Letters: So, what’s so great about a horse?

A big thank you to American Pharoah for winning the Triple Crown and ending a 37-year drought. Why do we fall in love with these four-legged animals? Because they capture our hearts like no other athletes in the world. They don’t commit felonies, carry guns or sell drugs.

We cry tears of joy when they win, be it a Cigar, a Zenyatta, a John Henry. And cry tears of joy when they sadly leave us, like a Barbaro, Go For Wand or Ruffian. They provide so much pleasure for us and ask for nothing in return. Something to look forward to when our lives are dreary. It is an honor and a privilege to admire their greatness.

Hopefully we don’t have to wait another 37 years for another one.

Craig London

Encino

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I think I have my numbers for the next Lotto:

4 (Baffert attempts at Triple Crown),

12 (Triple Crown winners),

37 (years since last Triple Crown),

43 (Victor Espinoza’s age),

78 (year of last Triple Crown winner),

and Mega 5 (post position for American Pharoah).

Vaughn Hardenberg

Westwood

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I’m happy for the Triple Crown winner. But I got more goose bumps from Bill Dwyre’s “Wire to Wow” piece. It’s fun to read prose that well crafted.

Spike Bragg

Long Beach

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Let’s admit, this year’s Triple Crown wasn’t exactly Affirmed versus Alydar. I’m left with this question: Is American Pharoah truly a great horse or did the competition just stink?

Ron Yukelson

San Luis Obispo

Halo holes

I have come up with a simple mathematical formula that may at least partially explain the Angels’ decreased attendance this season.

Whenever X equals the number of games the Angels manage to crawl over .500, they then proceed to go on a losing streak of X + 1.

Ron Reeve

Glendora

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Regarding the Angels’ attendance drop: Maybe they should move back to Anaheim.

Joe Gonzalez

Santa Barbara

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Nice that the Angels drafted Jerry Dipoto’s son and Mike Trout’s girlfriend’s brother. Hope they can hit.

Jack Wishard

Los Angeles

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Forget “Tanana and Ryan and two days of cryin’.”

Now it’s “Pujols and Trout and the rest are out.”

Craig Dunkin

Los Angeles

Lineup changes

He can hit the cover off a baseball, but Alex Guerrero still can’t get into lineup against a left-hander over the likes of Alberto Callaspo and Chris Heisey? Is there a reason Guerrero was attacked by a fellow player in minors, or is this Donnie Baseball’s high school version of managing a major league team?

Lance Oedekerk

Fontana

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One of the first moves by new Dodgers GM Andrew Friedman and his stat geeks was to trade All-Star second baseman Dee Gordon, thinking that his on-base percentage was too low. I guess their stats don’t show that a young player can actually improve. Gordon is leading the league in hitting and has more stolen bases than the entire Dodgers team, which is completely reliant on home runs. As Friedman continues to turn the Dodgers into the Havana Sugar Kings, one can only imagine how the Dodgers would have fared with Gordon and Joc Pederson batting 1-2 for the next several seasons.

Mike Gamboa

Buena Park

Poll faults

You knew this letter was coming. Yes, we love Sandy Koufax. But the greatest Dodger was Jackie Robinson. The enormous stress that he played under was unimaginable. It clearly led to his early death. There is a reason that we honor him and all of the major league players wear his number one day every year. He was not just the greatest Dodger but maybe the most influential baseball player of all time. We are blessed to call him one of our own — a Dodger!

Harold Young

Oak Park

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The late Willie Davis has been mostly forgotten now by Dodgers fans. On the Times’ list of the 20 Greatest Dodgers, he was nowhere to be found. That was an oversight, to say the least. Davis holds L.A. records for hits, runs, triples, total bases and extra-base hits. His 31-game hitting streak in 1969 is still the club’s best. Davis also won three Gold Glove awards.

Unfortunately, older fans remember him for committing three errors during the second game of the 1966 World Series. The Dodgers were swept by the Orioles that year, so there was plenty of blame to go around. For some reason, most of it fell on Davis’ shoulders. Willie Davis deserved better. He was one of the greatest Dodgers and belonged on that list.

Charles Reilly

Manhattan Beach

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I would like to comment on Mr. Matis’ letter last week, in which he stated that Clayton Kershaw was misplaced on the Dodgers’ top-20 list at No. 7. Greatness is not always a function of time and certainly not age. If Kershaw never throws another pitch, his accomplishments thus far make him one of the all-time great Dodgers pitchers.

I will admit that some postseason success would go a long way toward ending any debate.

Dennis Duling

San Gabriel

Sour notes

Every time I see a Dodgers ad claiming “We Love L.A.,” I don’t know whether to laugh or to cry. Sure, Lon Rosen loves L.A. so much, he reduced Nancy Bea Hefley’s role to nothing, while turning up the volume of his NBA-like sound effects. The constant thumping is unbearable, and we have to listen to Beethoven’s Fifth after every strikeout.

Stan Kasten loves L.A. so much, most of L.A. still can’t watch the Dodgers games on TV. Stan loves L.A. so much that he won’t even talk to L.A.’s largest newspaper. Oh, thank you, thank you, Lon, for recognizing Nancy’s importance. Ever hear of Helen Dell?

Ned Shapiro

Brentwood

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Dodgers execs learn the hard way that you can’t keep the “Bea” out of baseball at Dodger Stadium.

Frank E. Gallardo

Costa Mesa

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We have already learned that the Guggenheim brain surgeons were blind. Now we learn they are deaf as well.

Paul Zimmelman

Marina del Rey

Court orders

After watching Steph Curry’s performance in Game 2 of the playoffs, it reminded me of Clayton Kershaw’s Game 1 against the Cardinals last year. They may be both be MVPs, but they’re human after all.

Wayne Kamiya

El Segundo

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My guess is that LeBron James spoke with Jim Brown and vowed to him that he would bring the title to Cleveland. The way LeBron is playing, driving hard to the basket play after play, is a lot like Brown running north-south, overwhelming and wearing his opponents down.

Bill Schohl

Los Angeles

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It was tough watching LeBron James get a camera lens branded in his head. It’s time the NBA ask that padding be placed around all courtside equipment. They should jump at that, because it’s another place they can shove the nba.com or another advertising logo in our faces.

Larry Yells

Hermosa Beach

Buss stop

Mark Featherstone [Letters, June 6], you want to give the Lakers’ reins to Jeanie Buss? You mean the same Jeanie Buss who handed over $48 million to Kobe Bryant for the last two years saying he deserved to be the highest paid player in the NBA because of his service to the Lakers?

Mike Smith

Ontario

Wait for it ...

Looking at the NFL schedule — seeing the Patriots are off Week 4, making Week 5 against the Cowboys Tom Brady’s fourth game suspended — am I the only one who thinks that the owners will get the four games knocked down to three, making this marquee game bigger than it is, with Brady’s return to the NFL?

Or will they say it’s just a coincidence?

Darryl Cirel

Orange

Cup stuff

Since when did Red, White and Blue become Black, White and Bile Green? Exactly which country do Megan Rapinoe and her teammates represent? What was U.S. Soccer thinking? Oh, I guess they weren’t.

Catherine Wirtz

Westlake Village

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I wonder who got paid off for requiring the women to play on the awful artificial turf.

Mike Kvammen

South Pasadena

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