Dodgers Have Odd Way of Showing Team Spirit

I like the new negotiating ploy being used by Fox. Have the manager, pitching coach and teammates bash Chan Ho Park to the media. That makes him look like damaged goods to other potential employers and simultaneously increases the Dodgers’ chances of signing him to a bargain contract.

If the Dodgers had employed the same tactics on Darren Dreifort last year, he would’ve signed for no more than $5 million a year.

Su Pak

Los Angeles

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Chad Kreuter questions Chan Ho Park’s concentration and effort. Wow. This is particularly stunning, considering that Park is the only reason Kreuter isn’t sitting on the bench in some Class-A outpost.

Perhaps Kreuter was referring to Park’s showing at the plate, not on the mound. But that wouldn’t make sense either, would it? Kreuter scores a run about as often as I have Thanksgiving dinner, and he drives one in as frequently as I pay my rent.

And just what, exactly, is a “personal catcher?” Is that the Latin term for “bench the guy batting .350?”

If Kreuter absolutely has to catch Park, perhaps they should go to the American League. The DH is what these hand-holders need. This way, Kreuter would only have to concern himself with defense. He hits like an AL pitcher already, why not DH for him?

A year from now, when Park’s a Yankee and Kreuter’s in Vegas, Lo Duca fans everywhere can finally enjoy baseball the way it was meant to be played. And managed, for that matter.

Oliver Lang

Los Angeles

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Hey, Chad Kreuter, you scrub, who are you to open your trap to criticize Chan Ho or any other player on the team? Maybe when you make the sports section for something other than going into the stands to fight with fans, you will earn the right to criticize one of your fellow players.

Steve Lucia

Canyon Country

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Is this baseball, or a bad opera? Where did the Dodgers get all the divas? Sheffield says he won’t play without Grissom, and Park can’t play without Kreuter. Who needs either one of these guys? Everybody has to walk on tiptoes around Sheffield because he has the emotional stability of a yo-yo, and there is always an implicit threat that he’ll get mad about something and dog it in the field.

Chan Ho might have the skills, but he’s too soft to ever be a 20-game winner and he’s not even close to being worth the $20 million that Scott Boras has been floating over our heads. Maybe Boras will do the Dodgers a favor and take him someplace else. He can take Sheffield along, as well. Use the money for a shortstop who can hit, and some left-handed pitching, and relief.

For the first time in years, we didn’t have to be ashamed of this team because we finally got a good manager and some stability and maturity at the top of the organization. It’s about time for the Dodgers to toughen up all the way and do what has to be done. Dump the divas and let’s get back to the game we love.

Shel Willens

Los Angeles

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Overheard in the doctor’s office after the battery of neurological tests on Gary Sheffield: “Just as we suspected, Mr. Sheffield, there’s absolutely nothing up there.”

Kevin Fitzpatrick

South Pasadena