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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR In this space your take can suck. Please send your comments to baseballsavvy@aol.com. Give us your first name, last name or initial, city and state. No profanity, please. If you absolutely must, use bleeps. Like this: “Those bleeping San Francisco Bleeps with that bleepin’, cheatin’, left-handed hittin’ outfielder, and their zero World Championships in half a bleeping century…” Got it? Hey Editor, Just read your rant on pronouncing Johannes (Hans) Peter Wagner's modern moniker "Honus" correctly. I'm with you, brother. I suppose the tendency to use the long 'o' sound arises from the similar-looking word "bonus." Unfortunately, it sounds like a word used to describe the quality of being like Paris Hilton. And yes, I further agree with the irritation that ostensibly knowledgeable sportscasters are the ones mispronouncing it (Bob Costas' smug idiocy is captured forever in Ken Burn's "Baseball," and Keith Olbermann's had it wrong for years). I understand there aren't any archived broadcasts from Wagner's era to listen to, but it seems a pretty simple connection if you just know his first name is "JoHANNES" (and that early on, he was commonly called "Hans"). Keep preachin' it--
Here's the reason behind the Elton Brand (or as I called him on KNX 1070 news radio, Elton "John.") heavy coverage. He was the star player on the Clippers and the soap opera in connection with his departure made good copy. Simple as that. He's a guy who made a name for himself in L.A. and some of us just like to hold the Clippers up show their constant bumbling ways whenever we get the chance. And what else was going on in this market that was worthy of more coverage? Always put yourself in our shoes when asking why this or that gets a lot of ink and airtime. Sometimes the reason is: "Thank God!... here's something new!" The 24 hour news cycle needs to be fed on the hour.
You hit the nail right on the head about Josh Hamilton. I found it completely unprofessional that all the announcers (who invited Rick Reilly by the way?) couldn’t go more than 1 or 2 swings [during the home run derby] without mentioning his battle with drug addiction. We all have friends who battle their own personal demons and we sure as hell don’t bring it up to them every five minutes. Neither should these windbags on TV. I know it’s their job to paint a glorious picture and get people to watch, but give it a rest. The guy can flat out play the game and should be recognized for that, not his past. The fact that he has his buddy following him around everyday because he doesn’t trust himself should be evidence enough that he is always moments away from a relapse.
Howard, As a longtime Dodger fan, I am shocked that you give Ned Colletti a passing grade, even if it is a D minus, based on the mistake he did not make. Look what he has done since arriving - Mueller, Tomko, Schmidt, and that is just the Giants mistakes portion of his resume. [Andruw] Jones looks like the biggest (pun intentional) free agent bust of all time. Pierre and resigning Nomar were not as bad, but were certainly inadequate.
If I were a GM or an agent, Colletti would be the first guy I would call, because he is by far the most likely to overpay for minimal value. Forty years old, and three years past your prime? We love Ned.
I love the article, however I am a defender of Fred Claire. I know he wasn’t the “most qualified,” not coming from the background of scouts and an ex-ball player, but I don’t see where he did a horrible job. Comparing him to Ned is a tough one for me. Ned’s ratio of free agent busts are way higher than Claire’s. Granted, Strawberry and Davis didn’t pan out the way it should have, but that was no fault of Claire’s. The Pedro trade is over-hyped considering our greatest need at the time was a second Baseman, and [Delino] DeSheilds was really the best out there at the time. It is like you said in today’s article; you can’t keep them all, and at the time [the Dodgers] had a strong core of pitching. Say what you will about Claire, but the 1988 championship had his finger prints all over it. When we had needs as a ball club, they were addressed more times than not. After the 1987 season, adding key guys like Mike Davis, Jay Howell, Alfredo Griffin, and a guy you may remember, Kirk Gibson. That was a tremendous off season. Tell me Ned has done as well in a single off season. I know Fred Claire isn’t a hall of famer, by any means, but for all of Ned Colletti’s experience and pedigree as a “baseball guy,” he is no Fred Claire. Lastly, a lot can be said of Claire for respecting the fans of the team even now. How easy would it be to trash the organization and all that remains with it, especially Tommy. And yet he stays classy as ever “biting his tongue,” right? Why is there no outrage against Lasorda for pushing out Bill Russell and Fred Claire, along with a disaster of a trade costing us Paul Konerko, the latter giving us the likes of Carlos Perez? Lasorda thought he was entitled to the GM spot and he was the only one who could fill Al Campanis’s shoes. Rather than casting stones, does Tommy ever say it was tougher than he thought? Tommy is a legend and I love him, as all fans do. But for a guy from the old days (when the Dodgers were a family organization) he should keep his criticisms of the other family members inside the family. The pointing of the fingers only goes to give the rumors all those years about Tommy thinking he was bigger than the organization type guy. What good is it to publicly call out Fred Claire now when he kept his big mouth shut back then?
Just so you know your breath isn't entirely wasted when you get to the serious stuff, I never in my life carried an organ donor card until reading one of your columns on the subject about a year ago.
And I was there the night of the Campy Tribute at the Coliseum. So these are some old - but very fine - organs.
In the immortal words of Terry Forster, “A waste is a terrible thing to mind!” Ron Yukelson
Raise your hand, if, before the Dodgers had their final tally of 11 Saturday, you knew, you just knew they were coming back weak on Sunday, lucky to score even a couple. Now raise your other hand if you think the Dodgers are just plain weak, generally, and have already resigned yourself to a very long year… Consider my hand raised. At least we don’t have to worry about the Dodgers starting off hot and letting us down later in the season. Uh, unless they’re hot now, and it get worse somehow…?
"Last week, the writers elected a relief pitcher to the Hall of Fame, at the exclusion of all others and for the second straight year. Bruce Sutter in 2007, Rich Gossage in 2008." Bruce Sutter was elected in 2006. Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn were elected in 2007. And to be fair, Sutter was the only BBWAA inductee, specifically. He was inducted with 17 Negro Leaguers. Gossage is the only player inducted by either the BBWAA or Veterans Committee, so that much is correct. I do want to add that I love the idea of putting a statue of Sandy Koufax outside of Dodger Stadium. I am a Dodgers fan living clear across the country (not by choice; I was born here), and I for one would be tickled just to know it's there, even if I don't get to see it. I'm glad other people feel the same way.
It is not enough for Mark McGwire to apologize for his steroid or other illegal substance using. That is not enough to make him a hero. His use of performance-enhancing substances enabled him to break what is probably the most prestigious record in all of professional sports. All of his 60-plus HR seasons should be nullified, as should those of SS and BB. The record should be restored to its rightful owner. In the alternative, a separate HRs in a season list should be devised, effective 1998, which would be called "Most Home Runs in a Season by a Performing-Enhanced Cheat." We'll start with the numbers 73, 70, 66 and work our way down from there.
Juan Pierre will track down any fly ball?......after a couple of bounces maybe.....deep flies he's okay, coming in on the ball he looks like a cat on the freeway.
Just read your article about Bobby Cox. Thank goodness someone else feels the same way about that poor excuse for a human being as I do. Every time I see him sitting in the Braves dugout it makes me sick. I can't even tell you how much I dislike him. On a happier note, I agree with you that the Dodgers looked much better this past weekend. One player who doesn't get the attention he deserves is Juan Pierre. He goes full out the whole time. He's not flashy, just steady.
CeCe Logue
Tony Jackson is pissing me off lately. Apparently, the Angels are now LA's team? Shame on him. Bob E PS We love ya H, even when we forget to write.
Noted you're conceding Tony La Russa's a Hall of Fame manager. And the World Series wins are certainly an important factor. But before we enshrine Tony, the Vets' Committee should do the honors for Charlie Grimm. Charlie debuted in the bigs as a teenager during WWI, played 20 years, hit a lifetime .290, whacked .345 in 1923, .331 in 1931. But it's not as a first baseman that Grimm
earned a Cooperstown nod. He player/managed or
managed 4 (yes 4!) pennant-winners for the Roy Frisvold
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