Baseball

Washington Post sports columnist Thomas Boswell was online Friday, July 21, at 11 a.m. ET to take your questions and comments about the Washington Nationals, Major League Baseball and his recent columns .

The transcript follows.

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Ellicott City, Md.: Tom,

My problem with the trade for Lopez and Kearns -- they have the same M.O. as a lot of other Nationals hitters - decent power, low on-base pct and lots of K's, just like Guillen, Zimmerman, and Soriano. Don't you think the line-up needs more high on-base, low strikeout guys?

Also, Lopez is a poor fielder at short - not good for a finesse staff.

Tom Boswell: Actually one of the attractions of Kearns and Lopez is that their on-base percentages and ability to draw some walks are an improvement compared to what the Nats have had. Kearns has a career OB% near .360 and Lopez has been over .350 the last three seasons combined. That's just fine. For comparison, Zimmerman has almost exactly the same on-base and slugging percentages this season as Kearns. I don't think many people are complaining about Zimmerman.

What the Nats done is get themselves a trio of 3-4-5 hitters who are physically big and shouldn't be intimidated by RFK's dimensions. Kearns, 6-3, 245, Nick Johnson 6-4, 230, Zim 6-3, 220. And they bat left-right-left. So, even in this rebuilding periods, the Nationals have a credible heart of the order. No, not one of the good ones by any means. But capable of 75 homers, 275 RBI and above average defense as a group.

Lopez (pace for ~40 steals) replaces some of Soriano's speed at the top of the lineup, assuming, as I do, that it's virtually certain he'll be traded.

That said, the Nats certainly strikeout too much. Only Johnson has more walks than K's (62-52), though Vidro is good (33-39). Zimmerman is already improving as the year goes on. Soriano's K's will soon be gone. Still, as this lineup is built, one of the elements that's needed is a .400-on-base guy who hits No. 1 or 2.

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Another MLB outrage!: This is way down the list in terms of importance, but it is another example of the cluelessness of MLB! This is the list of nominees for the Washington "Hometown Heroes" campaign: Gary Carter, Livan Hernandez, Brian Schneider, Rusty Staub, Jose Vidro. Seeing that, I expected to see Walter Johnson's name for the Twins or Frank Howard's for the Rangers, but I did not. Will someone please tell the idiots at baseball that Washington has its OWN history and doesn't need to import from anyone! I finish my rant with my own list for Washington hometown heroes: Walter Johnson, Bucky Harris, Joe Cronin, Frank Howard, Roy Sievers.

Tom Boswell: Idiots.

Tim (The Worm) Cullen would get more votes in Washington as a "hometown hero" than Gary Carter.

Tom Boswell: For more REAL hometown heroes, see my e-mail column on comparisons between the '71 Senators and '06 Nats.

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Arlington, Va.: Boz,

I refuse to let all the muckslinging ruin my enjoyment of the baseball season! Do you think if want tickets at the new ballpark we better get season tickets for next year to get in the cue?

Tom Boswell: The game itself has always interested me far more than anything else. I always assume that everything AROUND the game will be just as big a mess as the rest of the world. (Why wouldn't it be?) So I look on all the stadium issues, etc., as fascinating hard news. But they don't contaminate my enjoyment in the game itself, even the odd pleasures of watching a last-place team,.

Can't tell you when to get in the cue. But this season's low attendance gives you an opportunity for a better spot in line for the new park IF you were going to buy tickets anyway.

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Rockville, Md.: How 'bout them Twins?!

Tom Boswell: As teams like the Twins, A's and Reds continue to demonstrate, you don't have to be a big-revenue team to compete for the playoffs. Worst-case, Washington will be a bigger baseball market than any of them, probably by a lot.

I love the Twins. They prove the value of a FEW key star players developed by your farm system (whether drafted or traded for while they're still minor leaguers. Impressive: Santana and now Liriano at the top of the rotation and catcher Joe Mauer (.377) and Justin Morneau (25 HR, .306) in the heart of the order. However, the Twins don't have the money to add all the "pieces of the puzzle" that should go around them. But they show how much can be done with relatively little. (Of course, to me, they really the original Senators.)

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Burke, Va.: I find the negativity about this team in the media coverage to be astonishing, including your column today ("for heaven's sake, whatever you do, don't look at the team").

Don't watch Nick Johnson's artistry in the batter's box and on the field? Don't enjoy Zimmerman's progress towards being a perennial all-star? Don't watch Escobar to see if his promising talent will finally pay off? Don't watch Soriano's electric athleticism, for however long he might remain here?

I'd suggest that even with all of its holes, this team is well worth looking at.

Has everyone already forgotten we didn't use to have a baseball team at all?

Tom Boswell: Point taken.

However, this team makes so many fundamental mental mistakes that it's exasperating. The devastation of the pitching staff __the injury totals are just nuts__ explains a lot. But if this team "played the game" half as well as Japan's national team in the WBC they'd be close to .500.

I sometimes wear a "Japan" WBC hat just to remind myself that almost none of the MLB teams that I cover have a sound idea of how the game should be played. Our teams are exceptionally talented physically and have first-rate teaching techniques for pitching and hitting. But the need for more discipline, more accountability, more team play, is enormous. It's a huge trend to try to reverse. The teams that have done it __at least to some degree and (unfortunately) usually only for short periods of time, like the Angel and Marlin world champions__ have had exceptional success.

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washingtonpost.com: Host of Problems At New-Look RFK , ( Post, July 21 )

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Harrisonburg, Va.: Boz, Where is Soriano headed in your opinion?

Tom Boswell: I'm hoping Detroit. They desperately need another big bat. I'd love to see them continue their great run this season. And they are one of the few teams that has quality young pitching to spare __like Zumaya, 21, throws 100, already producing in the majors. If you have Zumaya, plus Cordero, in whatever order, you could have a dominant bullpen for a long time.

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President Races: Well, Boz, maybe our Presidents can beat out Milwaukee's Sausages in a "winner take all" contest. We can get Kearns to take out his frustrations by taking a swing at them as the come by the dugout. They shouldn't worry since he can't seem to hit anything right now, anyway.

Tom Boswell: I saws the Presidents yesterday. They are extremely tall. Who says the stature of the office has diminished in recent decades?

I think Kearns could hit Teddy Roosevelt. He appears to run straight and slow.

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Arlington, Va.: One reason attendance is down might be that many, like me, refuse to put any money into MLB's coffers, so I won't attend any games until the sale is complete. And now that MLB is serving papers on DC, it doesn't look like they'll be completing the sale anytime soon. Any news on that front?

Tom Boswell: If you knew where every dollar you spent actually ended up, you'd think that giving some of your money to those villains at MLB was almost a good deed.

"In a time when it is so common to do evil, it is practically praise-worthy to do what is merely useless."

Montaigne's essay "On Vanity." Not much changes in 400 years.

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Section 409: Bos, what can we do to give Austin Kearns some love so he'll start playing like the player he was two weeks ago, before the trade?

Tom Boswell: Yes.

As I mentioned last week, Griffey thinks he's a great guy, great teammate, formidable player who hasn't finished improving. I assume folks at RFK will welcome him. He's a fine hard-working player who will probably be here a long time. His attitude will come around. If he stays healthy __if__ he'll make the trade look good. If he doesn't...

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Arlington, Va.: Am I ever going to be able to watch more than 1 game a week on TV? I had been hoping for a resolution this season but it is starting to look less and less likely. Wasn't this supposed to be one of the top priorities for the Lerners and Kasten?

Tom Boswell: In light of last week's FCC decision, I now assume that complete Nats TV coverage in '07 is as close to a certainty as anything this complex can be. However, if we could just "kill all the lawyers" that are being overpaid by both MASN and Comcast we'd probably have the problem solved before the end of this season.

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Herndon, Va.: It seems that the Lerner family is trying to do the best they can w/ what they have but do you really expect to see 36,000 at each game?

Tom Boswell: Nats are usually quite good at knowing what they'll draw the day before a series begins. Their people said yesterday that they anticipate crowds of 35,000, 40,000 and 35,000 for the three games. However, that assumed "walk up" crowds of about 3,500, 4,500 and 3,500 which is higher than the normal 2,500. We'll see how good they are at guesstimating. Weather and word-of-mouth after tonight's game may have an impact. Too bad the Cubs stink. But Prior pitching should be a draw this evening.

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Washington, D.C.: Would you ever see the Nats follow a Moneyball philosophy by putting Nick Johnson in the leadoff spot? Nick has a OBP of ~.420 and is near the top in doubles. He not only gets on base a lot, but also puts himself in scoring position.

Boston has taking this route with Youkilis and it seems to be working.

Tom Boswell: I saw Weaver put Ken Singleton at leadoff and win with him there. Nick and Kenny are very similar, but Johnson is a far better base runner and wouldn't clog the bases too much at all. If the Nats become excellent while Johnson is still in his prime, you might see him at No. 1. When he started for the Yankees in the World Series, he hit No. 2. That may be his best spot because, being left handed, he can hit behind the runner (on first) and also takes a ton of pitches which would allow a fast leadoff man to steal.

Johnson is not really enough of a strict HR-RBI guy to hit fourth. But the Nats have nobody remotely as good for the job.

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Re: Arlington, Va.: Boz, the poster from Arlington is upset that MLB served D.C. papers. What you failed to mention in your reply was the MLB is doing this on behalf of the Lerners!! Any comments? You should post Pearlstein's column today in business section.

washingtonpost.com: Less Hardball, More Humility , ( Post, July 21 )

Tom Boswell: Done.

I worry about the Lerners ingrained business habits.

I asked someone who has worked on a big project with them how they operated. He said they were honest and competent but that they'd fight you over every detail of a contract or cost. I asked for an example of them obsessing over a detail just because it was technically their right.

"They'll fight you over the cost of a FedEx package."

Remember that. I will.

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Washington, D.C.: What are the chances of landing the young CF from Seattle? Adam Jones is his name I think. We desperately need a CF who can make plays in the OF.

And by the way, that bunt turned HR a few days ago, where was Soriano on the backup for the throw to second? He was standing in the same place he started that play at.

Tom Boswell: Soriano never moved. Maybe he didn't know he was supposed to move.

Frank Howard would have lumbered over there from the instant the ball was hit and held the guy at 2nd. It was amazing to watch Howard's "over-hustle." If a guy in the upper deck tossed a ball to his kid, I was worried that Hondo would try to invent a way to "back up the play."

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Fairfax, Va.: Once Kearns figures out how to hit in RFK he should be #4.

They SHOULD be going Lopez first, Nick second, Soriano 3rd, Kearns 4, Zim 5. But that would probably bruise too many egos.

Tom Boswell: Oh, please. Would that make Soriano happy? Come on, we want him happy, don't we? Because if he's unhappy, he's harder to trade __because if he complains about hitting 3-4-or-5 then he might be seen as a malcontent.

Batting Soriano leadoff, because that's what he prefers, has a lot more to do with making sure he looks like a "good guy" for trade purposes than it does with making him happy so he'll resign here.

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Washington, D.C.: Your comments on how the Yankee fans' treatment of A-Rod (the incessant booing) is affecting his play. Is this a matter of a self-fulfilling prophecy?

Tom Boswell: It's getting ugly up there. One of my editors tells me that, the other day, one of the NY tabs had a photo of A-Rod posing with his shirt off in Central Park for a photo taken by his wife.

Once New York decides to grind you down, nobody does it better. The day I learned that A-Rod had original French impressionist paintings on his ritzy apartment walls, I said, "Ut oh. Is this a New York kinda guy?"

All Jason Giambi's tattoos went over a lot better.

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Arlington, Va.: So the Lerners/MLB are hounding the city of missing contractual deadlines. Would you prefer they ignore it or set the precedent now that they do mean to have deadline met on the way to April '08?

Tom Boswell: The Lerners were only named owners two months ago. Isn't it just a little early to GIVE UP on the city actually fulfilling its contractual obligations?

If they start by taking a position that sounds even a little bit like, "Oh, take your time. We trust you," the park may not even be open by '09.

BTW, some in the Malek group ASSUMED that '09 was the best possible date for opening the stadium and one of the partners said, "We've dealt with the District government all our lives. We're going to make a lot of improvements at RFK because you don't know how long you may have to be there."

With the combination of Lerner, Kasten and Clark Construction in the picture, I think the chances are maximized for a best-possible completion date. But that begs the most important question: What IS the "best possible?"

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D.C. (no state, no voting member of Congress...): How much have the slew of injuries hurt the Nationals in their goal of landing young talent? It seems like the latest Guillen, Vidro and (presumably) Hernandez (based on his performance) really are crippling the Nationals in their search for prospects.

Tom Boswell: Right now, my best guess is that only Soriano and Ramon Ortiz (low salary, World Series experience, good guy, having a decent season) will be traded. If somebody DOESN'T grab Ortiz, who's on a $2.5-M one-year contract, they're making a mistake.

On August 1st, here's may best guess at the team that's left at RFK.

Vidro and Lopez batting No. 1-2. Don't know which order.

Zimmerman, Johnson and Kearns at 3-4-5.

Ward (I hope) in LF hitting sixth as part of a platoon with Matos (who'd play CF on his days vs. LHers).

Escobar in CF hitting 7th. (Until he gets hurt.)

Schneider and Fick at catcher.

Anderson as PH, back-up infielder.

Rotation: Hernandez (to expensive to trade as badly as he's pitching), Armas (cheap contract, but maybe too inconsistent to "get enough" to justify a trade), Patterson (by late August), Astacio, O'Connor, Hill, Drese and all the usually suspects.

Bullpen: Cordero, Rauch, Stanton, Rivera, Micah Bowie (LH, 31), Gryboski, blah, blah. PLUS a decent middle-relief career-mediocrity replacement for Majewski who should be part of the Soriano trade.

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Washington, D.C.: Hi Mr. Boswell

So it seems like Lopez is staying, and not being turned around in another trade?

Tom Boswell: Oh, he's staying. I'd never paid attention to his fielding until he got to the Nats. Ouch! He has some range, a strong arm and will make aggressive risking plays (like starting a 6-4-3 DP with a hard risky throw) that Clayton wouldn't make. But it looks like he's going to make some ugly errors. Not so many that he can't be your shortstop. But get ready for it.

He has some legit pop. His HR this week jumped into the 10th row of the RF bleachers. He was into his HR trot as soon as he hit it. He's looked awful at the plate otherwise, BUT if this is what constitutes a slump for him, I'm actually encouraged. He's drawn walks and tossed in that HR. However, if what we've seen is anywhere close to "normal"...no, no, this can't be normal. The concern may be that he's only had one big offensive year __'05 with 23-85-.291. But, at 26, you assume the best is ahead.

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Annapolis, Md.: "As teams like the Twins, A's and Reds continue to demonstrate, you don't have to be a big-revenue team to compete for the playoffs. Worst-case, Washington will be a bigger baseball market than any of them, probably by a lot."

True. Smart and poor beats rich and dumb every time (in baseball, at least). But if you can be smart and rich you can be in the playoffs every year (BoSox & Yankees, Exhibits 1 and 1A). What is the chance that the current cast of characters -- Kasten, Bowden, the Lerners -- can achieve smart and rich?

Tom Boswell: In time, Kasten will presumably take care of getting "smart" people where they're needed. His budget in Washington, in a new stadium, will be "rich enough," as it was in Atlanta. His methods __heavy on player development, not signing free agents__ don't require a Yankee-Red Sox budget level.

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Fairfax, Va.: Tom, Have you seen any previews of the Screech bobblehead?

Tom Boswell: Oh, my God.

And after all the time I had to watch my son, when he was young, rotting his mind watching "Saved by the Bell."

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Falls Church, Va.: After Robinson's outburst over his team's pathetic lack of timely hitting...he can't possibly keep the offensively INEPT Lopez hitting #2..now hitting .068 and 27 LOB's in 7 games...

Where is Jamie Carroll , oh, right- he's hitting .318 in Colorado.....

Tom Boswell: The Earl-Weaver-approved approach to a period of poor clutch hitting is NOT to moan about it day after day, like you have an incurable disease or a character flaw, but to say, "That's why they play 162 games. Everything evens out. Can you imagine how many clutch hits we're GOING to get the rest of the season. Somebody's going to pay for all the frustration we're feeling now."

Plant the ideas that, someday soon, you're not just going to get "your share" of clutch hits but that you are going to get a deluge of clutch hits because THE GAMES OWES IT TO YOU.

Great managers and coaches are almost always optimists and confidence builders (at least in private), even if it makes them look a little insipid at times. Frank has plenty of strengths. But sometimes he's too honest. The only reason EVER to tear down confidence is so that you can build it up.

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Reston, Va.: Hi, Tom thanks for doing these chats....

This week, Mariano Rivera hit a milestone by reaching 400 saves and will most likely be a first ballot Hall of Famer.

Under the edict issued by Bud Selig nearly 10 years ago, the #42 is permanently retired by all clubs to honor former Dodger Jackie Robinson. The exception was to any player who was already wearing the number. Lo and behold, Mariano Rivera was one of those players.

When #42 finally hangs in Monument Park in Yankee Stadium, do you think the fans will think of Jackie Robinson or Mariano Rivera?

Tom Boswell: Interesting point.

Of course, everybody thinks of "42" as Robinson, even those of us who are too young to have seen him play. But I suspect that, at least when I am in Yankee Stadium, I may think of the "Sandman."

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RFK HRs: Good morning Mr. Boswell,

Always fun to look back at early season issues. At the beginning of the season, a lot was being bantered back and forth about the fences at RFK. The dearth of HRs, you remember, was the issue. Seems that when the most diminutive guy in the lineup started popping them out, with emphasis, to all parts of the park including dead center field, the 'music died'. How is RFK stacking up with the other MLB parks in regard to HRs? Have more been hit this year compared to this time last season?

Tom Boswell: I'll work on that.

Don't forget, the ball may be a little juiced this season to counteract the steroid stick. (Never pass up a good conspiracy theory, true or not.)

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New York, N.Y.: Hey, let's add Eddie Brinkman to the hometown heroes list. Speak of whom, why doesn't anyone ever choke up on the bat anymore? Thanks.

Tom Boswell: OK!

Choking up on the bat only seems to have crossed the mind of one prominent player __Barry Bonds. It hasn't hurt him.

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Patterson: Tom, great article today. I can't wait to try the fish and chips! As far as John Patterson, news today is that now he is only expected to miss about 6 weeks. With all his injury problems this year, and all the recent talk from Nats front office about "building for the future" wouldn't it be best for Patterson and the Nats just to sit him for the remainder of the season. It seems that they rushed him the first time he came back from injury? Your thoughts?

Tom Boswell: Weaver once said that in China they tell time by "the Year of the Dog, the Year of Tiger. I tell time by Jim Palmer. The Year of the Ulnar Nerve, the Year of..."

I just hope that the median nerve is not located anywhere close to the ulnar nerve.

Patterson's father's career as a pitcher in the Orioles chain was cut short by arm injury. That has to cross Patterson's mind. He's a wonderful talent and would be an extremely appealing core player. Cross your fingers.

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Silver Spring, Md.: Hey there, Boz, any chance we'd pick up Vinny Castilla again?

Tom Boswell: The Nats got the best of the Castilla-Lawrence trade this year. Lawrence never took the field for Washington. Unfortunately for San Diego, Vinny did.

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Section 315: Any idea what the story is on players greeting the fans this weekend? Will it just be guys who aren't playing? When will they stop greeting and get down to the field?

Tom Boswell: The "real" players and the "real" owners are supposed to be shaking hands as fans enter between 6:00-6:30 on Friday.

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Maryland: In your opinion between the O's and Nats who will get to 500 first if any, and who do you think will have the best record at the end of the season?

Tom Boswell: The Orioles pitching, bad as it has been, has far more potential for this season than the Nats. The Orioles have a remote chance at .500, if they catch every break.

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National Cathedral: Boz love the columns. I wanna know more about this 16 year old we just signed for all that dough!! Is he really that good or was it more of move to show the people in the Latin areas that we are now players with some real money to sign people..

thanks

Tom Boswell: Both reasons, but probably at least as much "Reason B" as "Reason A." Maybe much more. That's a huge market for talent in which to identify yourself as a big-spending "player."

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All Star Stop Sign: Hey Tom, no one seemed to bring up the fact that Soriano's blowing off of the third base coach's stop sign during the All Star game may have cost the NL home field advantage for the World Series. I think it did. Thoughts?

Tom Boswell: The way the inning evolved I think the AL would probably only have scored one run, which it did anyway. But you never know.

Maybe that was Soriano sending a message: Trade me back to the American League and I'll take you to the World Series. Home field advantage is on me!

See you next week. Or at the Grand Reopening. (The new food really is an enormous improvement. We'll see how many people get through the lines. A good guess is that 5-6-7K people will actually end up eating the new meals. Not bad.)

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PNC Park, Pa.: Boz, Thanks for the chats and the columns. I felt a big GULP when I read your PNC Park comments around the all-star game, and what it could mean for our $611 million stadium. Thought you would appreciate this column that appears in today's The Onion, satire paper: PNC Park Threatens To Leave Pittsburgh Unless Better Team Is Built

Tom Boswell: Thanks.

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