A normal-sized hamburger at Nationals Park. (Photo by Pete Kuszmaul)

In yesterday’s Go Home Already we caught wind of a new concession at Nationals Park making its debut this season: The StrasBurger—a massive, flame-kissed mound of ground beef weighing in at eight pounds including toppings and condiments. It’ll be sold at the stadium’s Red Porch bar and restaurant that overlooks center field.

A Nationals press release, obtained by the Post’s Dan Steinberg, describes the Strasburger as such:

Weighing eight pounds total (including toppings), the StrasBurger is a monstrous all beef burger (combination of ground brisket, chuck and short ribs). The burger is served on a large burger bun with our secret sauce, American cheese, shredded lettuce, sliced tomatoes, sliced red onions, pickle chips and served with a cone basket of fresh cut fries and a pitcher of your choice of soft drink. This signature dish is the perfect entrée to share at this affordably-priced family restaurant.

Yes, the eight-pound burger, that is topped with cheese and some mysterious, probably calorie-laden sauce, comes with a basket of fries and a whole pitcher of sugary soda.

Earlier today, Yahoo! Sports all but confirmed what we’ve been thinking since first hearing about the StrasBurger: It appears to be the biggest sandwich available at a professional baseball game, besting the previous scale-tipping champion, the Fifth Third Burger sold at West Michigan Whitecaps home games in Comstock Park, Mich. The Grand Rapids Press tested that five-and-one-third pound burger’s nutritional value in 2009, finding it to contain 4,800 calories, 300 grams of fat, 744 milligrams of cholesterol (probably not the good kind) and over 10,000 milligrams of sodium.

Nutritional data for the StrasBurger is not yet available, but based on the example of the slightly smaller Fifth Third Burger and a recent bit of news about red meat, it’s very tempting to say that attempts to down the StrasBurger COULD KILL YOU!

Why the fatalism? A new finding announced this week by the Harvard School of Public Health that eating red meat—even in the slightest amount—is terrible for your health. Yes, hamburgers are tasty and delicious, and we aren’t suddenly going to become the Anti-Hamburgerist, but still, come on, Nationals!

Red meat, the Harvard study found, “is associated with an increased risk of total, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality.” They might be tasty, but red meats are full of iron, nitrites, sodium and carcinogens that form during cooking processes. And eight pounds of brisket, chuck and short-rib meat, even if its split between a group of four?

“Our study adds more evidence to the health risks of eating high amounts of red meat, which has been associated with type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers in other studies,” said An Pan, the lead researcher in the Harvard study.

Or consider the case of the Heart Attack Grill, a Las Vegas establishment that serves up half-pound patties with the option of not draining the grease before serving. In February, a customer, while chowing down on a “Triple Bypass Burger,” had a heart attack in the middle of the restaurant. (The diner was taken to a nearby hospital where he later recovered.)

In other words, eat the StrasBurger, and you might wind up as dead as the pitcher’s arm was after his first two months in the majors.