Unfortunately, we will never know how big a night it might have been. Think Mark "The Bird" Fidrych in the frenzied summer of '76, Fernando-mania in '81, or Dwight Gooden in '84. That big.
    Sadly, we'll not see Nationals' wunderkind Stephen Strasburg and his 100 mph fastball on the Comerica Park mound this week. Strasburg, who pitched Sunday for Washington, is scheduled to start again on Friday at home against Chicago.
    But I wouldn't even venture a guess on the number of people who show up at the corner of Witherell and Montcalm on a mission to get the rookie phenom's autograph -- which is already selling on eBay for $300 and up.
    Strasburg has made two big league starts. He was won twice. He has struck out 22. And he has captured the attention of the entire country, including David Letterman.
    Red Nationals' T-shirts bearing Strasburg's name and number sell out as fast as they can be piled on store shelves. Restaurants are naming burgers in his honor -- Strasburgers. His Washington teammates call him "Jezzus."
    And he's only 21.
    With apologies to Denny McLain, Strasburg is most famous pitcher to toil in our nation's capital since Walter Johnson. The Nationals' regional TV network reported an audience of 165,000 households for Strasburg's debut -- 10 times the network's nightly average.
    Cooperstown-bound Pudge Rodriguez, who has caught Nolan Ryan, Josh Beckett and Justin Verlander in his 19-year career, says, "This kid is unbelievable."
    Nevertheless, Washington has wisely arranged his schedule so that Strasburg will face the Pirates, Indians, and White Sox-- hardly offensive juggernauts -- in his first three starts. His first two games were televised nationally, and Strasburg's third start will be, too.
    But while the Washington Nationals are at Comerica Park this week, Strasburg will merely watch from the bench.
    Strasburg struck out 15 Pirates in his ballyhooed big league debut, which attracted a standing-room-only throng of 40,315 -- more then double the Nationals' normal Tuesday night crowd. It was the biggest celebration  Washington D.C. has seen since President Obama's inauguration.
    The Nationals' plan is to limit Strasburgh to about 100 innings this season. If, as expected, Strasburg makes eight starts at home, he will generate an additional $5.8 million in ticket revenue for the needy Nats.
    On Sunday, in Cleveland, 32,876 showed up to watch Strasburg hold the Indians to one run on two hits over 5 1/3 innings. It was the second-largest gathering of the season at Progressive Field, more than double the Indians' average. And it occurred no thanks to the Tribe.
    One of those in attendance, although, of course, he didn't pay, was 91-year-old Indians Hall of Famer Bob Feller, who himself fanned 15 batters in his first major league start as a 17-year-old phenom in 1936.
    Strasburg's 22 Ks in his first two start are the second-most in major league history. Only star-crossed Karl Spooner of the old Brooklyn Dodgers ever did better, striking out 27 in his first two big league starts, both complete game victories, by the way, in 1954.
    Tragically, the following spring, Spooner -- who, like Strasburg, was blessed with a blazing fastball --  was ushered into an exhibition game before he had sufficiently warmed up, injured his precious left arm, and won only eight games in 1955, which signaled the end of his promising big league career.