Readers sound off on a Mets legend, air pollution and Mike Pence’s religion – The Denver Post

An indelible memory of original Met Roger Craig

Staten Island: When I heard on June 4 that former New York Met and legendary manager and pitching coach Roger Craig passed away, I thought of a night almost 60 years earlier. Craig had lost 18 games in a row, pitching for a very poorly hitting Mets ball club. His plan on Aug. 9, 1963 was to break the hex by changing his uniform number from 38 to 13.

The game, in the ancient Polo Grounds, went to the bottom of the ninth with the Mets and Chicago Cubs tied 3-3. Improbably, the Mets put runners on second and third with two outs. Joe Hicks had singled and Al Moran, with a batting average of .198, doubled behind him. Manager Casey Stengel called up pinch hitter Tim Harkness to bat for Craig. If the run did not score, Craig would be out of the game and his chance for the historic victory would vanish.

Harkness was walked intentionally, bringing up leadoff hitter Jim Hickman (famously immortalized in our very first Gold’s Horseradish Mets program ad). However, this time, Hickman hit a pop fly to left field that future Hall of Famer Billy Williams camped under. But the Mets were lucky — one of the quirks of the Polo Grounds was a left-field scoreboard that hung over the lower deck. On its downward path, the ball grazed the scoreboard and the impending pop out became a grand slam. The result: a 7-3 Mets victory. The losing streak ended and Craig improved his record to 3-20. His good fortune continued as he performed at a .500 clip the rest of the way, ending the season at 5-22. Marc Gold

No laughing matter

Queens Village: Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the “Hagar the Horrible” comic strip. He is a lovable oaf who enjoys ransacking castles and brawling with his rivals. But with shoplifting becoming so rampant in our society, you have him joyfully shoplifting from a newly opened clothing store! Does it really set a good example, especially with our youth? Lawrence Krasner

Cover for crime

Clearwater, Fla.: Just when most thought that we were finished with masks, here we go again. And just when NYC thought that crime was at its worst — watch out for the masked bandit. Criminals will no doubt find the silver lining in the dark cloud of air pollution coming from Canadian wildfires. As people take precaution under hazardous conditions, don’t let the smoke get in your eyes. Crime is likely to rise. JoAnn Lee Frank

Schools in session

Pearl River, N.Y.: So the wonderful and wise Mayor Adams declares a crisis due to the smoke from the wildfires in Canada. Owners stop all sports games and ticket sales for future events. The mayor canceled all public gatherings but public schools stayed open on Tuesday and Wednesday. If anyone ever had a doubt that the city government and the teachers union only care about money, let this be a wake-up call. Our precious children, the future of this once-great country, are put at risk due to these idiots again. Robert Brennan

Locked in

Glendale: As the city goes full speed ahead with its flawed (insane) plan to close Rikers Island at a cost of about $8 billion, the taxpayers of the city continue to get shafted. As reported by the Daily News, about 10,000 preschoolers were denied legally required special education services while the city continues to go forward with its plan. Our inmates are more important than our children. Thomas Murawski

Leave it be

Rural Retreat, Va.: In 1961, my mother gave $5,000 to Blauvelt, N.Y. to buy the property to honor my grandfather Joseph Perlman that is now the Blauvelt Free Library. Her name and my grandfather’s are nowhere to be found in the library’s history. Yet your state senators want to waste time and money to rename a bridge out of spite for fear that Andrew Cuomo will rise to power again. New York is being run into the ground. It took seven years to think about what to name the bridge. Why now make a mockery out of a popular three-term governor whose widow is still alive? The remnants of the Tappan Zee Bridge make an artificial reef in the Hudson River. That is a good place for an old bridge to rest. Why don’t you make a park around that reef and name it the Tappan Zee Bridge Park? Therefore, all is solved. Kathleen (Loewy Perlman) Cobbs

Migrant wave

Barryville, N.Y.: To Voicer Kevin John Carroll: That big ethnic group populating the entire U.S., of which you are presumably a member, is not a drink called Scotch whisky. Scots-Irish Americans are descendants of Scots who lived in Northern Ireland for two or three generations but retained their Scottish character. The peak periods of Scots-Irish migration to America occurred between 1718 and 1774. More than 250,000 people came in total — far greater numbers than the Pilgrims, Puritans and Quakers who came before them. John Tomlinson

Undue expense

Armonk, N.Y.: The citizens of the United States are being forced into a rob-Peter-to-pay-Paul scenario by people from Third World countries storming across the border and seeking “asylum” in one way or another. Sorry to say, but we should not have to do this — robarle a Pedro para pagarle a Pablo. Gary Miller

Flight risk

Sayville, L.I.: Cut this out and hang it on your fridge door: Within two to three years, maybe sooner, Trump will flee the country to avoid jail. Lots of choices, like Russia, Dubai, Saudi Arabia — even a country on his s-hole list if he has the need. He will not go to a country that is now authoritarian, but was democratic and may flip back. It has to be a pretty sure thing. He needs to be watched to be sure he doesn’t flee. Like Hitler in retreat ordering Paris burned to the ground, Trump in exile can and will do much damage to the U.S. He literally is every ugly human trait rolled into one person. Even Hitler had a dog he was fond of. Trump has nothing but himself. Michael Hooker

For shame

Staten Island: When Trump finally goes to jail, what will be embarrassing is not that a former president has gone to jail for the first time, but that so many Americans were so easily fooled and voted for a criminal to be our president. Michael Rosenkrantz

Theocratic oath

Brooklyn: I just listened to Mike Pence announce his campaign for pope — er, priest — um, religious leader. I mean, wow! From his point of view, every right listed in the Constitution is a “God-given right.” He told us he is a Christian first, a conservative second and a Republican third. Well, that’s very nice, but we don’t (or shouldn’t) elect religious leaders in this country. It’s like he’s forgotten the last phrase of the Constitution’s Article VI: “No religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” While he wasn’t saying his Christianity is required to be president, he certainly made me — not a Christian — feel like I won’t be welcome in his United States. A Christian President Pence would not be hidden by the masking effect that Vice President Pence had in Grifter-in-Chief Trump’s shadow. Ian Randal Strock

Salvation pitch

Fort Lauderdale, Fla.: Most people are bound by a ball and chain for eternal punishment and don’t realize it. These balls and chains are spiritual and illustrate the lost condition of their souls. They are chained to their sins, which are revealed in the Ten Commandments. This keeps them separated from God (Isa. 59:2). Unless released, their end is the eternal lake of fire (Rev. 21:8). The only way they can be set free is through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ that paid the penalty for their sins. Their release is effected upon faith in Him and repentance of their sins. Only Christ can remove the ball and chain that holds them captive to sin: “In Him, we have redemption, through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Eph. 1:7). In Christ, eternal punishment is canceled and eternal life in Him begins. Jim Black

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