

(Photo by John McDonnell/The Washington Post)

Kevin Sheehan and Thom Loverro of ESPN 980’s “The Sports Fix” interviewed Nationals Manager Matt Williams this week and somehow went the first 12 minutes without asking about Bryce Harper or Stephen Strasburg.

“That’s awesome,” Williams joked when Loverro pointed out this fact with a few minutes remaining for, yes, questions about Harper and Strasburg.

“They’ve had very different seasons – good times, bad times throughout it,” Loverro said. “What’s your particular relationship with each of them and has it changed over the course of the year?”

“I believe my relationship is great with both of them,” said Williams, who benched Harper for not running out a ground ball back in April, which seems like eons ago. “First and foremost, I’d like to let you know that I received a wedding invitation from Bryce today. So what does that tell you? I think often times, being away from it, and being thrust into it this year, sometimes, frankly, it’s a little unfair on these guys, because their spotlight is so much brighter than everybody else’s. But it comes with the territory. They have to look at that and go, “All right, yeah, there’s a reason for that, because I’m really good.’

“All of that being said, they’re two young players who have worlds of talent that can dominate a baseball game on any given day. My relationship is great with them. Stephen hates it when I take him out of a game, Bryce hates it when I put him on the bench. They both want to play every day, all the time, they both believe in their abilities, and I have tried to nurture those abilities as we go. I think they are both well on their way to fantastic careers, and hopefully they both shine as bright as that spotlight in the playoffs and we can get to where we want to go.”

How great would it be if Harper asked Williams to not only attend, but deliver a speech, at his wedding? Do we think Harper, who is engaged to his longtime girlfriend Kayla Varner, invited Derek Jeter to the festivities? If so, Williams and the Captain could reminisce about Game 7 of the 2001 World Series, when Luis Gonzalez’s one-out bloop single over a drawn-in infield lifted Williams and the Diamondbacks to a win over the Yankees.

During his weekly appearance with the Sports Junkies on 106.7 The Fan, Williams was asked which Nationals player he’d want at the plate in a similar situation this postseason. If you expected Williams, who is no stranger to controversy created by comments to the Junkies, to name just one guy, you were sorely mistaken.

“That’s a tough one,” Williams said. “That’s a hard one because we’ve got so many guys. Let’s set the situation. The situation is bases loaded, with one out. So what I’m looking for there is somebody to put together a solid at-bat, sombebody that will swing at strikes, somebody that will use the whole field, because it doesn’t have to go to one spot, it can go anywhere. Just like [Gonzalez] said, Gonzo got jammed a little bit and flared the ball over Jeter’s head. So I’m looking for that guy. So whho is that guy? That guy’s Anthony. That guy’s Denard. That guy’s Jayson. That guy is Zimm. So, you know, I could go on and on, but there’s a number of those guys on our team, which is good. I think one of the reasons we’re here is that guys put together at-bats.”