Letters to Sports: Dodgers should stop buying stars and start growing them

People seem to forget that Sandy Koufax was a less than .500 pitcher, going 36-40 from 1955 to 1960. River Ryan, Justin Wrobkeski and Bobby Miller may one day form a dominant nucleus of the Dodger rotation. The whole emphasis on “win now” has produced only four Rookie of Year awards in the last 29 years despite a highly rated farm system. It’s time to stop buying stars of the present at the expense of dimming our home grown stars of the future.

Bill Waxman
Simi Valley

This past Tuesday I sat down to watch the Dodgers-Padres series opener, knowing that it was a big momentum game. I was heartened but not complacent when the Dodgers scored five in the first inning. When the lead slipped to 5-3 I was nervous, but they held it to the dreaded ninth. And then came Blake Treinen, who I would like to congratulate for his spot-on imitation of Dino Ebel pitching in Arlington to Teoscar Hernandez.

Alan Abajian
Alta Loma

Year after year we hold our breath, hoping we can win in the finals. And year after year the Dodgers crumble. This year is looking like all the others. Lousy starting pitchers, and pathetic bullpen. I’m not sure how much more I can take, it’s like Groundhog Day.

Deborah R. Ishida
Beverly Hills