Letters: Not the right stuff for Dodgers fans

When the talk around the Dodgers is not that they are in last place, but whether Andre Ethier makes the All-Star team, it’s time to start rooting for the first-place Angels.

Marc Popkin

Los Angeles

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Congratulations to Frank McCourt for filling the stadium by giving away $5 tickets and Ethier bobbleheads.

Here is an even better idea for you, Frank. How about charging $100 a ticket and giving away Frank McCourt voodoo dolls and bags of pins? I think you could easily fill up the stadium every night for the rest of the season and make a ton of money to use for payroll, lawyers, psychics and haircuts.

Larry Weiner

Culver City

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Took me weeks to figure out why Prime Ticket was showing the same episode of “Two and a Half Men” every night instead of baseball. Turns out it was just the Dodgers’ lineup.

Mark Lattman

Los Angeles

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When I first saw the headline on Bill Shaikin’s article on Friday, “Dodgers rejected on MLB documents,” I first thought, “Oh no, some bad news for us Dodgers fans.” Fortunately, by the end of the second paragraph I realized that it was good news for us Dodgers fans.

The “Dodgers” are now the bad guys. Hey, McCourt, look what you have done to our team.

Don Uyeshima

Chino Hills

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Frank McCourt has accomplished one thing as owner of the Dodgers: He turned the “Big Blue Wrecking Crew” into “The Big ‘Red’ Machine.”

Peter Santana

Valley Village

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In last week’s letters, reader William Michael writes, “I know it’s not a popular view, but I just don’t understand why the Dodgers’ awful play this year is somehow a reflection of their jerky owner.”

I would like to answer that, William, if I may. It’s a fair statement.

The answer is that the Dodgers’ poor play is a direct result of McCourt’s penny-pinching. The players are giving exactly what they can give. You can’t expect to get $1,000 when you try to sell a cubic zirconia. Rod Barajas, Juan Uribe, Marcus Thames, Jay Gibbons — they are what they are. If you’ve been watching the games, you know that if Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp don’t do it, it doesn’t get done. Oh, there are exceptions of course. But even a blind hog will find an acorn every once in a while.

Ned Colletti assembled this team, and they are performing exactly to expectations. The budget McCourt gave him necessitates the dumpster-diving Ned does, but even when able to spend real money, Ned doesn’t seem to know how to spend it. After the last winter, he spent $80 million and was quoted as saying, “I’m not excited by anything” or something to that effect.

If the Dodgers were able to have a payroll equal to the attendance figures (previous to this year anyway), the on-the-field performance would be dramatically better. But they can’t, and they don’t. And that is a direct reflection of their jerky owner.

Eric Monson

Temecula

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I have an idea for the Dodgers. The general manager has no problem sending a slumping player down to the minors. Because the entire Dodgers team is in a slump, I suggest he send them all down and bring up a new lineup of minor league players.

They certainly cannot be any worse.

Donald J. Brown

Duarte

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Ned Colletti states he’s just not ready to start the fire sale of some players, because the last-place Dodgers still might have a chance. Ned, this isn’t “Field Of Dreams,” so no miracles here. Let the sale begin!

Patrick Drohan

Monrovia

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Dodgers fans will soon have to face facts. The kids have grown up and it will soon be time, like loving parents, to let them go. Kemp, Either, and eventually Kershaw, will all fly off on the wings of free agency to teams that can more fully appreciate (i.e., pay for) their considerable talents.

And think about it, would you really wish the mess the McCourts have made of the Dodgers on anyone you truly cared about? Let them go and wish them well.

Dennis Capps

Oak Park

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Now that Matt Kemp has been voted to start in the All-Star game, where are all those naysayers out there who were ready to ship this guy out on a rail last year? He was ripped pretty well by not only the “fans” but also by the local writers as he was labeled moody, disgruntled and a waste of talent.

Today Matt can do no wrong, but he should be careful. If he stumbles again, even just a bit, I guarantee those same folks who slammed him last year will be at it again.

Rodney K. Boswell

Thousand Oaks

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I went to the Dodgers game Tuesday and, excluding Matt Kemp, the players that batted during the game had the following home run numbers:

Gwynn (0), Furcal (1), Miles (0), Loney (4), Uribe (4), Carroll (0), Oeltjen (1), Ellis (0), Thames (2), Velez (0) for a grand total of 12 homers. I don’t think pitching is their main problem. How in world have they won 37 games thus far?

Wayne Kamiya

El Segundo

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Casey Blake goes on the disabled list with a persistent sore neck. How did that develop?

Watching home runs going over the fence given up by Ted Lilly.

Don White

Palm Desert

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If the Dodgers are hitting .115 with runners in scoring position, are the runners really in scoring position?

Paul Feinsinger

Agoura Hills

Good riddance

While not every move by Angels General Manager Tony Reagins has worked out, can we at least admit that he hit a home run by not overpaying to sign John Lackey two years ago?

For five years and $82.5 million what did the Red Sox get? A broken-down sub-.500 pitcher, with an ERA around 7.50, elbow problems, and an ego the size of his home state of Texas. Who do the Angels trot out every week at the top of their rotation? Jered Weaver and Dan Haren. You do the math. Reagins got it right on that one.

Doug Nicol

Burbank

Profit of doom?

If I purchased an apartment building for $1 million and held it for 10 years, and averaged losses of $50,000 per year, I would be into the investment for $1.5 million. If the apartment were now worth $6.5 million, only an owner of an NBA or NFL team could say I lost money. Any other investor would note they have made a $5-million profit.

This is the state of major professional sports.

Lee Raphael

Tarzana

If you build it …

Bill Plaschke, you were correct [July 1] about this being a city of two dozen favorite NFL teams and about Phil Anschutz being a lousy owner. So, please, in this world of $10,000 personal-seat licenses, $85 replica jerseys and $9 stadium beers, put the megaphone down, mothball the pompoms and hang up the pleated skirt. We don’t want the crummy Jaguars here and we don’t care about how bad you feel around other sportswriters who get to cover their own NFL team.

Liz White

Los Angeles

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The Industry site would be much better for a football stadium. There is room for loads of parking and nice restaurants and hotels. AEG and those folks are a greedy conglomerate that would like nothing better than to have a monopoly on all the sports in L.A. and fleece the taxpayer, to boot.

Robert Price

Walnut

Their fault

It’s the same old thing at NBC, even without Dick Ebersol. Instead of broadcasting the Andy Murray-Rafael Nadal match live for the West Coast, we are forced to wait through a three-hour delay. Does NBC really think that moving the match from 9 a.m. to noon increases viewership? I can hardly wait for next year’s tape-delayed Olympics from London.

Don Geller

Irvine

Downturn

Another bad quarter in Southern California housing sales. Who knew the reduction of USC football scholarships would have such a profound effect on our local economy?

Larry Yells

Hermosa Beach

Ice time

So Kings GM Dean Lombardi wants to re-sign star defenseman Drew Doughty to a “fair” contract? Last year the Kings wanted to sign free-agent sniper Ilya Kovalchuk to a fair contract, and they were turned down. This year the Kings wanted to sign free-agent playmaker Brad Richards to a fair contract, and they were turned down.

If you blow the Doughty deal, three strikes and you’re out, Dean. Now that would be fair.

Olivia Knell

El Segundo

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Hmmm. General manager, assistant general manager, coach, assistant coach, key free-agent signings — all ex-Flyers. I am not so sure this is the way to go. I believe the Kings and Flyers have won the same number of Stanley Cups since 1975.

Domenic Giudice

Irvine

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The two guarantees of NHL free agency — the Kings will never overpay to sign someone and humble NHL players will never declare they are taking their talents elsewhere.

Andy Olson

Westchester

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