19th Hole: The Readers Take Over

Phil Wrigley stubbornly insists on keeping his no-manager system, yet the players need a hard-driving dictator who is out to win at all costs, not a bunch of coaches who individually hope the "coach of the hour" will falter so one of them may take over. Wrigley is still against night baseball, which must be had to allow more fans to attend the games and inspire those young kids to victory. I say that Wrigley should sell the club to a practical, win-or-else-type owner, who devotes his time to the Cubs and not to selling chewing gum.
MIKE KROICHICK
Chicago

Sirs:
I believe that Mr. Wrigley's coaching system is working. Evidence of this is found in the boxed statistics of BASEBALL'S WEEK in this same issue. Of the 13 classifications in which you listed the top rookie in each league, the Cubs had the best in seven. Now what could have happened to those other nine teams, five of whom did not lead in any class, with just one manager? The coaching system is not a Maris or Mays, but it does help.

Maybe the whole problem is that Robert Boyle is just jealous because Ernie Banks did not give him a pack of Wrigley's gum.
BARRY KOLB
Louisville, Ky.

? Ernie Banks did give him a pack of Wrigley's gum—maybe the wrong flavor.—ED.

PICKING ON MANNY
Sirs:
In BASEBALL'S WEEK (Aug. 6) I read a very compact account of Kansas City Owner Charles O. Finley's biggest boner to date. It seems that Mr. Finley is dissatisfied with the sloppy performance of KC Rookie Manny Jimenez. (After all, he is only second in the AL in batting with 55 RBIs to boot.) To be precise, Finley doesn't think Jimenez hits enough homers. This is like saying Nelson Rockefeller isn't worth anything simply because he doesn't have many nickels. However, Mr. Finley is no fool; he has heard tales from the Big City of fans paying out tons of good money to see a few muscle-bound oafs pound baseballs into the next county. He would like a cut of that. But it is a shame he must pick on Manny. If he can't leave the managing to the manager he should trade Jimenez. I'm sure the other clubs would take him as is.
DAN WICKS
Northport, Ala.

Sirs:
It is obvious to those of only average intelligence that Jimenez is not a power hitter. He possesses one of the most sought-after skills in baseball: that of hitting the ball where it is pitched (which is conducive to a high batting average). Jimenez is one of the few bright spots on the Kansas City baseball scene.

Finley has expressed his desire to move the A's to the Dallas- Fort Worth area. Perhaps he should stop trying to stifle fan interest and attempt to build the ball club that the loyal fans of Kansas City deserve.
JAMES I. HUNTER
Omaha

PSEUDO GRUNTS
Sirs:
I would like to come to the defense of Daniel Ronald Hoffman's letter (19TH HOLE, July 23) which was blasted as "Debunked Debauchery" (19TH HOLE, Aug. 6). I am in complete agreement with Mr. Hoffman. Golf, fishing, bowling, baseball, sailing, etc. are nonathletic sports.

As an example of your "worship of pseudosports," I refer to your recent series of photographs captioned Golf is a Violent Game (July 23). You speak of golf as "an almost shocking display of brute force," as "strenuous," as "not-so-gentle activity," etc.

Golf is a pleasant and popular game enjoyed by millions of players and spectators. Yet not even the most avid golfers will tell you that the game is violent. Only SPORTS ILLUSTRATED could make such a statement. In doing so, you have lost all sense of perspective in not distinguishing between athletic and nonathletic sports.