Ah, the joys of staying up late to watch the Nats get pounded out West now that MASN is on Comcast! What's this? They won last night!? 4-RBI for Vidro?! We fell asleep in the 3rd.Needless to say, this is one of our worst Mailbag efforts of the season. Apologies in advance. You know the routine: the latest installment of The Nationals dot com Mailbag is up on Nationals dot com; what follows is our uninformed version.
Keep those e-mails coming to Nationals beat writer Bill Ladson, and we'll keep copying and pasting them over here and giving our half-assed answers. Thanks a bunch.
With Jose Vidro expected to be traded in the offseason, do you view Bernie Castro as their second baseman of the future? -- C.S., Springfield, Va.
Who's gonna take Vidro off our hands? (You're kidding about the Castro part, right?)
At this point, it seems to be getting comical. Why is it that the team looks down on Ryan Church, who since coming back from New Orleans on July 22 is hitting .305? They replaced him with Nook Logan. It seems to me, the Nationals need to part ways with Church so he can get a decent chance. -- E.E., Santa Maria, Calif.
Comical? I know a lot of people in these parts love Church (including, apparently, Tom Boswell), but I don't know, there's gotta be more to the story here. We're not sold on Church.
What is the status of Brian Lawrence?
-- B.W., Newport News, Va.
Who?
In instances when Frank Robinson believes he has a pretty good idea why a player is struggling at the plate, why doesn't he, on his own initiative, volunteer his insights to the player rather than wait to be asked? -- D.B., Washington D.C.
Because in those instances he's probably napping.
One thing that has struck me about the Nationals since the second half of last year is their lack of toughness. What do you think? -- R,C., Vienna, Va.
You're a f#!%king moron, that's what I think.
Do you think Kory Casto will get a September callup this year?
-- B. A., Jonestown, Pa.
Well, with September nearing it's mid-point, I'd say it's looking doubtful for ol' K.C.
I attended 26 games and the Nats went 17-9. How many more home games should I go to so they can win more games? -- J.K., Maryland
Hold on, we'll break out our calculator: Wait for it......
ok. There are 12 home games left. If you go to every home game, the Nats could just run the table and squeak into the playoffs.
I am curious of what you thought of the decision to pull Ramon Ortiz in the ninth inning last Monday? I personally thought it was a mistake and that he should have been allowed to finish the game. -- J.H., Sterling, Va.
Good decision. And who cares, anyway? They won, didn't they? What's the difference? Why do I get the feeling that if Frank had left him in the game and things had gotten out of hand, your question would have been something like: "I am curious of what you thought of the decision to leave Ramon Ortiz in in the ninth inning last Monday? I personally thought it was a mistake and that he should have been pulled after the Pujols HR." Piss off.
Do you think Brian Schneider is actually injured? He is having such a bad season, it's almost unbelievable that he is not hiding something, like Brad Wilkerson, who wasn't in top shape last year. -- S.T., Montreal
Here we go again! Another crybaby with his Brad Wilkerson Underoos all tied up in knots. Can we please, for the love of God, stop talking about Brad Wilkerson!? You probably cry yourself to sleep at night over Jamey Carroll when you're not gnashing your teeth over Wilkie.