Nats notes and bizarre stories of the day

On Thursday, some of the Nationals, including Ryan Church, Nick Johnson and Schneider, threw a farewell get-together for infielder Jamey Carroll last Thursday in Viera, Fla. Carroll was sold to the Rockies for $300,000 last week. Johnson said he was sorry to see his close friend leave the team.

"I'm going to miss him a lot," Johnson said. "He was a good friend. He played the game the way it was supposed to be played. He played hard. I plan to keep in contact with him."

But hey, at least we got the aged Damian Jackson and Royce Clayton and that jerk Robert Fick, right? [/sarc]
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Should we be concerned that the Nats pitching, which propelled the success of the entire 2005 season, is unstable? We can't have Hernandez and Patterson pitching every second or third day. I for one think the signing of Ramon Ortiz has to do with that whole mental disease of Bowden's that makes him sign everyone who has ever played with the Reds. I've heard that the Reds are going after Pedro Astacio. Surely Bowden's in that hunt, too. After all, isn't Astacio an aged hasbeen?
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In odd news, Cincy pitcher Josh Hancock was released for being fat.
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Redbirds Not Missing - Part Of Publicity Stunt

Mystery solved. It turns out 12 vinyl Cardinals missing from billboards in and around St. Louis, aren't really missing - because it's a publicity stunt.


Monday, Cardinal's media director Brian Bartow said they weren't acts of theft or vandalism. He said it was all part of the advertising plan and that the birds will show up on other billboards sometime soon.

Umm...why?
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Mets create mess giving Lima No. 42

Welcome to the first full day of workouts for pitchers and catchers, a picture-perfect snapshot of spring all over the St. Lucie complex.

With just one blemish...the sight of spring-training invitee Jose Lima in a No. 42 jersey blurred the picture just enough to taint it.

What the heck were the Mets thinking?

Give me a break. Lima is past his prime, and even when he was in his prime, he didn't deserve to wear 42. No one in the Majors today deserves to wear the number, except maybe some older coaches like Frank Robinson, who endured so much racism and so many death threats he had to leave Cincinnati. Jackie Robinson did something not simply for baseball, but for this entire nation. Lima simply runs his mouth.

I wonder how big this story will get.