The fans speak out - Letters To The Editor - Letter to the Editor

Baseball Digest, Oct, 2002

Ted Williams was first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of countless numbers of baseball fans, especially those of the 1940s and 1950s.

The "Splendid Splinter" was my favorite player when I was a kid growing up in Louisville, Kentucky, and I followed his career closely. I am grateful to baseball and Ted Williams for bringing much joy to my childhood.

Williams was totally committed to his country during wartime and to the game of baseball during times of peace. With his death, baseball lost one of its best ambassadors.

Paul L. Whiteley, Sr.
Louisville, Ky.

What a disgraceful show baseball put on--or didn't put on--at the so-called All-Star game in Milwaukee. Ted Williams can be thankful he didn't have to witness it.

As a lifetime, diehard baseball fan, I cannot believe baseball could stoop to such an all-time low by not even finishing an All-Star game.

At the very least, they could have put in a position player to throw some lobs and let the game end somewhat respectfully. What happened just shows that the fans and game mean nothing to the players and owners.

I have managed to remain faithful to the game in spite of its many problems in the past, including strikes and drug abuse scandals.

But, these millionaire, prima donna players--and owners--can go on without me. I am done with major league baseball.

Joe Zeglen
Reading, Pa.

In my 45 years, I've seen major league baseball diluted by expansion, but I still love the game.

I've also seen a World Series cancelled, numerous strikes, and games being made available only to cable subscribers.

What bothers me most, however, is having Bud Selig as commissioner. Not only is he owner-friendly, but he even turned against his home town fans by calling the All-Star game a draw.

Selig stated, "Given the health of the players, I had no choice."

So please tell me, is Mr. Selig owner-friendly or fan-friendly? I'd much rather take my chances with Pete Rose as a new commissioner than with Bud.

Karen Leslie
Buffalo, N.Y.

Yours is one of the many letters we received, criticizing Selig for calling the All-Star game. Don't blame Selig for that debacle. Blame managers Joe Torre and Bob Brenly for poor strategy in using up their pitchers like so much tissue paper.

The managers wanted to get everybody into the game without giving much thought to the possibility that the game might go into extra innings.

No National League pitcher faced more than seven batters; no A.L. pitcher faced more than eight hitters.

The N.L. staff, because Tom Glavine, Randy Johnson and Matt Morris declined to work, was loaded with seven relievers!

The A.L. staff had four relievers, and one starter, Barry Zito who faced only one batter, and another, Pedro Martinez who wanted to take some time off although he was named to the staff.

This is in response to the question in the letters section of the July issue, asking if a player had ever actually hit Abe Stark's sign which read "Hit Sign, Win Suit," on the right field wall at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn.

According to the Baseball Almanac by Dan Schlossberg, Woody English of the Chicago Cubs actually hit the sign twice in the same game to win two free suits.

Eddie Deezen
West Hollywood, Calif.

Regarding Abe Stark's "free suit" sign in right field at Ebbets Field:

In his autobiography, Dodger pitcher Rex Barney wrote: "Nobody ever hit it, except once that I know of. I think it was Erv Dusak of the Cardinals who hit a line drive that headed straight for it.

"The Dodgers had a big lead at the time, so (right fielder) Carl Furillo pretended he had slipped and the ball hit the sign, and the fans went crazy.

"Players on both teams were laughing and cheering. I remember Furillo patting that sign at the start of every inning."

Norman L Macht
Easton, Md.

Mickey Mantle hit 373 home runs left-handed and 163 right-handed. Was he a better slugger as a left-handed or right-handed batter?

I can't find a statistical source to tell me how many career at-bats Mantle had right-handed and how many from the left side. Can you supply the answer?

Perry M. Stewart
Yellow Springs, O.

Our sources indicate Mantle hit 372 home runs as a left-handed batter and 164 as a right-hander.

To our knowledge, no record was kept of Mantle's total left-handed and right-handed at-bats.

Thank you for printing the charts showing how Ted Simmons compares to Hall of Fame catchers (August Baseball Digest). To me, it's a shame Simmons has received so little recognition.

My belief is that Cardinal owner Gussie Busch inadvertently kept Simmons from the Hall of Fame when he forced the trades of Steve Carlton and Jerry Reuss, dooming the Cardinals to mediocrity in the 1970s.

Because the Cardinals didn't win, Simmons was deprived of the opportunity to be on the national sports stage while he was in the prime of his career.

Not only did those trades hurt the Cardinals, but Carlton and Reuss helped their teams to league and World Series championships.

Busch did many wonderful things for St. Louis and the Cardinals, but those trades can only be seen as mistakes.