19th Hole: The Readers Take Over

THE YANKEES (CONT.)
Sirs:
Dr. Schissel has been heard from again (19TH HOLE, June 16). Mr. Woodcock's article to which he refers is to be commended. The point that perfection does not always insure box-office appeal is solid.

Dr. Schissel's suggestion that the Yankees be dispersed among American League teams is no solution. The face of baseball, especially in the American League, has changed. Despite denials from several corners, the Yankee organization has made baseball big business. It incorporates the most efficient business procedures, and the result has been a product so smooth that its consumer appeal has diminished. One might ask, "When is a sport not a sport?" One might answer, "When it is Yankee baseball."

The other teams in the American League will have to accept the standards set by the Yankees and rise to them. Only the naive assume that baseball is to be anything but a business proposition for the men who finance it. If they are to avoid bankruptcy as far as pennants and World Series are concerned, they have no other choice. The Yankees have built an empire. It was not built in a day, as goes the clich�.

There are many people who are bored with Yankee victories year after year, but they are not people who write letters to editors. Isn't there anyone in the New York area who believes that there is something wrong in a sport when the competition results in a struggle for second place because first place—over the long season—is awarded to the same team each season, even before the season has started?
ELIZABETH L. DERR
Mt. Vision, N.Y.

Sirs:
Let's be sensible. Dr. Schissel's idea of breaking up the Yankees is ridiculous. To be sure, the Yankees have been ahead in the final standings for the last several years, but why break up a great team? Let the other teams in the American League rise to the occasion.
JOHN GENDLER
Albert Lea, Minn.

Sirs:
The Tigers don't need Kubek from the Yankees, they need George Weiss! Detroit has been operating without a major league general manager since 1945.

Let's break up New York, but be sure the purring Tigers get Weiss. The hell with Mantle, Turley, etc. We want Weiss! We need Weiss.
PETE FREDERICK
Houghton Lake, Mich.

Sirs:
If you must break up our Yankees, please at least leave us just Casey to talk to.
DICK DART
Peterborough, N.H.

O'MALLEY'S HIT PARADE
Sirs:
Here's a bit of verse, a parody of the current pop hit, that is making the round of the L.A. environs these days. Hope your readers enjoy it.

ODE TO O'MALLEY