Letters: Dodgers driving fans batty

Bill Plaschke got it right and wrong in his Friday article. What he got wrong is that the Dodgers need spring training and “a chance to get to know each other.” When Manny Ramirez came to Dodger Stadium he needed about one at bat to energize the team and send them on their way to the playoffs. Are you telling me that all of a sudden these proven All-Stars need to learn how to work counts and move runners over? My 14-year-old knows how to do that.

The part he got right is that the middle of the lineup looks like a bunch of guys in a home run derby. I think each of them believes it is his job to turn the season around with one swing of the bat so they go up there and hack away and hope for the best. What they have produced is the most unwatchable group of Dodgers in recent memory.

Larry Weiner

Culver City

::

Classified ad in the Boston Globe last month:

“Wanted: Sucker with no baseball background to buy three over-the-hill baseball players — a first baseman who can’t hit home runs, an outfielder who needs surgery and a pitcher who has lost 5 mph on his fastball. Cheap, only $250 million. Will throw in Carl Yastrzemski and Jim Rice if needed.”

Richard Katz

Los Angeles

::

It’s time for Dodgers fans to quit whining about negative reporting on our “Choking Dogs” (see T.J. Simers). How can you write anything positive about a team that spent millions on new ballplayers only to discover none of them can hit? It seems appropriate that next year’s Dogs begin their 2013 season on April Fool’s Day, having made fools of themselves all during 2012.

Joel Rapp

Los Angeles

::

So Adrian Gonzalez was upset by a possibly botched third strike call. The problem with the Dodgers is not the umpires. The problem is that the team needs to learn what we all learned from Tom Hanks in “A League of Their Own”: There’s no crying in baseball.

Robert McArthur

Los Angeles

::

Are the Dodgers better off now then they were two months ago?

At least with James Loney you didn’t need a pinch-runner.

Dave Kistler

Goleta

::

Don Mattingly told T.J. Simers not to “ask me to explain about a team that can’t hit.” Obviously, he does not remember what Harry Truman said: “The buck stops here.” The Dodgers were obviously deflated when their ace (who wanted to pitch) was pulled from the lineup. I felt the same loss of hope.

It is the job of the manager to prepare the team to play hard, especially in an important series with the division leaders. Don Mattingly did not know how to do that.

Jerry Moore

Cerritos

::

I just have to wonder what the late Don Drysdale’s reaction would have been had Walter Alston told him he was holding him out of starting the biggest game of the season against the Giants because of some hip soreness. Pretty safe bet it would have been unprintable.

Bud Chapman

Northridge

::

Donnie Baseball is such a class act, it is almost a shame to write this — but it is time to face the facts.

He was the hitting coach for a talented young Dodgers team that couldn’t seem to hit.

He is the manager of a very talented veteran Dodgers team that can’t seem to score runs.

It is time to kick him upstairs where he will make a great ambassador, and get him off the field where he is an ineffective coach.

Rob Weber

Irvine

::

I think I’ve figured out how to help our Dodgers: If you are a Kings fan, the current scenario with the Dodgers is very familiar. Before they stormed through the playoffs and won the Cup, we were painfully watching them struggle to score goals and then barely make the postseason. So, I figure, with all that spare time the Kings will have with the looming lockout, the Dodgers’ new owners should pick up some of that spare cash falling out of their pockets and pay some Kings players a consulting fee to school the Dodgers on what it takes to squeak into the playoffs and then do some major rear-end kicking.

Elliot Powers

Taipei, Taiwan

::

If T.J. Simers truly wants the Dodgers to succeed, shouldn’t he just admit that he knows nothing about their sport and write about something else? This strategy seemed to work out well for the Kings.

Olivia Murray

Long Beach

::

When T.J. Simers begins an article by using his family in an unsuccessful attempt to establish his credentials as a human being, we know somebody is in for a lot of invective. One only has to note which L.A. team or player is going through a difficult time to guess who is his current victim.

Jeri Ann Boyd

Newhall

::

My vote for Dodger MVP goes to Matt Treanor for telling Simers what he really thinks about him. My guess is that most people agree.

Don Bollard

Bakersfield

::

So the Dodgers, who have seen their attendance spiral downward in part because of a reputation for rowdy and drunken louts among the fans, now have a player who wants to meet with an “old man” reporter in the dougout?

Maybe this is just a well-timed ploy by the Dodgers to distract us from their failure to field a team that could get into the postseason.

Can T.J. Simers hit?

Thomas Hilts

Anaheim

::

With the hopes of a “Magical” season unraveling for the Dodgers, one wonders how many Lakers are paying attention.

Andrew Sacks

Fontana

Blue beats Big Red

Last Saturday, I burned my toast at breakfast, misplaced my wallet, received three bills in the mail, tripped over a curb and almost sprained my wrist, was late for a lunch meeting, locked my keys in the car, and later ended up watching UCLA methodically beat Nebraska and eventually earn a national ranking. I’d call that a totally magnificent day.

Mark J. Featherstone

Windsor Hills

::

I’m not fooling myself. There will be many bumps on the road, and the Bruins still have a long way to go. I’ve been a die-hard UCLA football fan since Dennis Dummit was under center (1969), and a lot of pain and heartache comes with that. But Jim Mora in nine months has done something that Karl Dorrell and Rick Neuheisel could not do in nine years — give the program hope, respectability, and a future!

Jack Wolf

Westwood

Hyped up?

After watching USC play Syracuse, I realized that they believe the hype about them being so great. The only problem is that no one else believes it as they drop in the polls.

Syracuse starters played harder and with more heart than USC has on its whole team. The Trojans have to stop believing that they win because they show up. We’ll see this week at Stanford.

Jerry Avesian

Sierra Madre

TV trouble

First the good news:

The Pac-12 has looked much better than expected in the first two weeks of the season. Big wins by Oregon State, Arizona and Arizona State certainly help the stature of the conference.

Now the bad news:

The Pac-12 Networks is still not carried by DirecTV and many cable services. If you’re a sports fan, you’re at the mercy of billion-dollar conglomerates who are deciding how to divide up our video dollars.

Fred Wallin

Westlake Village

::

I attended the UCLA-Nebraska game, and as the day wore on I was increasingly appalled by the frequency and duration of the television timeouts. They stalled the action, ruined the narrative and caused the contest to run almost four hours.

I know there are reasons, but there are no excuses. Channel 11 might have done handsomely by their bottom line, but they committed a sin against the sport.

Bill Lane

Hollywood

Mismatched

Look for a new scoring record in college football this week when eighth-ranked West Virginia plays James Madison (founded as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women) in Morgantown. The Dukes will be lucky to survive against a team that in its last two outings scored 70 points against Clemson and 69 against former Division II intrastate rival Marshall. What next, a game against Dolly Madison?

Kevin H. Park

Encino

Tennis love

Congrats to Andy Murray for becoming the first male Brit to win a tennis major since 1936. As a Scot (five generations removed) and a golfer who has made the pilgrimage to St. Andrews and played three of the courses, it doesn’t get any better than this! (USC football excepted.)

Gary Robb

Los Feliz

On ice

Instead of today being a few days into NHL training camp it is almost certainly the last day of camp, with Sunday being Day 1 of the seemingly never-ending madness known as NHL labor unrest. Unlike past years, though, I don’t care if the NHL ever plays another game. On June 11 the most loyal and dedicated fan base in the area saw our 45 years of suffering come to an end, allowing all of us to die happy. If there are no games come Oct. 11 I can simply turn on my DVR and watch Game 6 of the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals for the next 50 years and not care one bit that no games have been played since then.

Erik Schuman

Fountain Valley

For the record

The letter last week on local football players performing well in college was written by Cy Bolton of Rancho Cucamonga.

::

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.

Mail: Sports Viewpoint

Los Angeles Times

202 W. 1st St.

Los Angeles, CA 90012

Fax: (213) 237-4322

Email:

sports@latimes.com