Letters: Joe Torre love fest is over

Enough is enough with the Joe Torre praise. I for one am glad he is leaving and I would offer to take him to the airport to make certain he did leave. Before you start calling this guy a Hall of Famer, here are the facts: Take away his Yankee years (where he had unlimited funds and unlimited talent), he is a sub-.500 manager. He has never taken a team not called the Yankees to the World Series. Joe Girardi won a title with the same team Torre couldn’t during his last seven years as a manager. He is the only manager in the history of baseball to have a 3-0 lead in a playoff series and lose. If it weren’t for Manny Ramirez in 2008, the Dodgers would not have made the playoffs. In 2009, they took advantage of a division that was pretty bad. This season was a total disaster. Isn’t it a manager’s job to motivate and make correct decisions? The fact is, he should’ve been fired. Joe Torre stole money this year and he is the most overrated manager in baseball today.

Geno Apicella

Placentia

::

So, Joe Torre returned to Yankee Stadium where he belongs. He and Don Mattingly both received the warmest ovations from the crowd in taking an evening to bask in the association for which they will both be remembered — the pinstripes of the New York Yankees. The Dodgers are not the Florida vacation home for Yankee legends. Please return the Dodgers to the Dodgers. Will the Yankees be hiring Steve Garvey as manager any time soon? I don’t think so. I know you are from the East Coast, Mr. McCourt, but we do have some pride out here — stop hiring Yankees to lead the Dodgers.

Scott Bentley

Malibu

Frank reaction

I have been a die-hard Dodgers fan ever since they arrived in L.A. and I learned to pronounce Koufax. I was hoping the McCourt’s divorce would force a sale of the Dodgers, and enable them to become relevant again, but to my disappointment, I heard Frank McCourt say he plans to own the Dodgers for a long time to come. Since it is against my principles to be an Angels fan, and I hate to say it, but I guess I’ll have to become a fan of the G ... G ... Gi ... , I just can’t, so I’ll be a Padres fan.

Jeff Breslow

Valinda

::

At the Torre/Mattingly news conference, Frank McCourt grimly set forth that he intends to own the team for “a long, long time.” No other comment. No acknowledgment that the public now knows he bought the team on credit with the intent to loot it for personal gain; to advance his own delusional agendas by highly leveraging a storied and glamorous professional sports team.

McCourt’s tin ear is worthy of the Guinness Book.

Are we Dodgers fans that stupid that we can’t see their business plan between the lines? Be only good enough to somehow contend, but not really. Don’t spend money on the farm system. Pretend the core of this unit (no true impact hitter, no ace) can compete with the Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies and Braves. Pretend they weren’t lucky the last six years, playing in the worst division in baseball. Pretend they “care” so much about “the fans” by putting a middling product on the field while jacking up ticket prices and concessions.

Robert Collector

Santa Barbara

::

Larry Silverstein’s whining reminds me of a first-grader who got caught cheating. He should be laughed right out of the courtroom ... immediately after being disbarred! Contracts exist, and are signed, as legal contracts. Any mistakes, miscommunications, or intentions after the fact are irrelevant. It seems like a no-brainer, even to a layman like me.

Liz Kinnon

Culver City

::

To anyone who has been following the McCourt divorce trial it should now be very clear why the legal profession is called a “practice.”

Dave Snyder

Grand Terrace

::

It will be a grievous miscarriage of justice if Frank McCourt prevails in the disgraceful proceedings now underway a mile or two south of Dodger Stadium.

On the other hand, it will be equally odious if Jamie wins.

The best we can hope for in the court outcome is some sort of lose-lose situation. But we can hope for much better in the Dodgers ownership quandary.

Allen E. Kahn

Marina del Rey

::

I have been a Dodgers fan since 1955. Frank and Jamie McCourt, please sell the team. Sell to someone who does not have to resort to Mickey Mouse financing to buy the team. Sell to someone like Walter O’Malley or Arte Moreno.

Jeff Thomas

Riverside

How about Scully for manager?

I guess for all us die-hard Dodgers fans, the only other worse announcement other than Don Mattingly appointed as the new manager would be Vin Scully coming out and saying, sorry, folks, I changed my mind.

Wayne Kamiya

Hawthorne

Wrong lane

Somebody should tell USC Coach Lane Kiffin that the odds against making a two-point conversion are about 3 to 1, probably worse with some of his unbalanced or widely split-line formations. That’s why almost all coaches, at least above the Pop Warner level, don’t try it unless the score makes it reasonable.

But Kiffin tries it early, fails and spends the rest of the game trying to make up for the lost conversion, only to have more lost conversions to try to make up for.

I’d sure never stake him in a craps game.

David Eggenschwiler

Los Angeles

::

It’s become obvious to all of us who have watched the first three Trojans games that something is missing from our new coach, Lane Kiffin: a smile for a pass expertly intercepted, a pat on the back for a graceful 97-yard touchdown runback, and just the general joy of playing well on Saturday, and, considering all the odds, being 3-0 early in the season.

If Coach Kiffin’s predecessor taught us one thing, it was that these players are still kids and that college football should be fun.

Susan Stoller Rapp

Los Angeles

Flag Day

USC continues to drop in the polls, despite starting the season 3-0. However, they continue to rank near the top in penalty rankings (117 out of 120). Could there possibly be a correlation with the officials working their games, since they do get paid by the NCAA? The same NCAA that imposed the strict suspensions because of a certain ex-Heisman Trophy winner?

It has become apparent that both on and off the field no matter how insignificant the penalty, it will not go unnoticed or unpunished by the officials.

Richard Whorton

Valley Village

::

USC will be lucky to make it into the top 10 even if they’re 7-0 going against the Oregon Ducks. Even if the pollsters don’t admit it, they’re not going to give a team that’s ineligible for a bowl game much credit. The Trojans will have to go undefeated to recapture the No. 5 slot on the AP poll.

Tom Turner

Dana Point

::

The Los Angeles Times welcomes expressions of all views. Letters should be brief and become the property of The Times. They may be edited and republished in any format. Each must include a valid mailing address and telephone number. Pseudonyms will not be used.

By mail: Sports Viewpoint

Los Angeles Times

202 W. 1st St.

Los Angeles, CA 90012

By fax: (213) 237-4322

E-mail: sports@

latimes.com