Letters: No Blue ribbons this season?

A recent letter commented on all the negative letters you print. Here’s a positive one: I’m positive if the Dodgers were in any other division they would be in third or fourth place. Because of the weak National League West, the Dodgers pretty much can make up that deficit in one weekend in Arizona, but they can’t handle a middle-division team like St. Louis.

Go Dodgers, as you strive for mediocrity.

Bob Sands

La Habra

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The Dodgers’ season is slipping away, and the manager says “there’s no other choice, but to keep going.” Great, Dave Roberts is now taking advice from fabled baseball great, Sisyphus.

Mario Valvo

Ventura

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I’m not sure what analytics that the Dodger management is using, but according to my analytics they have a 100% chance of losing whenever they go to the bullpen. Perhaps it’s time to leave the starters in to complete the gems that they are pitching. Not only will this greatly increase the Dodgers chances of winning, it will also make the games much more watchable. But then again, since the Dodger analytics show that only 30% of the market can view their games, this probably is not too important to them.

Michael Ninnis

Palos Verdes Estates

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I think Manny Machado has finally caught the Dodger Blue Virus. It’s the virus that causes a group of proven hitters to be unable to produce with runners in scoring position and it is sending the team headlong toward tee times in early October.

We lost a World Series championship because Dave Roberts and his brain trust could not figure out that Yu Darvish was tipping his pitches and that Cody Bellinger would swing at anything no matter the location. Note to Roberts and Turner Ward. Time to wake up and try to cure the “Virus” before it’s too late.

Larry Weiner

Culver City

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Thank you, Mr. Friedman, for not going over the luxury tax this year, which I’m sure will result in lower prices next year. It is forward thinking like that all fans appreciate. It is not important to get reliable relievers to help a team make the playoffs; anyone can do that. Plus I’ll have so much more disposable income this fall with no playoff games to pay for.

Steve Owen

San Diego

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It appears the best move the Dodgers can make with October in mind will be to book tables early at Buffalo Wild Wings so they won’t miss any of the action.

Mer Valdez

Long Beach

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Let’s face it:The Dodgers have simply become bad TV. Can they not be canceled?

Dale Clanahan

San Dimas

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Anybody watching television during Monday’s disastrous return of Kenley Jansen could see the big man’s sweaty complexion, tired, sickly eyes, and almost staggering demeanor to see that he had no place being on the mound in a big game situation. Why couldn’t Dave Roberts see that in person?

Hernandez is right in one thing, however, in that it is Andrew Friedman who created this mess, but there is still no denying that it was Roberts who misled two terrific teams through two disastrous collapses in the playoffs, by overthinking and overmanaging his team.

Roberts is undoubtedly a great motivator and a nice guy whom the players love. Maybe he should be given a couple of pompoms and be relegated to the sidelines, while somebody who understands baseball is brought in to run the team.

Randy Jon Morgan

Monrovia

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As usual, manager Dave Roberts demonstrated the Sadim Touch against the Cardinals, with his every bullpen move resulting in disaster. Even the great Kenley Jansen could not emerge unscathed.

If the Dodgers fail to reach the playoffs, management has no choice but to replace Roberts. There is no excuse for such a talented and experienced team to choke under the pressure of the penant race, but that’s exactly what they’re doing, thanks in no small part to Roberts, who has failed to prepare them to succeed.

Brian Gura

Redondo Beach

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Very nice piece about Dave Roberts by Dylan Hernandez, right on the point.

There is at least one fan who does not “want him to yell and scream like Tommy Lasorda” and admires him for displaying the same dignity, discipline, and character as Walter Alston, the Dodgers’ most successful manager.

Bob Wieting

Simi Valley

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Kudos to Andy McCullough for pointing out, even just as an aside, that Manny Machado “jogged” to first base while grounding out with the bases loaded and the game on the line against the Cardinals on Wednesday night. For $16M a year and a guy nearing free agency you’d at least expect him to try hard, especially with his team’s struggles since he arrived.

Allan Kandel

Los Angeles

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There can be no greater irony than the verbiage in the Dodgers’ invitations to renew season tickets. Their letter states, “...and we don’t want you to miss what’s next.”

The Guggenheim mob needs to be reminded that more than two-thirds of their fan base has been missing what’s next for five years.

Bill Waxman

Simi Valley

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Should have gotten a closer, not a Dozier!

Mike Armstrong

Monrovia

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To all of you including Bill Plaschke who have given up on our Dodgers, remember Yogi Berra said, “It’s not over till it’s over.”

Mike Witkowsky

Torrance

Not L.A.’s Raiders

As a Rams season-ticket holder, I couldn’t disagree more with the premise of Dylan Hernandez’s piece on Sunday.

Of course Los Angeles will embrace the Rams, just like they did the Raiders, especially coming off the heels of a winning season. Apparently Dylan is too young to remember an empty Coliseum because caring parents chose not to expose their kids to fights and expletive-based rants from drunks wearing the silver and black. There is no need or want to convert these gang-like supporters to the Rams.

Rich Gray

Hermosa Beach

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The way I see it, if the NFL wants the players and fans to accept the new helmet rule, they are going to have to make sure the calls are made on both sides of the line. Running backs consistently put their heads (helmets) down and run into the defensive player. Earl Campbell made a living doing this. If it’s good for one, it has to be good for all.

Russell Morgan

Carson

Bowen is out

Since when is the signing of a free agent in the NBA dependent on who might be the team’s TV analyst? The Clippers continue to be the Clippers!

Wayne Muramatsu

Cerritos

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If Bruce Bowen was fired for his comments on Kawhi Leonard that is a shame. The Clippers should fire him for his awful performance.

Bowen had little to say beyond what most fans already know. Ralph Lawler should have received half of Bowen’s salary for having carried him in game after game.

Joe Sterbinsky

North Hills

A violent sport

How illuminating that while the NFL, parents, and the country at large are agonizing over concussions, brain injury, and long-term consequences from football, such as premature death, that “violence” is one of the “primary buzzwords in practice” as the defense goes through its preseason paces under Jerry Azzinaro, Chip Kelly’s new defensive coordinator at UCLA [“Hands-off approach,” Aug. 18].

Perhaps this is the reason football viewership is down across the country, not the take a knee and raised-fist protest movement that seeks to draw attention to a different and very specific kind of lethal violence off the field in our communities. But then if you teach violence to young men 18-22, what can you really expect of them between 25-50?

Mitch Paradise

Los Angeles

Shocking, right?

A three game suspension for Urban Meyer! What’s next, a former great football player kills his ex-wife and gets away with it? Oh yeah. … Never mind.

Bob Paniagua

La Crescenta

Clothing optional

Wow, it’s so nice to see women in the sports pages (“A-Team digs deep,” Aug. 20], but would they have been on the front page of the sports page if they were not half-naked? I’m glad women’s basketball doesn’t follow that rule.

Linda Bradshaw

Los Angeles

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