Baseball fans write series of blue notes

Can someone remind T.J. Simers that the Cy Young Award is based solely on individual performance and not on the value that performance has to the hurler’s team. There is a separate award for that and pitchers are eligible. Thus would my vote for MVP go to Ryan Braun for leading his club to a division title. The Cy Young Award goes to Clayton Kershaw hands down.

Bud Chapman

Northridge

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At the beginning of the baseball season in early April, I wrote that Matt Kemp and T.J. Simers are similar because they each have so much natural talent, but rarely use it. At least one of them got the message.

Ken Feldman

Los Angeles

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Thank you Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw for brightening up an otherwise dismal baseball season. Thanks to all the Dodgers for the September run that got me back in front of the TV for more than an inning or two. However, I am not thankful enough to leave the sound on when Vinny isn’t the announcer.

Dave Snyder

Grand Terrace

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I could not believe that the Dodgers had the gall to claim that because they had a “winning� season and because Kershaw and Kemp were contending for the Cy Young and MVP, that the Dodgers were acting in the best interests of baseball.

Mr. McCourt should be embarrassed that Kershaw and Kemp had such historic seasons while spending most of the year in the bottom half of the National League West because he couldn’t surround them with better talent. He should be embarrassed that he could call this a “winning� season while this was a season filled with disgust for Dodgers fans, who spoke with their feet. But there is no embarrassing Mr. McCourt, which explains bankruptcy and the fight until the bitter end.

Sam Chung

Arcadia

The opposite of heavenly

I was half asleep Monday night, flipping through TV stations, when I tuned into a news conference and listened to a major league manager say he had requested to be released from his contract. During the news conference, a reporter asked him about the extension of his contract and he responded, “I have a contract for next year, but I did not do a good job to earn that contract!�

When I awoke from my stupor, imagine the heartbreak I experienced when I discovered it wasn’t Mike Scioscia I was listening to, but Ozzie Guillen.

P. A. Lutgen

Riverside

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Mike Napoli came into Anaheim and threw down a exclamation point if there ever were one.

Tim Hoff

Huntington Beach

Sorry, Bud

Richard Levin’s Sept. 24 letter concerning Bud Selig (his previous boss) is a great example of a true sycophant at work. The truth is that Selig conspired with the union to promote the “home run derby� by postponing steroid testing as long as possible. Selig and MLB then praised the obvious steroid users and placed them on pedestals. It is safe to say that thousands of other aspiring and actual MLB players risked their health to use these dangerous narcotics in the hope that they could boost their performance.

Mr. Levin also credits Selig with increasing attendance and states that, “... fans continue to turn out in record numbers.� Not true. Selig and the other MLB powers that be, simply changed the definition of attendance. Ignoring the fact the Webster defines attendance as the number of people at an event, MLB now says that attendance is the number of tickets sold or given away.

If MLB wants to address the problem of empty stadiums, maybe it should try to run “America’s pastime� with a little honesty, and stop thinking that the fans are stupid.

Tom Moore

Los Angeles

Not satisfied

While some may call UCLA’s first conference opener victory in four years satisfying, I saw an unsatisfactory football game that featured a freshman quarterback from Oregon State throwing for more than 280 yards to wide-open receivers. With a bye week and fresh legs, Andrew Luck must be salivating like a thirsty vampire on a full moon as he dissects game film for glaring weaknesses in the Bruins pass coverage.

Christopher Putney

Long Beach

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Dan Guererro’s integrity, patience, loyalty and support will pay off. The Neuheisel naysayers need counseling and an IQ adjustment. UCLA has the right man committed to change what was inherited. The Bruins cycle of winning is just a few players away, but that will probably not gag the termites obsessed with negativity.

Mike Shively

Arcadia

Lane change?

OK, I get that USC is on restriction due to sanctions. I get that we are working with certain limitations. I get that we must pay for past infractions. What I don’t get is Lane Kiffin’s seeming lackadaisical and uninspired attitude, the often ineffective play-calling, and the complete lack of defense against the pass. When does the Tampa 2 actually begin to work? And does anyone have Urban Meyer’s phone number?

Robert Hallett

Torrance

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Way to go, Matt Barkley! Your calling Vontaze Burfict a “dirty player� may have only served to inspire and heighten his and the Arizona State team’s motivation Saturday. Instead, the only one in the game who played worthy of that description was your own safety, T. J. McDonald, who alone committed three personal fouls, costing USC 45 of their 87 penalty yards.

H. L. Baker

Los Angeles

Down to the wire

What an amazing final day in baseball’s 162-game regular season. While we agonize over the state of our Dodgers and watch the Angels let ultimate success slip through their fingers, the Tampa Bay Rays show that they have perfected the formula for victory:

No fans + no money + lousy home field + castoffs from other teams = playoffs.

Donald Mahoney

Rancho Cucamonga

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No Red Sox fan should ever single out Bill Buckner for criticism again. Billy now has lots of company.

Charles Reilly

Manhattan Beach

Reality bites

Regarding Michael Vick’s complaint after the last game that he is “not getting the calls� from the referees: It’s a dog-eat-dog world, dude.

Howard P. Cohen

North Hills

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