Everyone needed a break

Manager Joe Torre’s record for the first half of the season is a mixed bag.

The good: If you look close enough, you’ll spot a faint halo over Torre’s cap that intimidates The Times’ piranhas (er, scribes). He handles pitchers well, plays “little ball” and surrounds himself with good baseball people.

The bad: Changes course about as fast as an aircraft carrier. For example, popular Blake DeWitt stopped hitting over a month ago, yet Torre refuses to play potential slugger Andy LaRoche at third.

The ugly: Everyone in the stands, everyone in baseball, everyone on the planet knows Andruw Jones is finished. He can’t hit the fastball, he can’t hit the curve … he can’t hit. Yet Torre not only plays him every day, he bats him smack dab in the middle of the order, even the day after poor Andruw struck out five times.

Let’s hope the All-Star break gives Joe a chance to mend his ways.

Skip Usen

Santa Monica

Ross Newhan asserts that the Dodgers are continually mediocre because they no longer emphasize pitching, speed and defense as outlined in “The Dodger Way to Play Baseball,” yet as I write this the Dodgers have given up the fewest runs of any National League team and rank second in the NL in stolen bases and are still under .500. The real reasons for the Dodgers’ current malaise are their far-below-average on-base percentage and almost total lack of power.

What the Dodgers need more than anything else is for Andruw Jones or Matt Kemp or Nomar or somebody to start hitting the ball out of the park, not the same old cliches about “pitching, speed and defense.”

Andy Goodstein

Los Angeles

Fred Claire was the first Dodgers general manager who wasn’t a real baseball man who learned his craft on the field. He was a sportswriter and Peter O’Malley’s pal. Those were not Branch Rickey’s qualifications for the job.

Claire immediately won the Series in ‘88 with Al Campanis’ team and a great trade with Oakland (Alfredo Griffin, Jay Howell) and it made him look like a genius, but it’s the last championship the Dodgers won. If the Bums don’t make the World Series this October they will equal the record for Dodgers futility that goes back to the drought of 1921-40 in Brooklyn, 20 years without an appearance in the Fall Classic.

As for Tommy Lasorda, he’s the guy who said Pedro Martinez was too small to start and John Wetteland couldn’t close on Broadway.

Howie Siegel

Victoria, Canada

I am 9 years old and going into fifth grade. I attended last Saturday night’s Dodgers game with my grandparents. I felt really bad for Andruw Jones. I was very disappointed with the way many of the fans treated him. I thought if I put myself in that situation, in front of 55,000 people, how would I feel if they booed me the second I stepped on the field. Common sense tells me that if they cheered him instead of booing, he would be less nervous, have more confidence and probably do better.

Madison Buss

Simi Valley

After watching Andruw Jones do his best Mr. Magoo impression Saturday night by striking out five times, it is clear he has no clue when he is batting. He struck out the first three times on the same three pitches, curveballs. He is absolutely clueless up there and with the Dodgers still in the race, he has to be benched immediately. He essentially gives up 3-4 outs a game, and on a team that can’t generate any offense, that is important.

Hopefully at the end of the year, he’ll be let go along with Ned Colletti, who by signing Jones and Jason Schmidt, cemented his ouster as far as I’m concerned. Almost $80 million for nothing. Pathetic.

Steve Owen

San Diego

Very interesting to read your July 11 article about keeping score at baseball games, specifically the recent Dodgers game in which they won despite not getting a hit. About 50 years ago, I also kept score and saw a no-hitter in which Don Larsen of the Yankees beat the Dodgers. I gave the scorecard to my brother who was a baseball buff, but was unfortunately unable to get it back after his death.

However, worse things can happen. For instance, I attended the seventh game of the 1960 World Series between the Yankees and the Pirates in which a friend of mine had to go to the men’s room during the ninth inning. When he returned he heard cheers, for he missed Bill Mazeroski’s home run, which won the World Series for the underdog Pirates – as noted by my very own scorekeeping.

Jacob Mervis

Valley Glen

I cannot believe that Dodgers fans bemoan Frank McCourt’s frequent interviews and photo ops. At least your owner expresses an interest in the team he controls. For all I know, Kings head honcho Philip Anschutz is actually in the witness protection program.

Elizabeth Freedman

Los Angeles

Regarding Bill Dwyre’s commentary on Al Campanis [July 13]: I looked up the definition of “necessities” in the dictionary. It can be defined in many ways, a good number of which do not carry the meaning that those – frightened of the predictable backlash – chose to ascribe to this decent man who was attacked unfairly by those looking to enhance themselves politically – and socially – by finding racism wherever they could.

Al Campanis was sacrificed – pure and simple – by those who lacked the courage to defend him. It appears that they still do. It could be said that “they lack the necessities” to take a principled stance.

Jeremiah Flanigan

Long Beach

Each morning, while reading The Times sports section, I play a simple game: purposely not reading the byline, I try to predict by the lead of the story who wrote the Angels’ game story. Almost always I am accurate. Saturday’s [July 12] “flags flying” lead was no exception. Mike DiGiovanna’s leads are consistently clever and effectively “lead” the reader into the narrative. DiGiovanna displays wit and style, two traits that seem to be in short supply in contemporary sports journalism.

In an era where sarcasm and vitriol are rewarded, it is refreshing to read sports stories that even Jim Murray would find first rate.

Dave Sanderson

La Canada

Francisco Rodriguez should know by now that timing is everything. You don’t put yourself before the summer spectacle of the All-Star game, and you most certainly don’t discuss free agency, especially when your team is in the middle of a pennant race. Think “team” first Frankie, and forget about “I.”

Richard Whorton

Valley Village

By recording his 35th save before the All-Star game, I’m sure a lot of money will eventually come Francisco Rodriguez’s way. But, really, there is no statistic in baseball that is as overrated as saves.

In garnering number 35, Rodriguez entered the game in the ninth inning, naturally with nobody on base, and was called upon to protect a 9-6 lead. Although he gave up a hit and a walk, he didn’t allow a run to score. But even if he had given up two runs, he still would have gotten a save.

While closers get the glory and the big bucks, the guys who actually do the heavy lifting are the often anonymous middle relievers. They’re the ones called upon to enter the game in the sixth or seventh inning, with men on base and the game on the line.

Burt Prelutsky

North Hills

So Barry Bonds’ agent Jeff Borris and the players union are alleging “collusion” in Bonds’ “non-hiring.”

Of course all of the owners are in complete agreement! Who in their right mind would hire a universally reviled, steroid-fueled prima donna with an entourage to poison their team’s clubhouse?

D. Duane Wall II

Cambria

Cloudy Sonny

Why not have The Times do a story on Sonny Vaccaro and expose him for what he really is, the same as all the other agents and advisors who claim they have the player’s best interest at heart. It infuriates me up every time I see his name next to the next basketball “phenom.”

I don’t care how great a player is, one day their playing days will be over. Will Mr. Vaccaro prepare them for that day better than a degree from a university? I think not.

Karl Ingram

Walnut

Off the Marx

Memo to letter writer Jim Freed [July 12]: It was Chico Marx (dressed as Groucho), who asked, “Who you gonna believe, me or your own eyes?” You don’t have to believe me, though. Watch “Duck Soup” and see it for your own eyes.

Elton Brand might prefer this Groucho quote, however: “I got a good mind to join a club and beat you over the head with it.”

Jason Winston

Riverside

Old and restless

Wow, I thought last year’s Kobe vs. Lakers soap opera was the ultimate in off-season melodramas, but the current Brett vs. Packers show could ramp up to heights unseen! Can’t wait to see the next plot twist!

Will the Packers hold firm and continue to tell St. Brett he’s no longer welcome? (Dramatic organ music … ) Will our beloved QB stick it to the team by showing up at camp, seeking to wreck the romance between the franchise and young, untested Aaron Rodgers? (Organ music swells … ) Tune in next time, for another thrilling episode of, “As the Cheesehead Turns!” (Music up and out!)

Richard Turnage

Burbank

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