The fury over the Dodgers signing Kyle Tucker makes me wonder who’s shouting the loudest?
Could it be desperate, unfortunate fans whose beloved teams are owned by inheritors, nepo families, or private equity bros who celebrate their glamorous assets?
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So how about a new metric in the sports page to accompany the ranking of teams and players: ownership. Not simply by wealth, but wisdom, brains and commitment. And for fun let’s call it the McCourt-Moreno Index.
It’s time we hold the Marge Schotts of pro sports accountable for the franchises they mismanage.
Bob Collector
Santa Barbara
There are some alarming implications to Bill Plaschke’s “If it blows up baseball, so be it.” Perhaps he means that MLB should be reduced to a burning garbage heap with three teams atop — Yankees, Cubs and Dodgers — because they were the only ones who went into the TV business and peddled their services for billions in the three largest TV markets.
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Maybe he yearns to transform MLB into the NHL of my childhood, with six teams. That was OK if you lived in a shallow arc extending between New York and Chicago — not so good for everyone else.
“So be it,” as Plaschke would say, but I can guarantee I won’t be the only one who isn’t watching anymore.
Thomas Bailey
Long Beach
Naturally Dodger fans are all excited about the signing of the $60-million-a-year All-Star right fielder, Kyle Tucker. But we’re not going to be happy when Dodger Stadium becomes the first MLB ballpark with a two-drink minimum.
Joe Kevany
Mount Washington
As everyone seems to be raving about the Dodgers’ acquisition of Kyle Tucker, I note the following: There is another player who was recently signed by the Yankees for less money and less signing bonus than Tucker who had higher numbers last year in average, home runs and WAR. He also plays more positions. Hadn’t the Dodgers heard of Cody Bellinger? Bellinger as a Yankee will never feel right to me.
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Larry Macedo
West Hills
Ask a Major League Baseball owner like Arte Moreno, who sells out his ballpark whenever the Dodgers come to Anaheim, and sees Angel broadcast ratings surge whenever his team plays the Dodgers, if he thinks the Dodgers are ruining the game.
Marc Gerber
Encino
Even the poets know it
The Rams won the battle of which team gets to lose to Seattle.
That rhymes!
Vaughn Hardenberg
Westwood
Throwing the flag on PI
The NFL needs to clarify exactly what does and doesn’t constitute pass interference. There is no consistency as to how it’s called with each official seeming to have their own definition of what constitutes pass interference. It has gotten to the point where it’s worse than major league umpires and their own definition of the strike zone. NFL, you need to clean this up because these are major calls that are ruining games.
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Doug Vikser
Manhattan Beach
An offer they can refuse
Bill Plaschke finally wrote a column about the Lakers with which I agree. LeBron James is the past, Austin Reaves is the future, and $50 million will help the Lakers rebuild. Yes, it’s really as simple as that.
Richard Raffalow
Valley Glen
With the Lakers defense costing them multiple games, reminiscent of the coach Mike (no D)’Antoni days, the only real interesting Laker news last week were the alleged Jeanie Buss comments about the King. They sounded like they were lines taken from a scene in “The Godfather” …. “What have I done to make you treat me so disrespectfully.” My opinion is that it “was not personal and strictly business.”
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Mike Anderson
Sherman Oaks
Cheers to Indiana
When asked after each game how he’d celebrate another victory, Indiana’s Curt Cignetti would say, “With a beer.” After guiding his team to an undefeated season, and then winning the national championship, I doubt the Hoosiers’ coach will ever have to buy another beer again.
Denny Freidenrich
Laguna Beach
Lincoln Riley is officially on the clock. In two years Curt Cignetti took a woebegone college team, with nary a five-star player, to an undefeated national championship. Cignetti has proven that, even in the NIL era, coaching matters. Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick …
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Mark S. Roth
Playa Vista
Curt Cignetti and Indiana football playing in and winning the national championship was a modern-day version of the movie “Hoosiers” and would have made coach Norman Dale (actor Gene Hackman) proud. Now the question is, can new UCLA football coach Bob Chesney and his 40-plus transfers be the second coming of Indiana? Only time will tell.
Chris Sorce
Fountain Valley
Making a not-so-good point
Kings president Luc Robitaille appears to be happy with the Kings’ status quo that appears to be getting one point every game in an overtime or shootout loss. Should we start referring to him as Luc RobitailleandthenloseinOT?
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Nick Rose
Newport Coast
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