Letters

Baseball will persevere no matter how many people attempt to ruin it.
BETHANY NELSON, SEBASTOPOL, CALIF.

Baseball
Tom Verducci's article was a breath of fresh air (The Play's the Thing, July 10). The business of baseball is warped, but viewing the game from the front row of the rightfield short porch at Tiger Stadium on a cool weekday evening will assure anyone that all is well in this best of all possible baseball worlds.
DAVID KOENIG, Westland, Mich.

It was refreshing to read about some of the good things that are happening in baseball this season. One month before the strike began last summer, I was returning home from watching my favorite team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, play and was involved in a car accident that left me paralyzed from the chest down. I recently left the hospital and was invited to throw out the first pitch at a Pirate game. The whole organization treated me like a king, and I will always remain a fan because of this. Baseball has won me back.
BOBBY MUELLER, Bothell, Wash.

Tom Verducci seems to know how I feel about baseball this year. I want baseball, but I'm not going to be fooled by the owners' and players' transparent attempts to appease the fans. Nothing can make up for what was lost last year. Until something is done about the rampant greed on both sides, I'm just not interested.
NICOLE NETTER, Lake Bluff, Ill.

Verducci's article reflects the same arrogant attitude that prevails among players and owners who think that fans like me are staying away from the ballpark but are actually watching games and checking the box scores when we think no one is looking. Only a new labor agreement and a neutral commissioner would cause me to consider returning to the game I once loved.
DENTON WOODWARD, Williamsburg, Va.

After reading the article, I realized how thoughtless we fans have been for avoiding major league games. We can only hope that the poor victimized owners and players will find it in their hearts to allow us to shell out hard-earned money to witness any games they decide to play between labor disputes in shortened seasons that amount to nothing.
THOMAS M. ENRIGHT, Chicago

They ruined a season, causing possible records to be lost forever. They give us a 144-game schedule and the possibility of a lockout or a strike that would preclude this year's World Series. Sorry, guys, it just doesn't cut it.
RICHARD WRIGHT, Jupiter, Fla.

I am appalled that you would arrogantly criticize the fans, of all people, for their strike. Fans appreciate the game of baseball, not the business of baseball.
DAN SIEGEL, Phoenix

The fans' only real voice in how the game is run is through the attendance total.
MARK ARNIOLA, Alameda, Calif.

You don't get it. We're not coming back. Baseball gave us a chance to find out what life would be like without it—and life without baseball is damned good.
KERRY D. MARSHALL, Indianapolis