19th Hole: The Readers Take Over

GUERRERO AND MATES
Sir:
Thank you for Jim Kaplan's cover story on Pedro Guerrero and the Dodgers (A Bolt Out Of The Dodger Blue, Aug. 5). No other player in the National League has contributed as much to his team's success as Pedro has.
BOB LINDQUIST
Los Olivos, Calif.

Sir:
Hooray for the Dodger surge, and thanks to Pedro Guerrero, Fernando Valenzuela, Orel Hershiser IV & Co. However, after Pedro's performance at third base last year, how could Tommy Lasorda even have considered putting him there again? Tommy the Wizard has had many victories as a Dodger manager because when he took over on Sept. 29, 1976 he inherited a talented team—in '74 the Dodgers won the pennant, and in '75 and '76 they finished second to the Big Red Machine.

Here are some other great Lasorda moves: In 1977 Tommy John, ace 20-game winner, had only one World Series start; the Dodgers lost the Series. In 1980, in a one-game division playoff against the Astros, seldom-used and never-effective Dave Goltz started and was bombed; the Dodgers lost the division title. In 1982 Valenzuela was given the hook in three late-inning tie ball games, including the last game of the season; the Dodgers lost all three of them and the division title by one game.

I could go on, but enough is enough.
DENNY MO SEATON
Hillsboro, Ill.

Sir:
With your recent cover stories on Fernando Valenzuela (July 8), Howie Long (July 22) and Pedro Guerrero, we Westerners are going to have to quiet our claims for a while that SI has an East Coast sports bias. However, I have one question about your picture in the Guerrero article on page 18. How was it that home plate umpire Bruce Froemming was calling Steve Sax out at third base? Where was the third base umpire? Whatever the circumstances, it certainly shows that Sax wasn't the only one hustling on that play.
ERIC ALTSHULE
Encino, Calif.

•Third base ump Dana DeMuth had gone down the leftfield line to check on fan interference, and Froemming was covering third.—ED.

Sir:
My friend and I have been trying to figure out which ball park Fernando Valenzuela is pitching in on your July 8 cover. I say it's Shea Stadium in New York. My friend says it's San Diego/Jack Murphy Stadium. Would you please tell us who's right?
KRIS LUSSIER
Waltham, Mass.

•You are.—ED.

Sir:
Granted, the Dodgers have been playing well, but two covers in less than a month? Come on. Your cover decisions have left me blue all right, but not Dodger Blue.
KEITH DOADES
Vincennes, Ind.

WATER VIEW
Sir:
Being one of the nation's 18 million water skiers, I was thrilled to read Jack Falla's article on Sammy and Camille Duvall (Wild, Wet And Wondrous, Aug. 5). These two pro champions are an inspiration and an asset to the sport. Thanks for letting everyone know that being all wet is definitely all right.
CHARLES GREEN
Columbia, S.C.