A Collision at Second Without a Base Runner

One of the first baseball cliches I ever heard was, "You can never have too much pitching."

At least I thought it was pitching. But Nationals management seems to think it's, "You can never have too many second basemen."

The Nats are bursting with second basemen. They have Jose Vidro, who was an all-star at second in Montreal, and Alfonso Soriano, who was an all-star at second with the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers. And now, mystifyingly, Frank Robinson says he might ask Cristian Guzman to begin working out at second base. I guess that, like 60 is the new 40, second base is the new pitching.

The Nationals don't want Soriano playing second; they want him in the outfield. When Jim Bowden made the trade for Soriano, he loudly proclaimed Soriano would play outfield. Unfortunately, Bowden was so eager to enhance his reputation that he wasn't listening when Soriano told him, "Take your outfield and stick it."

Sadly, you can have too many second basemen. One is enough. The Nats' official take on having their two best everyday players coveting the same position is, "Don't worry, be happy." Hey, it's spring training, we'll just whistle our problems away. Who knows, maybe Soriano will suddenly agree to go to the outfield. Or maybe he'll be traded back to the American League. Maybe Vidro won't be healthy and they'll need Soriano at second. Maybe Vidro will be healthy and Bowden will trade him. Maybe the Rockies will crumble, Gibraltar will tumble.

Meanwhile, you really never can have too much pitching, as the Nationals found out when newly acquired Brian Lawrence went blooey with a torn labrum and rotator cuff on his first day in a Nats uniform. "I never felt any pain until I showed up here," Lawrence said in what could become the team's new slogan. Lawrence is expected to miss at least half the season, maybe all of it. Unless he comes back sooner and fills in at second.