Why It’s Hard for Hotheads to Keep Cool

So Bill Plaschke believes, “Fans pay for the right to be idiots.” His having spoken, I’ve got to ask -- how much did Bill pay for his ticket?

Steve Peterson

Yucaipa

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Oh, how I long for Jim Murray’s wisdom and not Bill Plaschke’s cotton candy spin. His column titled, “Bradley Turns It on a Toss” was as foolish as he claims Milton Bradley to be. “Fans pay for the right to be idiots. Players are paid to ignore them.”

Oh really. Ignore anything? Ignore anything thrown at them? So the thousands of fans, with the simple purchase of a ticket, have the right to threaten, curse in the foulest ways imaginable, throw whatever projectile they can lay their hands on at a player who is standing, unprotected, in the middle of a vast field? And this is all because a player is well paid to play the game?

So, it’s money (the player’s salary and the fan’s ticket purchase) that decides how everyone is supposed to behave, not common decency.

Perhaps if you sat in the seats where 2-year-olds are sitting, exposed to the cursing, drunken fools instead of in your well protected press box, your column would have been about the real problem.

Cynthia Gleason

Newport Beach

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Obviously Milton Bradley didn’t handle the bottle-throwing incident in the best manner, but to see the press try to run him out of town over this is unthinkable.

When I think of Milton Bradley as a Dodger, I think of him hustling out a routine tap out to the pitcher that sparked an early-season victory against the Padres; a player who selflessly handed center field over to Steve Finley, even though he deserved to be mentioned as one of the top center fielders in baseball; a player whose effort on the field has never come into question; a player who spends his few off days visiting local schools and serving as a positive role model in the community.

Bradley is a young, switch-hitting outfielder with speed and power. These guys do not grow on trees. The good far outweighs the bad in this case. Let’s not overreact because some fan was splashed with a little beer.

Reagan McClymonds

Los Angeles

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Shame on the Dodger fans for not supporting a guy who has helped us out a lot this year. I am proud to have Milton Bradley on our team. And grateful that the Dodgers finally have a team full of passion for the game.

It is our job as Dodger fans to help lift the spirits of our players when they are down. I think the guy who threw the bottle should be arrested and never allowed back into Dodger Stadium. You do not throw bottles at your team. Period. And I think Milton Bradley should get a slap on the wrist and a chance to go into that fan’s office and throw a bottle on his desk.

Mike Vorndran

Los Angeles

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Could someone remind Raider fans their team plays in Oakland and not at Dodger Stadium?

Greg MacDonald

Azusa

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After Milton Bradley’s game-winning hit Monday night, the Dodger scoreboard cleverly posted the message, “GOT MILT?”

Unfortunately, 24 hours later, Paul DePodesta was probably considering posting a message to major league GMs, “WANT MILT?”

Tom Dye

Santa Ana

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Now that the Dodgers have lost all touch with reality and are going to keep Milton Bradley, I have some ideas for their promotional department for next season:

* Before the season, fans will be given a chance to guess the date on which Bradley will have his next tantrum and game ejection. Those fans who correctly guess will get to meet Milton personally, bodyguard included.

* Milton Bradley Bobblehead Day: To be held on a hot July afternoon. Milton’s bobblehead doll will be completely made of wax. You set it in the sun and it melts down.

Robert M. Ostrove

Oxnard

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Let me get this straight. Jose Guillen gets suspended without pay for the rest of the season for showing some disrespect to his manager. A few years ago, Roberto Alomar spit on an umpire yet was not even suspended until the next season. Talk about a misguided system!

Jack Wolf

Westwood

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The suspension of Jose Guillen is overkill. Should he have been disciplined? Of course. But this was an ill-timed decision to bring out the “big stick.” Angel management has struck out on this one.

Ernie Garcia

Redlands

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It’s no surprise that Jose Guillen is headed for his sixth organization in five years. He has been a problem child everywhere he has been.

Ask Bob Boone why Cincinnati dumped a young .300 hitter with a cannon for an arm.

Ask Ken Macha why there was muted cheering in the Oakland clubhouse when Guillen wasn’t re-signed after leading the team in batting in the playoffs last year.

Spike Bragg

Long Beach

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I am proud of the position taken by the Angel organization. It is absolutely true; the thing that counts is “how you play the game.”

Carol Marshall

Yorba Linda