, as Boom Dizzle himself details in this video.

Brian Wilson: Moving across the Bay, Wilson followed in the path of his fellow Giant Barry Bonds in achieving greatness through frowned upon measures. Pledging at the beginning of the season to not shave until his team won a World Series, the eccentric Wilson took that a step further by dying his beard black. He pushed aside the accusations by claiming the beard was “just really tan.”

Just slap some mascara on Wilson and Captain Jack Sparrow would have some competition.

Despite the tainted beard, the Giants also had some playoff miracles, particularly in their NLCS matchup against the Phillies. In Game 1, Cody Ross hit two home runs off Roy Halladay, who had yet to give up a hit in the playoffs, and the Giants went on to win the series 4-2 behind Wilson’s 3 saves and 1 win.

San Francisco moved on to face the Texas Rangers in the World Series and won the title with relative ease in 5 games. After that, Wilson’s beard became a legend, prompting obligatory “fear the beard” chants every ninth inning and his own t-shirt.

Johnny Damon:The 2004 playoffs was another big win for beards. Damon, sporting a massive beard rivaling many a vagrant, helped propel the Boston Red Sox to their first World Series title since 1918.

Damon added the long hair to his beard to go for the cave man effect.

After falling behind 3 games to none in the ALCS matchups versus the Yankees, Boston rallied back to win the series, bolstered by Damon’s game-winning run in the 14th inning of Game 5 and his 2 home run, 6 RBI game 7. Having reached the World Series, Damon’s home run to lead of Game 4 propelled the Red Sox to victory, sweeping the Cardinals and winning its first title in 86 years.

Brett Keisel: With a beard that could earn him a role in The Hangover 3, Keisel may have the most profound facial hair on this list.

Keisel must have a very warm face.

Following the Pittsburgh Steelers’ failure to make the playoffs in 2009, Keisel began growing what he dubbed “Da Beard,” hoping to improve his team’s fortunes. It clearly worked, as the Steelers made it all the way to the Super Bowl the next season, eventually losing to the Packers.

Keisel’s beard has its own website and raised over $40,000 for the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC when it was cut off at the “Shear The Beard” ceremony, making it the most philanthropic sporting beard of all time.

Rollie Fingers: The most famous moustache in sporting history has proved itself as lucky as its lower lip counterparts on this list. Fingers is a 7-time All-Star, 3-time World Series Champion, winner of the 1981 AL MVP and AL Cy Young Award, the 1974 World Series MVP, and only the second relief pitcher to make the Hall of Fame.

Just look at the curl on that thing!

The other end of the spectrum holds true as well. Players with pathetic fuzz have received some poor luck in the playoffs.

Adam Morrison: Sporting perhaps the worst moustache in the history of mankind, Morrison has felt the consequences of his poor life decision to grow it.

Cute

Gonzaga’s memorable late game collapse at the end of the 2006 Sweet Sixteen led to Morrison crying on national television and a virtually nonexistent NBA career for the NCAA’s leading scorer.

Joe Flacco: I have no idea how Flacco decided a handlebar moustache would be a good choice, but the experiment did not end well for the Ravens’ quarterback.

Flacco realized the error in his ways after his loss to the Patriots.

Thought by many to be frontrunners for the Superbowl, Baltimore missed a field goal at the end of their AFC Championship Game against the Patriots that would have sent the game to overtime. Flacco quickly shaved the stache off after the game, but its damage was done. After the season, Flacco further hurt his karma by calling himself the NFL’s best quarterback. “I think I’m the best. I don’t think I’m top-five, I think I’m the best,” Flacco said. Clearly he hasn’t learned his lesson.

With the long history of outstanding facial hair being accompanied by outstanding success, it will be interesting to see if James Harden and the Thunder can continue the trend.