Love Letters: No quiet in the peanut gallery ...

Insider | Short Hops | Love Letters

Updated Sept. 28

Are they booing, or simply chanting "A-Rod, A-Rod" ...

From: Tracy Harris

Re: Bull Pennings

Your opinion is pathetic. The man (Alex Rodriguez) is sensitive in a non-sensitive environment and guys like you just egg him on to say more crap, so you can justify your job and write more crap. I think he is playing you and all the media. Why should he give a crap about you, he is a gazillion-aire and you wannabe one.

Hate to break it to you, but you're the one writing crap. In fact, you wrote it three times.

From: Jeff S.

Mr. Miller,

Enjoyed your article about A-Rod, and Doug Mirabelli, etc. It's nice to read someone's summation of the goings on in MLB without the mean-spirited attitude of other writers. You give more info than opinion and let the reader make up his/her own mind.

I'm going to hook you up with Tracy Harris so you can get that mind right, capiche?

From: Paul

You are a joke. If Alex Rodriguez would care more about his own numbers than winning, why would he agreeably oblige to moving his position from a shortstop to a third baseman in order to be agreeable to a team?

Because he was losing in Texas, was desperate to win and figured he'd worry about the rest later. And still no World Series ring.

From: Larry

Wow, your comments on A-Rod couldn't be more off the mark. Isn't it clear that A-Rod's point in mentioning his teammates' previous struggles is that despite being great players, they all experienced slumps too. He wasn't taking a shot at Reggie, just saying that if an all-time great Yankee can have a bad season and get a pass from the wrath of the press, then perhaps the maybe media should consider forgiving his temporary struggles, too. A professional writer such as yourself should have picked up on the intent of the comments much more easily than a fan like myself.

Problem is, I'm right and you're wrong in your interpretation. You don't start going down a laundry list of your teammates' problems -- that's just clumsy (A-Clod?) and a battle you're never going to win. And what's he doing having memorized those guys' negative stats, anyway?

From: Mike Scruggs

Scott,

I am a big Yankees fan, but I have to agree with you when it comes to A-Rod. Obviously, making a huge sum of money does not give you a huge amount of common sense. Anyway, I enjoyed the article and I hope the Yanks can come through this October.

I have a feeling they will.

From: Ronny

Re: Love Letters

It's a waste of time trying to talk these right-wing psychos like Wayne Talley. These people are so brainwashed or they just lie so much I think they actually believe themselves these days. Keep rocking out those articles, Scott!!

It's a little of both. Then it becomes impossible to tell the difference.

From: Ryan Earle

Re: Insider: Gibbons works to hold temper, job with Blue Jays

Good article on John Gibbons. As a Blue Jays fan who follows the team closely, I feel that these two incidents portray John Gibbons as a much different guy in the media than I've viewed him as in the past 2½ years. To me he seems like most of the time he's a very laid back guy, despite these two incidents, and his propensity to get kicked out of games. I think the only reason these things happen occasionally is because he cares about winning. I have never seen him ever get mad at anyone but Lilly, Hillenbrand and umpires. It's good to see someone do research and take the time to find out what things are really like.

Research can be vastly underrated, can't it?

From: Glen

Was that Trevor Hoffman giving up two dingers in the supposed "greatest comeback ever"? I can't recall AC/DC ever giving up dingers like that. Is that what you meant by relevance?

How many times a day are you listening to Back in Black, bud? Do you ever get outside? Listen to the birds? Smell the flowers? Kiss a girl?

From: Alice

Re: Story of Gonzo coming to an end in Arizona

Thank you for the lovely things you wrote about Luis Gonzalez. I have printed off a copy for my Arizona Diamondbacks scrapbook from the magical 2001 season to now. I will miss Gonzo more than words can say. Thanks again. Alice

You're not in the minority there, Alice.

From: David

If Gonzo wanted to finish his career in Arizona, why didn't he offer to come back for less money instead of leaving the team hamstrung with a $10 million salary for next year? The D-backs can get a lot of pitching for that kind of money. I think it's the players who initiated all of this with free agency, did they not.

Uh, I think it was the club that initiated this one by extending this contract in the first place.

From: Eric

Joe Mauer an "unlikely" possible batting title champion? Do you watch baseball much, Scott? First overall pick, much-heralded swing, raked the ball at all levels in the minors. But yeah, nobody expected him to be a good hitter. Good call.

Do you read much, Eric? I wrote a long piece on him back in June covering all of the subjects you listed. Unlikely, he still is, because a catcher has NEVER won an AL batting title, winning one is so difficult to do and with Mauer never having done it before, I can think of other more fitting words than "unlikely."

From: Tiffani Gulbransen

Re: Hoffman's work ethic sets stage for success

Maybe I am biased because I am a Padres fan, but your article was a nice change of pace. I don't feel that Trevor Hoffman gets the respect he deserves. He conducts himself with the utmost of class on and off the field. He has never been out for himself and it has always been a team effort. Thank you for pointing that out to those who may not know.

My pleasure, Tiff. He's a class act.

From: Alden Thomas

You are truly obtuse. Do you really think it is better to allow "reporters" (read: authors) the ability to mock the grand jury system by repeating verbatim according to the court that is going to send them to jail than to allow them the right to make untold millions from their inquest. I make no bones about the fact that the only people on the planet who believe that Barry Bonds is innocent are those still believing in Santa, the Easter Bunny and O.J.'s innocence. The fact still remains, these reporters took grand jury testimony and published it for profit. And I am sure they haven't targeted anyone else as that would not sell, so I am sure that it is all about Barry but then "journalists" would never "use" their position. So they should and will (hopefully) pay a small price.

Obtuse? I would think if that word is in your vocabulary, you should be very familiar with the First Amendment and freedom of the press, my friend. Were Woodward and Bernstein investigating Watergate in this current climate, they would have been in jail before finishing their task, and Nixon would have continued with a free pass to abuse power. Journalism at its best shines light into shady areas. Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams have done an incredible public service: Hundreds of kids and young adults have died of steroid use, and their investigative reporting has undoubtedly has helped prevent other such tragedies through education. We need a federal shield law for reporters in the worst way, because right now, when people like Fainaru-Wada and Williams are threatened with jail for doing their jobs, that's just one more civil liberty we once had that is being stripped away.

From: Jeff Miller

Your articles are far and away the best of BS, and are as good as there are anywhere. Kudos. All sportswriters should learn a lesson from you -- keep it real, and that means skip the same old bull----.

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "best of BS," but I think I'll take it. And I should point out, Jeff Miller and the author are in no way related.