So, no Blue ribbons this season?
A recent letter commented on all the negative letters you print. Here’s a positive one: I’m positive if the Dodgers were in any other division they would be in third or fourth place. Because of the weak National League West, the Dodgers pretty much can make up that deficit in one weekend in Arizona, but they can’t handle a middledivision team like St. Louis.
Go Dodgers, as you strive for mediocrity. Bob Sands
La Habra
The Dodgers’ season is slipping away, and the manager says “there’s no other choice, but to keep going.” Great, Dave Roberts is now taking advice from fabled baseball great Sisyphus. Mario Valvo
Ventura
I’m not sure what analytics that the Dodger management is using, but according to my analytics they have a 100% chance of losing whenever they go to the bullpen. Michael Ninnis
Palos Verdes Estates
I think Manny Machado has finally caught the Dodger Blue Virus. It’s the virus that causes a group of proven hitters to be unable to produce with runners in scoring position and it is sending the team headlong toward tee times in early October.
We lost a World Series championship because Dave Roberts and his brain trust could not figure out that Yu Darvish was tipping his pitches and that Cody Bellinger would swing at anything no matter the location. Note to Roberts and Turner Ward. Time to wake up and try to cure the “Virus” before it’s too late. Larry Weiner
Culver City
Thank you, Mr. Friedman, for not going over the luxury tax this year, which I’m sure will result in lower prices next year. It is forward thinking like that all fans appreciate. It is not important to get reliable relievers to help a team make the playoffs; anyone can do that. Plus I’ll have so much more disposable income this fall with no playoff games to pay for. Steve Owen
San Diego
It appears the best move the Dodgers can make with October in mind will be to book tables early at Buffalo Wild Wings so they won’t miss any of the action. Mer Valdez
Long Beach
Let’s face it: The Dodgers have simply become bad TV. Can they not be canceled? Dale Clanahan
San Dimas
Anybody watching on television during Monday’s disastrous return of Kenley Jansen could see the big man’s sweaty complexion, tired, sickly eyes, and almost staggering demeanor to see that he had no place being on the mound in a big game situation. Why couldn’t Dave Roberts see that in person?
Dylan Hernandez is right in one thing, however, in that it is Andrew Friedman who created this mess, but there is still no denying that it was Roberts who misled two terrific teams through two collapses in the playoffs, by overthinking and overmanaging his team.
Roberts is undoubtedly a great motivator and a nice guy whom the players love. Maybe he should be given a couple of pompoms and be relegated to the sidelines, while somebody who understands baseball is brought in to run the team. Randy Jon Morgan
Monrovia
As usual, Dave Roberts demonstrated the Sadim Touch against the Cardinals, with his every bullpen move resulting in disaster. Even the great Kenley Jansen could not emerge unscathed.
If the Dodgers fail to reach the playoffs, management has no choice but to replace Roberts. There is no excuse for such a talented and experienced team to choke under the pressure of the pennant race, but that’s exactly what they’re doing, thanks in no small part to Roberts, who has failed to prepare them to succeed. Brian Gura
Redondo Beach ::
Very nice piece about Dave Roberts by Dylan Hernandez, right on the point.
There is at least one fan who does not “want him to yell and scream like Tommy Lasorda” and admires him for displaying the same dignity, discipline and character as Walter Alston, the Dodgers’ most successful manager. Bob Wieting
Simi Valley
Kudos to Andy McCullough for pointing out, even just as an aside, that Manny Machado “jogged” to first base while grounding out with the bases loaded and the game on the line against the Cardinals on Wednesday night. For $16 million a year and a guy nearing free agency you’d at least expect him to try hard, especially with his team’s struggles since he arrived. Allan Kandel
Los Angeles
There can be no greater irony than the verbiage in the Dodgers’ invitations to renew season tickets. Their letter states, “...and we don’t want you to miss what’s next.”
The Guggenheim mob needs to be reminded that more than two-thirds of their fan base has been missing what’s next for five years. Bill Waxman
Simi Valley
Should have gotten a closer, not a Dozier! Mike Armstrong
Monrovia
To all of you including Bill Plaschke who have given up on our Dodgers, remember Yogi Berra said, “It’s not over till it’s over.” Mike Witkowsky
Torrance Bowen is out
Since when is the signing of a free agent in the NBA dependent on who might be the team’s TV analyst? The Clippers continue to be the Clippers! Wayne Muramatsu
Cerritos
If Bruce Bowen was fired for his comments on Kawhi Leonard that is a shame. The Clippers should fire him for his awful performance.
Bowen had little to say beyond what most fans already know. Ralph Lawler should have received half of Bowen’s salary for having carried him in game after game. Joe Sterbinsky
North Hills
A violent sport
How illuminating that while the NFL, parents and the country at large are agonizing over concussions, brain injury and long-term consequences from football, such as premature death, that “violence” is one of the “primary buzzwords in practice” as the defense goes through its preseason paces under Jerry Azzinaro, Chip Kelly’s new defensive coordinator at UCLA [“Hands-off Approach,” Aug. 18].
Perhaps this is the reason football viewership is down across the country, not the take-a-knee and raised-fist protest movement that seeks to draw attention to a different and very specific kind of lethal violence off the field in our communities. But then if you teach violence to young men 18 to 22, what can you really expect of them between 25 to 50? Mitch Paradise
Los Angeles
Shocking, right?
A three-game suspension for Urban Meyer! What’s next, a former great football player kills his ex-wife and gets away with it? Oh yeah . ... Never mind. Bob Paniagua
La Crescenta
Clothing optional
Wow, it’s so nice to see women in the sports pages [“A-Team Digs Deep,” Aug. 20], but would they have been on the front page of the sports page if they were not half-naked? I’m glad women’s basketball doesn’t follow that rule. Linda Bradshaw
Los Angeles
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