Letters: No goat, but Dodgers still can’t remove the curse of ’88

I do not accept the Chicago Cubs as baseball’s National League champions. The series with the Dodgers was obviously rigged, influenced by the liberal media and Chicago-style scorekeeping. Lock them up! Long live the Dodgers.

Lee Klosinski

Studio City

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Heading into last Saturday’s Game 6 game with the Cubs, a familiar Yogi-ism kept repeating in my head: “It’s not over till it’s over”...”It’s not over till it’s over.” By the third inning, another familiar Yogi-ism kept repeating in my head: “It’s deja-vu all over again.”

Dan Ferris

Monrovia

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Dylan Hernandez hit the nail on the head when pointing out that the Dodgers simply don’t have and have done little to acquire sufficient front-line pitching to build a World Series team.

Perhaps Andrew Friedman spends too much time reading his press clippings. And, of course, ownership can always take comfort in the fact that 3 million fans will continue to fatten their wallets — regardless their unwillingness to accept the risk of opening those wallet for pitchers (because they break down). And we know there’s a new sucker born every day

Kip Dellinger

Santa Monica

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Just got done watching the end of Game 6 when I switched over to watch “Field of Dreams.”　At least I knew it has a happy ending.　 　

Rick Henderson

Covina

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Now that the Cubs have at least halfway jettisoned their curse by reaching the World Series, it may be time to ponder whether the Dodgers made a deal with the devil in 1988. That year they won the World Series even though the team on paper — with exception of Orel Hershiser — paled in comparison to the A’s of 1988, as well as almost all other winning World Series teams.

Ken Feldman

Tarzana

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Apparently “hitting the reset button” is a little more difficult than the Dodgers anticipated. In the future, maybe a little less of the momentum-destroying celebration for winning the division might be in order. As fans were told many times, winning the division is not the goal. Even with defeating an injury-riddled Nationals team, executing the fundamentals of baseball again proved to be an insurmountable challenge in the postseason.

Clay Pharaoh

San Luis Obispo

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As a longtime Dodger fan, Mr. Friedman’s comments struck a nerve with me. I quote, “I think the experience from this postseason will serve our guys really well.” Mr. Friedman, if you would have done your job we would still be playing. You did not go out and get the power right-handed hitting we needed, you did not go out and find the complement to Kershaw and in your wisdom you thought Puig was the answer, along with Anderson, Ryu, and McCarthy! Then you say, “The front office does not believe this group requires significant revisions.” Other than Kershaw, your starting pitching needs a complete makeover, and when you rework it please try to find a pitcher who can go, maybe six innings?

Albert Viola

Porter Ranch

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Can everyone, please, stop referring to Clayton Kershaw as the best pitcher on the planet? If he was, Game 6 might have ended differently.

Dave Thoma

Ventura

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Now, how to improve the team for next year. Bring back Dee Gordon, trade for Evan Longoria. If we don’t re-sign Justin Turner, trade for Ryan Braun, re-sign Kenley Jansen, and bring in a No. 2 starter. These moves should put us among the league’s elite, and have us in the running for the foreseeable future.

Robert Cardenas

Ontario

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No doubt we’ll hear from the whiners and blame mongers in this week’s letters, but give the Dodgers credit for a good season. They overcame a lot, they beat the Giants, and talent-wise their future looks bright. Overall it’s a great time to be a Dodgers fan. See you in the spring!

Anthony J. Moretti

Lomita

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A brief history of Major League Baseball since the Cubs’ last World Series appearance: Jackie Robinson, jet travel, batting helmets, California, television, Senators, Angels, Mets, Colt .45s, Astroturf, indoor stadiums, Padres, Expos, Royals, Pilots, free agency, DH, expanded playoffs, Mr. October, lights at Wrigley, Marlins, Rockies, Diamondbacks, Devil Rays, Coors Field, interleague play, steroids, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, video replay, Vin Scully retires.

Time flies when you’re Lovable Losers.

Dan Musselman

West Hills

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This lifelong Dodger fan is tipping his cap to the long-suffering Cubs and rooting them on to their first World Series victory in 108 years. Any team can have a bad century.

Ron Yukelson

San Luis Obispo

Too much Miller time

In Monday night’s NFL game, ESPN made a big deal of Von Miller giving $1,000 to Youth Sports. Based on his guaranteed $70 million contract over six years, that’s the equivalent of Joe average fan (who makes say $50,000 a year) giving $4.28. I’m pretty sure Miller can better afford $1K than Joe can 4 bucks. Shame on ESPN for sucking up to this overpaid athlete.

Jack Wishard

Los Angeles

Run over

Utah tailback Joe Williams ran for a historic 332 yards against UCLA, and Bruins Coach Jim Mora called it “disappointing.” When asked for a response, Jim Mora Sr. said, “Disappointing! He talked about disappointing? You kidding me… disappointing! I just hope he can win another game.”

Mario Valvo

Ventura

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Leaving salubrious Westwood to prepare for UCLA football seasons in the heat and smog of the desert is the worst strategy in the history of coaching. It takes the fun out of football and wears out the players so they will not be at full strength near the end of games. Winning cannot be spelled with desert. Next season, if there is one, try Winnipeg.

William Enright

Fullerton

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I’m not a UCLA fan, but I am tired of the articles and picture captions in your sports section leading with all of the negative things about our local teams, even if it’s about the Bruins.

The backup quarterback completed 40 passes for 464 yards and five touchdowns, and all you can write under his picture is that he threw four interceptions in a loss. Why can’t his success lead the story? You managed to get the opposing running back’s statistics right up front.

There’s more to sport than winning and there’s more to reporting than writing.

Ted Bartscherer

Pasadena

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I’ve Googled it but can’t find a single reference, not one, to any fan ever being ejected from a sporting event for throwing a mango or cucumber, so you can imagine my dismay when I read that uncut fruits and vegetables, along with firearms, hoverboards and the ever-dangerous thunder sticks (You can take an eye out!) are on the prohibited items list at the Rose Bowl.

Really? Who thinks these things up? And with the cost of produce being what it is, who in their right mind is going to, literally, throw money away? Enough is enough.

Mike Kichaven

Sherman Oaks

Ram chops

Can we finally admit that the Rams are badly in need of a leadership change? They have drafted poorly and coached poorly. In particular, the offensive linemen they’ve drafted are terrible. The defensive backfield is also poor. That’s on Les Snead. Moreover, week after week they are one of the most highly penalized teams in the NFL. Their play calling and execution stink. All of that’s down to bad coaching. And I’m not even taking about the Goff situation, the outcome of which were do not yet know. But clearly, Keenum is not the answer. Four picks in crucial situations? Unacceptable.

I give the Rams credit for managing the move to Los Angeles. But that’s it. Fisher and Snead must go.

David Weber

West Hollywood

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Jeff Fisher keeps insisting that quarterback is not the reason the Rams are losing games, and in this case, Jeff may be right. Perhaps the head coach is the reason the Rams are losing games. This is obviously not a playoff-caliber team right now, so what is there to lose by giving the No. 1 draft pick a chance to gain some valuable game time experience? Between ill-advised fake punts, kicking FGs at the end of games when you need a touchdown, and going for touchdowns mid-game when you have chip-shot FGs, the pregame and in-game decisions leave a lot to be desired.

Fisher needs to stop trying to out-smart everyone. Sometimes the obvious choice is the correct choice.

Joe Nadeau

Santa Clarita

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Jeff Fisher needs to see an eye doctor if he can’t see that Rams quarterbacking is a problem.

Mike Gamboa

Buena Park

Peace in our time

Metta World Peace? Seriously? Isn’t the point to develop young talent? If Anthony Brown wasn’t worthy of a second season, what does that say about Mitch Kupchak and his eye for talent? Don’t be surprised if this team ends up worse than last year.

Geno Apicella

Placentia

What a town

Looking for consistency in L.A. sports? No need to twist your neck to find it. Each year the Dodgers tease their fans with stellar stats and fine performances that point to glory – only to fall, ignominiously, come playoff time. The Lakers once again refuse to even think of winning, hoping, instead, for some mysterious form of “progress.” The Rams, meanwhile, resumed their losing ways after a 21-year abandonment with barely a twitch, and the Clippers have taken to imitating the Dodgers.

But, hey, we’ve got the Sparks! At least they get it done.

Michael E. White

Burbank

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