Any Way You Look at It, It Was a Dark Moment

The Dodger fans were not the only ones who stunk up Dodger Stadium in the forfeit loss. Umpire Jim Quick smelled just as bad. His strike zone was all over the place and he lost his cool when he failed to have it announced that the game would be forfeited if the fans didn’t cool it.

When a pitcher has a bad game, he gets jerked. When an umpire has a bad game, everyone has to suffer, and the suffering this season is the worst in memory.

JACK ALLEN

Pacific Palisades

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Regardless of bad calls, quick thumbs or no warnings, the fans must be held accountable for their actions. No doubt countless adults got caught up in the moment, grabbed a ball from their kids and followed the lead of some idiots. No doubt many people had no real idea what they were doing.

In a way, this game was called on account of darkness.

ANDY SCHWICH

Santa Monica

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Do the 1,058,498 daily readers of The Times really need to listen to Mike Downey pontificate the obvious? Of course, the 100 or so who threw baseball on the field were wrong to do so. But let’s get serious. This was not the L.A. riots. It wasn’t even a typical Friday night at Candlestick and hardly a mark against an entire city of sports fans.

The umpires egged on Tommy Lasorda, opted not to make the requisite announcement about a possible forfeit and finally called a crucial one-run game when, by The Times’ account, one more ball landed on the field. Also, home plate umpire Jim Quick clearly and intentionally miscalled strike two on Raul Mondesi because he thought the player was showing him up on the previous pitch.

We’re all frustrated, Mr. Downey. It’s been a rough year on baseball fans. Don’t make it worse by lecturing the whole population.

HOWARD COLE

La Jolla