It’s a brilliant idea, the rotation of eight starters. Think about it: Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May and now Blake Snell.
Talk about a battery of weapons, and no one needs to throw more than 20 games from May to September. At six innings per game, that’s no more than 120 innings during the regular season, leaving the top five fresh for October, a rested bullpen and Walker taking the ball when it matters most.
Peter Maradudin
Seattle
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In 1963, when the Dodgers swept the Yankees in the World Series, every player in the starting lineup except Yankees import Bill Skowron were local Dodgers. Today, 61 years later, only two players, Will Smith and Gavin Lux, fit that description. It’s not that Ohtani is an agent of change, as Dylan Hernández suggests, but it’s the deep-pocketed ownership that has made the sport a tragic annual protest between the haves and the have-nots.
Bill Waxman
Simi Valley
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I know I’m dating myself, but I remember in 1966 the two greatest pitchers were Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale. These two star pitchers held out for contracts worth $100,000 each. Both pitchers ultimately won that dispute with the Dodgers.
Fast forward to today’s news. Blake Snell’s five-year, $182 million contract works out to about $36 million per season. Assuming Snell is able to reach his peak years of 180 innings pitched, his income would be $200,000 per inning. Best case scenario, Snell will win in a single round as much as Koufax and Drysdale have won in an entire season combined. Oh, and by the way, in 1965, Koufax and Drysdale pitched over 300 innings.
Fred Gober
Playa Vista
A victory for letter writers
When Lincoln Riley was hired, my dream of the Trojans’ return to glory wasn’t a spot in the Maybelline Mascara Bowl against the Scottsdale Artichokes. Oh, Clay Helton, we barely knew you.
Denys Arcuri
Indian
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The “other school” that Bruins coach DeShaun Foster downgraded as less smart than UCLA somehow fooled his smart guys into playing a trick on them to help him win the city championship.
Who is smarter now?
Brian Robinette
Van Nuys
Departure times sign
I thought when UCLA and USC joined the Big Ten it would improve the scheduling with more games available sooner. But it seems that nothing has changed. Gone are the days when rival fans would gather in the afternoon to watch the game together, tease each other and see who had the last laugh. Now we watch it ourselves and sometimes we don’t even finish the game at 11:30 p.m.
Luis Cruz
La Mirada
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What’s wrong with this picture? I watch Cal and Arizona State home games on TV at 3:30 p.m. EST, but have to wait until 10:30 p.m. to watch USC vs. UCLA.
Mitchell Cohen
East Windsor, New Jersey
Coveted coaches
In one season, the Chargers defense went from a train wreck to top 10 in the NFL under new defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, with the same personnel. With Minter’s roots firmly planted in SoCal now, would it be so far-fetched to see Minter become USC’s new head coach, once Lincoln Riley negotiates a buyout to bail out the Dallas Cowboys? Minter also has coaching experience in the Big Ten.
Eric Weinsheink
Beverly Hills
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I read Sam Farmer’s excellent article about coaches Jim and John Harbaugh: “Brothers in Arms Keep Rivalry Aside“The conclusion I have come to is that the Chargers got the wrong Harbaugh.
Vaughn Hardenberg
Westwood
Brake show
That’s what coach JJ Reddick said about tLakers lose to Denver: “We stopped playing.” Are they too tired after 15 games? Are they not paid enough? Is Reddick paid enough to explain what that means?
The two home losses, against Orlando and Denver, were against teams that had played the day before, and Orlando’s best players were absent. I don’t understand. I never stopped working. These spoiled millionaires make more in a single game than most fans make in a year.
Can someone explain to the fans what is wrong with the Lakers?
Steven Lee Jacobs
Oxnard
Arte and the angels
Despite the optimism reflected in some articles about the Angels last week, nothing will happen that will improve their chances of making the playoffs until Arte Moreno sells the team. It doesn’t matter what Mike Trout can or can’t do, or how the new pitcher executes yada yada yada. As long as Arte is in charge, the Angels will be doomed.
Suzanne Stann
Temecula
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