Dodgers fans still replaying the Adrian Gonzalez ‘out’ call in their minds

Whether Adrian Gonzalez was actually safe or out, the play was definitely a momentum changer in Game 4. A good team will reboot and play on, but Gonzalez and the Dodgers were still complaining about the call afterward. It was no surprise that the game resulted in four errors and bad baserunning as the Dodgers were not able to overcome the call. The Dodgers remained befuddled, giving up Game 5 with some questionable decisions by Manager Dave Roberts.

Now, the odds are against them but they have been all season long. The Dodgers can still win the pennant with their ace Clayton Kershaw in Game 6, hopefully forcing a deciding Game 7. The rest of the team needs to find themselves and play Dodger baseball.

Wayne Muramatsu

Cerritos

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Professional sports require the average fan to pay exorbitant prices to watch our teams compete premised on the nostalgic notion that doing so connects us to past generations. In return, I expect integrity. The replays showed by clear and convincing evidence that Adrian Gonzalez was safe at home. The Dodgers would have been up 1-0 with another runner in scoring position, the pressure would have been squarely on the Cubs, young Julio Urias would have been pitching with the comfort of a lead and the entire complexion of the game and series would have been different. Instead MLB, from a league office in New York, called Gonzalez out. If the Cubs end their drought by their own merit then fine. But, as a Dodgers fan paying far too much to even watch my own team on TV, I am not paying for the league to manufacture it.

Scott Bentley

Port Hueneme

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I always thought that playing your best players gave you the best chance to win a game. Apparently, Dave Roberts doesn’t subscribe to this theory. He also doesn’t subscribe to the theory of moving players who just can’t hit out of the leadoff spot or benching guys who just can’t hit. Enrique Hernandez? Really? He hit .190 during the season and is hitting a sensational .000 during the postseason. Yasiel Puig? Chase Utley? Yasmani Grandal? (At least he’s walked a handful of times). Why isn’t Andrew Toles batting leadoff and playing every day in left? Why isn’t Howie Kendrick playing every day at second? Why do Utley and Hernandez get off the bench? Play your best players regardless of who’s pitching. Period.

Geno Apicella

Placentia

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When the Dodgers won Game 3 on Tuesday, Dylan Hernandez wrote on Wednesday morning that the Cubs were choking. Thanks a lot, Dylan, for your words of wisdom and for waking up a sleeping giant. By the way, they did not win 103 games by pure luck.

Wayne Kamiya

El Segundo

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So let me get this straight. The best the Dodgers can do with their $227-million payroll is to bat a leadoff hitter in Game 5 that hit .190 during the regular season and was hitless in the playoffs, and bat a second-string catcher who was 0 for 16 against the Cubs starting pitcher in the cleanup slot. Isn’t there something wrong with this picture?

Bruce Olson

Lake Arrowhead

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It’s obvious that Clayton Kershaw is the luckiest pitcher in baseball. Like Sandy Koufax, he only seems to pitch on days when the opposition has a bad hitting day.

Bob Smagula

Santa Barbara

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I enjoyed the enthusiasm in Bill Plaschke’s Big Blue Engine That Could column earlier this week. Too bad it overlooked a cardinal baseball rule. Momentum is only as good as the next game’s starting pitcher.

John A. Karaczynski

Manhattan Beach

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Apparently, it’s been so long since the Dodgers had a legitimate chance to go to the World Series, even the local media doesn’t know how to handle it. Hey, Dylan Hernandez, even quality lineups can run into outstanding pitching. Doesn’t make the Cubs chokers. Anyway, the Cubs thanked you for the locker-room pinup you provided with your drivel by winning Game 4 in a rout. I’m sure the Dodgers appreciated your in-depth reporting, too.

Bob Cunningham

Riverside

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As an Angels fan, it’s refreshing to watch how managers like Dave Roberts and Terry Francona make full use of their pitching staffs. They are actually managing according to how the game is going, not by some archaic formula with rigidly defined roles that Mike Scioscia clings to.

Jon C. Garner

Costa Mesa

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A room with a (political) view

As a 9-year-old boy living in Paramount in 1953, I adopted the Cleveland Indians as my team. The next 63 years brought a lot of frustration, so I’m thrilled with their current success, and as much as I respect the skills of Andrew Miller, Mike Napoli, Francisco Lindor and the rest of the World Series-bound Indians, my baseball hero right now is Adrian Gonzalez for his stance of refusing to stay in a Donald Trump-owned property.

Larry Lasseter

Brea

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So Adrian Gonzalez does not want to stay in a hotel owned by Donald Trump, but does not want to make a political issue out of it. Too late for that.

The real question is where did he stay? Who owns that hotel and what is the owner’s background on such issues? If we did a background check on the owners of all the places where we do business, we might not have any places left to frequent.

His actions are totally political and to try to claim otherwise is laughable.

Ed Freeman

Moorpark

Seaming contradiction

Please make it stop! Somebody should tell John Smoltz and all of the other broadcasters doing the playoffs that droning on and on and on about pitching is boring. I don’t know anybody who’s that interested in having every pitch analyzed. I don’t care if it’s a two-seamer, four-seamer or 12-seamer. Let me watch the game.

Rich Rudy

San Diego

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