Could a Computer Replace Mauch?

I have a budget-cutting suggestion for the Angels. Instead of having Gene Mauch manage in 1988, replace him with a personal computer. Program it with predictable Mauchian “percentage moves,” feed it every statistic imaginable, and make it capable of producing 162 different lineups. Who’d notice the difference?

The savings in salary, uniforms, and per diem alone might inspire Mike Port to give Wally Joyner a cost-of-living raise next year, or Port could use the money toward the signing of a free agent (whom the computer could then platoon).

BRIAN YOUNG

Glendale