At Least We Haven’t Threatened to Use Any Replacement Letters

I always said I could listen to Vin Scully read the phone book. Last Sunday, when he broadcast his first 1995 Dodger exhibition game, I got the chance.

DONALD ROSS

Beverly Hills

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When Bill Veeck brought a midget up to the plate, his fellow owners accused him of making a travesty of the game. Now the owners propose to pass off 700 midgets as “major leaguers.” I’m sorry, but a 48-year-old, overweight Pedro Borbon is not my idea of a “young and hungry” ballplayer.

The last time owners deliberately failed to put the best players on the field was when they observed the color line. Although the current replacement scheme is driven by economics rather than race, it is equally odious to those of us who respect the basic integrity of the game.

Face it: This whole dispute arose because the free-market system is not good enough for the owners, who felt they needed taxpayer-supported stadiums, antitrust exemptions and a salary cap to permit them to gouge $140 million from expansion cities, and were willing to sacrifice the World Series, Cal Ripken’s streak, and whatever else it took to get it.

Donald Fehr may be a jerk, but just because you’re a jerk doesn’t mean you’re wrong.

GERALD J. MILLER

Agoura

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It’s obvious many readers just don’t get what the baseball strike is about, as evidenced by last week’s whining. There’s no doubt both owners and players are to blame, but if you side with the owners, then you should quit your job today and allow someone else to step in and do it for a fraction of the salary. Sound fair to you?

G.R. MOORE

Los Angeles

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Let’s see the owners whine their way out of this one. At their recent meeting of small minds, the same group that was responsible for canceling the World Series last year, depriving millions of Americans of something they dearly love, had no trouble whatsoever uniting over the cause of expansion. The reason, of course, money, $280 million. In addition, the owners announced plans to add two more teams at the turn of the century, whose fees are sure to be higher than those of Phoenix and St. Petersburg.

Even Bud Selig should be able to get somewhat competitive with these guaranteed funds at his disposal. What do the players get? Need we bother to ask?

KENNETH BRAUN

Los Angeles

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I read with interest Brett Butler’s comments that not only the replacement players, “but their wives and children will be considered scabs as well.” Why stop there, Brett? Let’s brand the announcers, the employees of the stadiums, even the fans brazen enough to attend the games. Heck, I say anyone wearing a baseball cap in public should be considered disloyal.

With comments like Butler’s, it’s little wonder that polls show decreasing sympathy for the players’ union and their “cause.”

PHIL COUTO

San Pedro

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Peter O’Malley will roll back Dodger ticket prices? Great.

Last year, my reserved ticket cost $8. The Dodger payroll was $40 million, give or take.

This year the Dodger payroll is about $500,000, 1/80th of last year. So if pusillanimous Pete charges me 10 cents for my ticket, 1/80th of $8--then we might talk business.

FRED KURTH

Hawthorne