Swing and a Miss Is Better Than Making Contact

It seems umpires have had their share of publicity this year. I don’t know if it’s because they reportedly have their own baseball cards coming out and it has gone to their heads, or what.

I don’t watch the game to see a bunch of middle-aged, overweight men in baggy clothes try to make the televised baseball highlights. The league ought to pull the reins in on its umps--let ‘em walk away rather than get into antics with the players and managers. Umpires sometimes go out of their way to antagonize the managers. Now they are starting to antagonize the fans.

J.R. SMITH

Long Beach