Letters to Sports: In MLB labor fight, there are no winners

A gate is locked at the main parking lot of the Angels training site, Tempe Diablo Stadium.

March 5, 2022 4:30 AM PT

When and if the 2022 baseball season begins, Major League Baseball will have a lot of rebranding to do in order to win back its alienated fans and those whose livelihoods have been negatively impacted by this unnecessary standoff.

I would suggest changing its logo from MLB to MBL, which would stand for My Bottom Line.

Bill Waxman
Simi Valley

I feel sorry for neither the players nor the owners, and that both sides are to blame while greed, petulance and egos continue to drive wedges until … who knows? I’m at a loss, and long for my favorite sport and team, the Dodgers, to once again take to the field of dreams

Jeff Wood
Newhall

Major League Baseball should be ashamed of itself. This latest lockdown is just too much. Greed has completely taken over. Ballplayers earning millions of dollars for playing a game, which they love, and then holding out for more is obscene. After all, these guys aren’t saving lives like heart surgeons. They’re just playing a game. And when all is said and done, who takes it in the shorts?… The fans.

When are fans going to say “enough is enough” and stop attending games. MLB has no shame in sticking it to the fans. It’s now time that the fans return the sentiment.

Kent M. Paul
Costa Mesa

Bill Plaschke reminded all of us who truly love the game of baseball, that Major League Baseball does not love us back.

To actually go to a game costs hundreds of dollars and most of us do not earn anywhere near the average player salary. I urge my fellow fans to do what I did in 1994, when the unimaginable happened by canceling the World Series: discover college baseball!

Richard Agata
Los Angeles

At a time in which Americans have been hurting financially and emotionally while the coronavirus pandemic has gotten the best of us, I wonder how sympathetic they are to baseball players who are unwilling to agree to a contract in large part because their salaries have slid to an average of a “measly” $4 million per year, placing them in a lofty position of wealth.

The contract impasse can be summarized by calling it naked greed and selfishness. There is no concern for the businesses that are able to profitably operate based upon revenue from pro baseball, or the little guy and gal who work at stadiums as vendors, hosts, parking lot attendants and concession stand workers.

Oren Spiegler
Peters Township, Pa.

Let me get this straight, Bill Plaschke just now realized that sports owners view the fans as “money-producing pawns”? Welcome to reality. All sports teams view us that way. Hasn’t he priced USC football tickets or paid $15 for a can of beer at SoFi, or lived without Dodger games on TV for years? It has always been this way. And we always pay.

Jeff Heister
Chatsworth

While the millionaires battle with the billionaires in the baseball lockout, one thing needs to be addressed in the CBA: Mandatory opioid testing to go along with PED testing for everyone on the team, coaches, trainers and all. Hopefully the Tyler Skaggs tragedy will never happen again.

Mike Gamboa
Buena Park

Honestly, does MLB and the MLBPA really think that fans care? I certainly don’t. Even if the season is canceled altogether, it won’t change my life. I can tell you this, what if the fans went on strike? What if we all decided not to attend games, pay for inflated tickets, parking and concessions? It’s time that fans went on strike. I’ve been to enough games for five lifetimes and these days, owners and players are trying to bilk us all for a lifetime worth of cost into a game or two. Shame on both entities and here’s hoping that neither of them make a dime this year.

Geno Apicella
Placentia

I appreciate Joe Kelly’s critique about living in an instant gratification society. At the same time, he doesn’t seem to recognize that as attention spans have dwindled, the game of baseball has dawdled. The average game is now over 3 hours. If he wants to save baseball, maybe he can lead the charge by picking up the pace between his pitches.

Jessica Abrams
Long Beach

I agree with one statement in Mr. Kelly’s article. “Baseball is boring, they say,” he writes. They are correct!

Edward Anderson
San Diego

Defenseless Lakers

Why do the Lakers stink? Because they can’t play defense. Why? Because older players like LeBron, Westbrook, Anthony and Howard are well into their 30s and have lost their lateral movement. Some of them can still score, but can’t move backward and the young guard-oriented wings of today fly by them like they’re standing still. Don’t the dummies running this team know this simple fact? Jerry West would.

Dell Franklin
Cayucos

This Lakers team is embarrassing to watch and should not be allowed to wear the purple and gold uniforms. This proud Lakers franchise, the fans and the city of Los Angeles deserve better than a team still trying to figure it out.

Donald Peppars
Pomona

Perhaps it’s time for the Lakers to be sold. The current team plays worse than the statues outside the arena. #SellTheLakers

Howard Mationg
Gardena

Play-in fiasco

Two-thirds of NBA teams make the playoffs. This includes the new play-in tournament that the NBA is in love with. As of this writing, two of the four teams vying for the play-in tournament in the Western Conference are 11 games under .500. The Lakers are a third team, and they’re seven games under. How in the world does that kind of a season record justify the playoffs, when in baseball, for example, you can be 10 games above .500 and be eliminated?

The playoffs are supposed to reward excellence, not hanging on at the top of the bottom.

Mitch Paradise
Los Angeles

Illogical Rams

What am I missing here?

Rams GM Les Snead and coach Sean McVay will not attend the combine because the Rams’ first pick is not until the end of the third round. The problem with that illogic is many of these players might be major players soon and maybe by bumping into these guys, the Rams might pick up some info, in case a trade possibility might pop up.

More info is always better than less info.

Fred Wallin
Westlake Village

Spirit-less Derby

Jeers to the Kentucky Derby authorities for taking Medina Spirit’s win from him. I don’t know what beef Kentucky has with Bob Baffert but it should have nothing to do with Medina Spirit. We all saw that little horse run his heart out, fend off all challengers and win the Derby. And it wasn’t because of a dab of salve on his butt as evidenced by his performances in subsequent races. If he is not reinstated I think we should all boycott the 2022 Derby.

Millie Derose
San Fernando

Golf goof

Does anyone see the irony in the PGA awarding Tiger Woods $8 million from its “Player Impact Program?” Perhaps he should share some of the loot with the Rolling Hills Public Works Department.

Mario Valvo
Ventura

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