In his washingtonpost.com chat last week, Thomas Boswell took my question, but did not actually answer it.

Western Alexandria: Do you think “Fire Bowden” chants will help the cause or embolden the Lerners to keep him aboard?

Tom Boswell: The Nationals have had so many injuries this year that there is truly no way to evaluate anybody, including Bowden, accurately. Everybody is waiting for an explosion. I doubt that it’s coming. Bowden is the easiest available target since Manny is popular and Kasten is Mr. 14-in-a-row. I think the Lerners now understand __or will soon understand__ just how bad their season-ticket-renewal problems will be in ’09. They need to win back hearts and minds. They need to do it by spending money and adding players, not firing executives.

If the Lerners had built Nationals Park or even paid for a significant part of it, this wouldn’t smell bad. But they didn’t. They merely added $40-million in sensible extras to what was a solid park design. That’s was sensible, but it’s no reason to stand up and cheer. This city-team-fan relationship is complex. Right now, ownership needs to step up and show its good faith.

BTW, the saddest part of this season may be that Chad Cordero and Shawn Hill, who is now having another elbow surgery, may never pitch effectively again. I hope they do. But the odds probably aren’t even 50-50 right now. That’s a lot of talent down the drain. Were they mishandled? Hard to isolate the day or the situation where any dramatic mistake was made with them. But those are two large pieces of the puzzle to loss to “arm problems” at an early age. And both pitched this year when they were VISIBLY “pitching hurt.”

Yes, there is a lot wrong with this season, but don’t think a guy with a history of saying “you are supposed to run out of pitchers in September and October” and signing an overweight diabetic to an above-market contract among other things is enough?