Readers Not Giving Any Credit to Dodgers

I’m so impressed by the acquisition of Juan Encarnacion, Bubba Trammell and Jeremy Giambi, I’d like to make the same prediction for the Dodgers that many optimistic fans made for the Lakers when they signed Gary Payton and Karl Malone:

They might win 70 games this year.

Ben Browdy

Los Angeles

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I’m a Dodger season-ticket holder on the field level. I would love to upgrade to the Dugout Club, where the big shots like Rob Reiner and Paul Moyer sit. But, like Mr. McCourt, my assets are tied up in real estate (my house). Perhaps Fox can loan me the money so I can upgrade.

Michael Horowicz

Hollywood

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Yes, I know. It’s the bottom of the ninth, two out, and at least a run behind. It’s looking grim. But baseball can be a game of miracles. Could that be Kirk Gibson swinging a bat in the dugout? Will he have a chance to make it to the plate?

Dodger fans all over this city would cheer the return of Peter O’Malley and bringing Eli Broad into the fold -- two gentlemen with a track record of stability and integrity. What we need are leaders who have proven that they are more interested in the Dodgers and the people of Los Angeles, not an out-of-town investor with an uncertain future.

Do you believe in miracles? Yes!

Vic Pallos

Glendale

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I desperately want Peter O’Malley to come back to run the Dodgers. So do other fans. But is Bill Plaschke sure that he wants that? O’Malley might give Tommy Lasorda something to do in the front office. In that case, Lasorda might have to quit writing Plaschke’s column, and Plaschke might have to go back to work.

Michael Green

Las Vegas

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OK, let’s see. The Dodgers keep Ramon Martinez and let go his brother Pedro. Then they sign Chris Gwynn, brother of Tony. Third base coach Glenn Hoffman’s brother Trevor has been a star for the Padres for years. And anyone remember Wilton Guerrero? Guess who his brother is? Now, the latest move by these geniuses is to sign Jeremy Giambi, brother of Jason.

If Dodger management were in charge of the Democratic party in 1976, Billy Carter would have been their nominee.

Cary Ginell

Thousand Oaks

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I am a longtime Dodger fan living in Las Vegas. I can now see the same team here as the one in L.A. for a lot less money. Thanks for cutting your budget as well as mine.

Bruce Green

Las Vegas

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As a longtime Dodger fan and more recently Dodger sufferer, I voice my strong objection to Bill Plaschke’s column this morning [Jan. 18]. Plaschke writes that Peter O’Malley may be involved in running the Dodgers again. He says it’s a “dream” and the “Dodger nation” should “cross its fingers.”

Plaschke has a short memory. He forgets that O’Malley didn’t have the courage to stand up for Al Campanis, who unfortunately misspoke himself one night on Ted Koppel’s show many years ago. Instead, O’Malley caved in to public pressure from minority groups and fired Campanis. Then, in lieu of trying to find the best and most experienced baseball mind available to replace Campanis, O’Malley appointed Fred Claire as Campanis’ successor and kept him in that position for 10 long years.

The present plight of the Dodgers is directly traceable to Claire’s incompetence and O’Malley’s indifference.

Arnold G. Regardie

Los Angeles

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Bud Selig’s to-do list:

1. Enforce the debt-equity rule.

2. Urge owners to reject team ownership via glorified credit card spending.

3. Recommend the Eli Broad-Peter O’Malley team and restore the premier baseball franchise to former glory.

That’s plenty. Now go play golf.

Steve McLane

Upland

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Now that philanthropist Eli Broad has gotten in on the action of the sale of the Dodgers, the team has been downgraded from a professional sports team to a nonprofit organization.

Harry Etra

Los Angeles

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Open letter to Bud Selig, the baseball owners’ selection committee and Peter Chernin of Fox:

A history lesson: Several years ago a tight-fisted owner took over our beloved Rams. She fielded a poor product and permanently alienated much of the fan base. Eventually the team fled the city, then the state. What’s important is that an awful lot of us just didn’t give a hoot when they left. Not then, not now. The NFL has lost us forever as fans. Perhaps you’ve noticed that we don’t have an NFL team to this day? General apathy is the main reason.

The lesson? Alienating the L.A. fans was a disaster for the NFL; they permanently lost much of their fan base as well as hundreds of millions of dollars in TV revenue.

Today you have the makings of a public relations catastrophe on your hands, one that bears an ugly resemblance to the Ram fiasco. Dodger fans haven’t had a good team for more than 10 years and we’re particularly angry about the events and lies of this winter. We really don’t want Frank “No-Cash” McCourt as the owner of the Dodgers, and we really do want Peter O’Malley and Eli Broad. If you sell us out by approving McCourt, you will cause widespread outrage and risk permanent alienation of most of the fan base in your second-largest TV market.

David Kent

Irvine

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Let me get this straight: In addition to not improving the offense, the Dodgers are offering Eric Gagne, who just put together the best season ever by a closer, the same amount of money for which they signed Adrian Beltre and Odalis Perez. Wow. Things are worse than I thought.

Josh Hamilton

Los Angeles

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Dear Dan Evans:

I, along with many other Viewpoint writers, have excoriated you mercilessly the last few months because of your failure to make one big deal that would improve last year’s Dodger team of sorry losers. So it turns out it really wasn’t your fault -- your hands were tied by Fox and McCourt, who are trying to bring the Dodger payroll down to something equal to San Diego’s.

If you had only let us disgusted and disgruntled fans know why you were doing nothing, you might have salvaged a bit of good will. But I guess salvaging your job was more important.

Joel Rapp

Los Angeles

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Message to Mayor Hahn and Los Angeles City Council: Special session needed prior to Jan. 31 to declare Dodger Stadium a historic landmark. Then let’s see how much interest McCourt has in owning the Dodgers.

Mike Amodei

South Bend, Ind.

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Mr. McCourt, the handwriting and the graffiti are already on the walls. We don’t like you. Please go away.

Sneaky Sims

Los Angeles