Dodgers Fall Into Something of a Slump

As long as the Dodgers have this manager, they will be an also-ran and nothing more. Here are some of the reasons:

1. After a six-game winning streak, the manager rests a few players and changes the lineup.

2. He has the league’s leading hitter bat seventh in the lineup.

3. He has the league’s top two hitters bat fifth and sixth.

4. He has the weakest hitter in the lineup lead off.

5. He has batters take called strikes before they are ready to hit.

6. He rests a player after two games when he had five hits.

7. He rests players who are on a hitting rampage and doesn’t rest players who couldn’t hit the water if they fell out off a boat.

There are more, but I am sure the average Dodger fan knows them.

Bob Freedman

Los Osos

Far be it from me to tell Frank McCourt how to spend his money. Yet, one could get the impression that a $14-million yearly investment in a cleanup hitter who is barely surpassing the Mendoza line might be better spent on acquiring an impact player who does more than hit 4-3 groundouts three out of every four at-bats.

Herbert M. Schoenberg

Tarzana

It was a mistake to trade Kevin Brown and get so little in return. It was a mistake not to give Wilson Alvarez a spot in the rotation when the season began. It was a mistake to think Jose Lima deserved even a roster spot. Let’s acknowledge that Ishii and Nomo are struggling badly and it’s time to bolster the rotation with an old friend.

Please put Darren Dreifort back in the rotation (let Weaver pitch long relief). It’s a mistake not to give the guy the chance after all he has been through.

Neil Taylor

Houston

After Tuesday’s loss at Philadelphia, in a game with nine home runs, Dodger Manager Jim Tracy called many of the opposition’s homers “questionable,” referring to the new stadium’s propensity for the long ball. Give me a break, Jim. Isn’t the stadium the same for both teams?

Jack Wolf

Westwood

I can’t understand the Dodgers’ latest roster move. The Yankees, of all teams, need a starting pitcher, and they get Tanyon Sturtze from the Dodgers’ farm team. The Dodger GM even spun the trade as a grand gesture to give Sturtze the opportunity to pitch in the majors.

But with all the problems with the Dodgers’ pitching staff, why isn’t Sturtze pitching here?

Michael Horowicz

Sherman Oaks

How long before Jim Tracy considers shuffling his lineup?

Since he won’t or isn’t able to make the call, I’ll do it for him: swap Beltre and Green in the batting order, move Encarnacion up and drop Bradley into the sixth spot.

Baseball in October doesn’t happen by chance, and right now the Dodgers have that deer-in-the-headlights look.

Adam Wayne

Los Angeles