Wow! He's a pitching coach too? Is there anything that guy can't do?

Patterson is not an ace, although he has the most potential for us for now. If I were him, I wouldn't "be my own guy". He still has not established himself as a solid major league pitcher.

3-2-1

So do they ever use a radar gun in the bullpen to see how hard the guys are throwing?

Sorry, I don't think it is looking too well for Patterson or Hill.

Hey Barry, thanks for following up on Patterson and his MPH.....So how frustrated are the Nats already with this self coaching, doctoring, etc.....He really is a head case. Jimbo must be dying to get him traded. Since you say he can it above 90 MPH....somethere must have a radar gun.....give us a number. Is it 95 like 2005?

and blastoff

"Jim Bowden spoke a bit about John Patterson's outing yesterday."

Gee, you'd think Tom Boswell would have spent some time talking with the GM of the Nationals about Patterson, rather than the GM of the Orioles as he did before reporting about Patterson's outing yesterday in his column this morning. All of the concerns Boswell and Flanagan raised about Patterson were addressed in Bowden's comments. Still no way to know who's telling the true story between the two varied reports, but at least having the full story in the paper instead of just half of it as we had this morning would be an improvement. Perhaps someone should introduce Tom Boswell to Jim Bowden. I have this feeling that if you asked Boswell to name the GMs of the Redskins, Orioles and Nationals, the over/under on how many he'd get right would be two.

411......your comments are right on target...Boz as the Nats Columnist can not be the long term plan can it? He is like my uncle.....just hates change and the Nats are going to be all about change for years to come.

If JP is 'letting it fly' in the bullpen, then I (and who am I) will give him the doubt about how to get ready for 3/30. I think as long as he 'lets it fly' in, say, his last couple of ST starts, that should be eneough. I'm a lot more concerned about Hill right now. And, for goodness sakes, can we clear up these visa issues for cryin out loud. Looks like we need someone fulltime working on that stuff. Nice to see WMP launch one somewhere other than BP. I hope that new HD board can take a high hard one.

Man, The Weapon rocks my socks

Jeez...
I know both Patterson and Hill have a bad history regarding injuries, but let's at the very least let them get through the month on March before we start all the gloom and doom prophesies.

I don't often enter the fray here on stuff like this, but Jim Bowden has enormous respect for Tom Boswell, and they spent probably 45 minutes or an hour talking by the batting cage the other day.

Hey Barry,

Thanks for setting the record straight on Boz and Jimbo....how does that square with what was written about Patterson and what you added about Jimbo's take. Did Boz spend time with Jimbo during the game or just the O's GM?

"I don't often enter the fray here on stuff like this, but Jim Bowden has enormous respect for Tom Boswell, and they spent probably 45 minutes or an hour talking by the batting cage the other day."

Well, gee. Then why isn't Boswell using any of the information gained from those discussions to inform his columns, instead of relying on the wisdom of an Orioles manager who's been retired for nearly two decades, or the pitching insights of an Orioles GM who probably has only seen John Patterson pitch once or twice in the entire time the Nationals have been in DC? No disrespect intended here, Barry, I'm serious about this. It makes absolutely no sense to me. Boswell might as well be phoning it in for all the good he's doing for Nats fans with his reporting from Viera.

I enjoyed Boswell's column. I admit it seemed strange that he talked to O's management about Patterson, but then again,

1. He has a long-standing relationship with them from the time they were the only game near town, and

2. We can hear what the Nats' FO says about the pitchers all the time, with spin. Getting an outside voice was I am sure to give more disinterested credibility.

We are just a bit touchy about the Orioles' management, and with reason. Let's not be too sensitive about it, though, if there are other, logical explanations. I know some will disagree heartily- that's fine, I mean no offense.

I rarely defend Boz, but he's more likely to get an honest assessment of Patterson from another team's GM than Jimbo.

Pitchers traditionally do not top out on the radar gun in early ST games. It is all about form, hitting their marks and just throwing strikes. Speed come last. JP will be in the 90's when it counts.

Seriously. Barry talks to the Nats and gives us their version of the story, oh, say 97% of the time. What's Boz going to get from Jim Bowden about Patterson that Barry hasn't already gotten?

We now have a second writer down there who we would hope is getting other perspectives. Asking the opposing team what he thought our pitcher looked from their perspective? My gawd, who WOULDN'T want another angle on this? Griping about this is just bush league.

Hey Barry,
Nothing to do with the Nats, but just got back from the Wizards game and Screech was there and he has not bathed since last season. So enjoy clean Screech while you can.

A Missed Opportunity for Screech:

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/304133.html

"I don't often enter the fray here on stuff like this, but Jim Bowden has enormous respect for Tom Boswell, and they spent probably 45 minutes or an hour talking by the batting cage the other day."
Posted by: Barry Svrluga | March 2, 2008 07:51 PM
*************************

Not to put words in the wordsmith's mouth, but I think this is as close as Barry gets (here) to "STFU, you ignoramuses."

Barry, thanks for weighing in. This thread needed a bit of sanity.

"I rarely defend Boz, but he's more likely to get an honest assessment of Patterson from another team's GM than Jimbo."

Okay. I'm sure Boswell will be writing at least one column about the Orioles while he's down in Florida. I look forward to reading all about Jim Bowden's assessment of the Orioles pitching staff then.

Look, I hate the O's as much as the next person but, Flanagan was a solid pitcher for years and it seems he was actually pretty accurate in his assessment of Patterson's arm action.

Boz seems to get a lot of heat in NJ and really don't understand why. He is a nationally respected baseball journalist. Jeez, give the guy some respect.

Boz has likely forgotten more baseball than we will ever know...it's ok to criticize him, but he's been at this for many years and is a fine, insightful writer. I'm glad he finally gets to write about Washington baseball - sure he mixes in a few other columns, but he's written already about the new ballpark, attendance, the future of the team and the injured pitchers. I've complained about coverage, but I think we're getting a good deal from Boz so far. I enjoy his columns immensely.

Glad to see the offense wake up today!

Only took 2 columns about the Nats--complete with references to Earl Weaver, Jim Palmer and Mike Flanagan--before Boz the O's fan made his triumphant return.

If anyone has the tiny url to the Sun baseball columnist's new piece about the Nats, could you please post it? I was having some trouble finding the column. Thanks!

1. Nats' starting pitching will be fine!
2. Nats should have signed FA starting pitchers!
3. Nats' starting pitching will be fine!
4. Nats should have signed FA starting pitchers!
5. Nats' starting pitching will be fine!
6. Nats should have signed FA starting pitchers!

Someone please stop Boz before I get whiplash.

I too enjoyed Boz's latest effort with outside opinions of Patterson's progress.

My question - why was it missing the other half of the story that Barry provided the next day. That is, Patterson apparently can reach the low to mid 90's (still have my doubts and would love to have a real number here Barry) in BP and Bull Pen sessions. Impression now is that he is holding back while he functions as his own pitching coach and changes his motion and release point. That information is very telling in many ways (not all good) and seems like something Boz should known and included in the article about Patterson's effort in the ST game.

Boz was a great writer and I still have books and collections of his writings on a shelf in my office. This version of Boz is not the same although it was an improvement over his Football work this fall.

Oh and Barry, I am sure Jimbo like I have great respect for Boz's career body of work, does it go both ways? Did Boz talk to Patterson after the game and has anyone talked to Rand S-C to check on Patterson's self coaching? Boz's column, Hill's trip to Duke and Jimbo's comments to you (only) leave a few open questions about our pitching staff.

i have no problem w/boz getting some insight on a nats pitcher from an opposing manager/gm/FO guy, but it does seem odd not to post what he got from the *nats* gm along side it? especially if the nat's gm's story explains why flannagan saw? or, if he hadn't talked to JB or patterson yet, wouldn't it be good reporting to check for the other side of the story?

Hey +1/2 St., you won me over with "disinterested." Great word, often abused, used perfectly.

Boz is a columnist, not a beat reporter. He gets to express opinions. And it's ok with me if he still maintains relationships with guys working for the hated O's. We fans get to be rabid, he gets to do his job.

I don't get upset when Boz writes about the O's, but I do agree with the coverage is lacking argument. I just don't take it out on him.

One way to illustrate the relative lack of Nats coverage in the Post is to compare it to the Sun's coverage of the O's - beat reporter, blogger, baseball columnist, main sports columnist are all different people and most or all of them are in the paper or website on the same day. I don't remember which writer, but last year there was some ink devoted to comparing the Nats (smart) and O's (not smart) team building strategies.