Letters

Split Opinion

After waiting 28 years for the Phillies to win another World Series, I eagerly anticipated this week's SI, only to find that while people in the Northeast got a Phillies cover, the rest of us got a cover reflecting the NFL midseason report. I'm glad that just because I don't live in the Northeast, I wasn't prevented from downloading Harry Kalas's call of the final out of Game 5 as my new ringtone.
Sue Berger, Myrtle Beach, S.C.

As a loyal Phillies fan I did stay up until 1:47 a.m. to watch the end of Game 3, but I would not do that for any other team. So I see why there were fewer fans watching (Phillies Win! Why They Deserved Better, Nov. 10). Jimmy Rollins promised that the Phillies will do it again next year. I hope so, but I also hope changes are made to the Series before then.
Mary Jane Moser, Scotia, N.Y.

Here's a way to spice up the Series: dump the network announcing team and have a radio or television commentator from each team's home city call the games together.
Joe Gloski, Framingham, Mass.

If Major League Baseball and Fox want to avoid a ratings disaster every time the Yankees or the Red Sox aren't playing in the World Series, perhaps they should consider showing some teams other than the Yankees and the Red Sox on national television during the regular season. When you put all your chips on two ball clubs, you'd better be prepared to lose a lot more often than you win.
Travis Conrads, San Diego

I liked Tom Verducci's idea of limiting warmup time for a new pitcher. Now how about limiting the time between pitches. You could go to the john and wash your car between Jonathan Papelbon's pitches.
Brian Belyea, Ithaca, N.Y.

As an East Coast baseball fan, I want to be proactive in defending Verducci's request for earlier World Series starting times, at the expense of the "14% of the population that lives in the western time zone." It's clearly better that one segment miss the beginning of the game than having another part miss the end.
Brian Gordon, Oxford, Conn.

Winning Isn't Everything

In the poll asking NFL players which coach they would least like to play for (PLAYERS, Nov. 10), the top three vote-getters have seven Super Bowl rings combined over the last seven years (one for Tom Coughlin, three for Bill Belichick and three for Eric Mangini as an assistant). Looks as if these players have concerns other than winning ball games.
Sebastian Muscarella, Raleigh

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