How not to overanalyze the awful start by Angels

Three takeaways on the Angels: No hitting No pitching No winning Wayne Muramatsu

Cerritos

Arte Moreno must be ecstatic with the money he’s saving due to this horrible pandemic. With the shortened season he’s off the hook to pay the full $93 million for three hitters (Trout, Rendon and Pujols) who through Friday were hitting a combined .261. And the offense was hopefully going to offset the lack of a major league pitching staff ( just ask GM Billy Eppler). Richard Whorton

Studio City

Empty moment

Congratulations to Clayton Kershaw for passing Big D on the all-time Dodgers strikeout list, and don’t believe anyone who says they were there the night it happened. Anthony Moretti

Lomita

When is the vaunted Dodgers brain trust going to throw in the towel on Julio Urías and move on? He’s been a designated phenom for as long as I can remember and still hasn’t cut it as a starter, whereas Tony Gonsolin has been terrific and gets sent to the taxi squad. Maybe there is a plan, but it sure seems like the Dodgers don’t want to admit to whiffing on Julio. Ken Blake

Brea

It occurs to me that the early-season pick for Dodger of the year should go to Manny Machado. If not for Machado’s decision to decline a long-term contract with the Dodgers last year, it is unlikely that L.A. would have been able to afford Mookie Betts. Rick Cohen

Avila Beach

Congratulations to Kenta Maeda for his masterful pitching performance and to the Twins manager for allowing Maeda to start the ninth inning this week.

As Rich Hill knows, had Maeda performed the same feat with the Dodgers, it is very likely Maeda would have been given the hook after pitching eight innings of no-hit ball. Ken Feldman

Tarzana

A positive note

Congratulations to Adam Silver and his staff for keeping the NBA bubble from popping up to this point.

What I have found most interesting is that without the home team fans, arena noise, perceived referee bias, visiting team jet lag and hotel stays, and other home-court entitlements, the games are now decided only by the team playing better on the court.

This year’s champions will have to do it all by themselves. Mike Anderson

Sherman Oaks

Was Andrew Greif watching the same Game 2 of the Clippers’ series that I watched? Not once in the article did he even mention the glaring reason for the Clippers’ loss. Paul George was not only left gasping as Doncic blew by him when George tried to guard him, but his atrocious shooting (four of 17) was the clear reason for their loss. John Taylor

Huntington Beach

Letter writer Morgan Callahan brought up the possibility of removing Jerry West from NBA logo and possibly replacing it with Kobe Bryant. To even contemplate changing it from Jerry West would be insulting to Mr. West, and it’s a change that, nothing against Kobe, really isn’t necessary. However, if there is ever consideration of a silhouette change from Jerry West, there can be only one other Laker on that list: Magic Johnson. Luke Aiello

Orange

Honor roll

Regarding the Chargers’ Melvin Ingram, I’m a firm believer in honoring the contract you signed and not trying to renegotiate your current deal because someone got more money than you think you’re entitled to. You signed it, now be a man of your word and honor it. How would you feel if the team wanted to redo your current deal because they were dissatisfied? Thomas Filip

Moorpark

Exit strategy

There is ongoing debate regarding having limited fan capacity at upcoming sporting events. The Kansas City Chiefs set a 22% fan limit for at least their first three games. In considering fan safety against COVID-19, supposedly everyone’s No. 1 priority, have these talks ever included a discussion of the reality of fans exiting an event when it is over or the outcome is evident, and thousands of people head for the exits? Does anyone foresee orderly social distancing as fans rush to leave the venue? Kevin Sutlick

Long Beach

The Elliott f iles

I have enjoyed Helene Elliott’s columns for many years, but I disagree with her take of getting rid of “gimmicks” in playoffs.

Whatever the sport, games take too long. And Americans’ attention spans have waned. Sorry, but I’m too busy to dedicate six hours to a five-overtime game.

If soccer, the most popular sport in the world, can decide a World Cup final on penalty kicks, hockey can certainly play one 20-minute overtime and then go to a shootout if there’s no decision. That sounds reasonable to me. David H. Crocker

Placentia

Taylor Fritz is only 22 but not too young to have achieved a meaningful win in a major ATP event. His only win was a 250 ATP event, which are on the lowest tier of tennis tournaments. To put everything in perspective: Nadal won the French Open at 19, Djokovic was 20 when he won his first Slam and Federer was 21.

Twenty-two is still a young age for a tennis player but perhaps too old to become a significantly great tennis player. Giuseppe Mirelli

Los Angeles

Another strike

I am a gay man who is a many-decades fan of the San Francisco Giants and the Lakers. I have the gear and the anxiety scars to prove it. Like LZ Granderson, I have so far “refused to be chased out.” But I wonder if I’m fooling myself.

It strains credulity to suggest that Thom Brennaman wasn’t known to be a gay-hater by those who worked with him. His casual, joking, use of an abhorrent, homophobic slur indicts the entire work environment at Fox Sports and MLB.

Think about it: If his microphone had been closed for five seconds more, as it ordinarily would have been, today he would still be free to spew his bigotry while getting paid for it. Thomas Bailey

Long Beach

I appreciate LZ Granderson’s thoughtful analysis of homophobia in American sports. I think he downplays, however, the importance of having out gay players in the major four sports leagues. This is the “real work” that must occur to change male sports’ rigidly homophobic culture, regardless of the consequences it might provoke among some fans and teammates. Craig Loftin

Long Beach

Here’s a rule

The only unwritten rule that matters should have been learned in kindergarten. Don’t be a jerk. That’s it. And it works great. Fernando Tatis Jr. was at work doing what he’s paid well to do. If you don’t want to be embarrassed, don’t go down by seven runs and don’t go 3-0 on a premier player with the bases loaded. Marcelo Barreiro

Manhattan Beach

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