Readers sound off on new MLB rules, NYCHA homes and rewriting Black history – The Denver Post

Don’t shorten baseball games by cheapening them

Flushing: It has become obvious that fans watching the recently construed shortening of Major League Baseball games have become turned off by the new rule speeding up the conclusion of games that have been tied at the end of nine innings. And starting the 10th inning by placing a player of the offensive team on second base before the inning starts is not a legitimate method of bringing the game to an early conclusion.

I suggest that another solution is right before our eyes if we dare to examine prizefighting: If neither fighter has scored a knockout, then at the end of a 10-round boxing match, a point system is invoked to declare the winner. If this is working for boxing, why can’t it work for baseball? The point system would be easy to execute by assigning a 4 for every home run, a 3 for every triple, a 2 for every double and a 1 for every single or walk acquired by the offensive team. The team that has acquired the most points at the end of nine innings would be declared the winner.

Just as there is no need to resort to extra rounds to declare the winner of a prizefight, neither is there a need to shorten a baseball game by the artificial introduction of a player on second base. If such points are tied after nine innings, then go to more innings, but do not place a player on a base he hasn’t earned. It just doesn’t feel right. Saul Grossman

Gone silent

Branchburg, N.J.: Is Bob Raissman, the sports media critic, still contributing to the Daily News? I have not seen his column in weeks. Frank DiBrango

Sidelined fan

Bronx: I’ve been a Yankees fan since 1969. I still am, but I refuse to root for them. I don’t think Hal Steinbrenner has the backbone to fire Brian Cashman, who is a bit too chummy with Aaron Boone. I know many fans don’t like the Astros, but even after losing George Springer and Carlos Correa, they still have that chemistry, sweeping the Yankees in the postseason. If that doesn’t teach them a lesson, what will? Last season, Boone batted Aaron Judge second in the lineup, and even wrote him in to lead off. What manager does that with a power-hitting RBI machine? When the Knicks acquired Carmelo Anthony, I refused to root for them, but when Carmelo left, I did again. Well, when Boone is no longer managing the Yankees, I’ll go back to rooting for them. For now, I’ll sit back and laugh at my fellow Yankees fans’ frustrations. Eric Cummings Jr.

Fouled fashion

Manhattan: I’ve been a Yankees fan since the early ‘60s. No more. The insurance company patch defiling the pinstripes is the final greedy straw. I’m done with baseball. Jim Mosley

Bad branding

Avon-by-the-Sea, N.J.: With the crime, corruption and killings in NYC, it naturally follows that the Subway Series has lost its luster. Robert Stiloski

Gift of good news

Hillsborough, N.J.: It was great to see an enjoyable human interest story in Monday’s edition (“Librarian finds wad of cash in book & ex-cop solves mystery,” June 23). Why not make it a goal to include at least one upbeat story per day in The News so that it retains a little of its Hometown Newspaper image instead of seeming primarily like a daily police blotter? Thanks. Teresa Maj

Make a house a home

Brooklyn: The op-ed “Our NYCHA homes must be rebuilt” (July 23) is very clear about the plans for new NYCHA buildings, with new apartments that have all the amenities of middle-class private homes. As the authors say: “We may live in public housing, but these are also our private homes.” The implication is that the tenants will care for their apartments and invest in them, as if they were privately owned co-op or condo properties. That is great news. If only NYCHA management would allow them the option. Whereas neither NYCHA, nor the U.S. attorneys, nor the local district attorneys, nor the state attorney general have ever committed or acted on the issue of who benefits from the mismanagement of NYCHA facility maintenance, there is little hope that any new funding or construction streams will result in better maintenance. The failure to investigate and/or prosecute means that somebody is benefitting without anyone held accountable. Elliot Neustadter

Federal vs. state

Hammonton, N.J.: The U.S. Department of Justice is suing Texas for trying to enforce our federal immigration laws? We are living the movie “Idiocracy.” William Cook

Pattern of repression

Hartsdale, N.Y.: The recent decision of Florida’s “Education” Department to instruct its students that slaves learned skills that could aid them in gaining employment after getting their freedom merely follows a pattern southern politicians have adopted post-Trump, first removing the Voting Rights Act’s guardrails that repressed Black voters. Then they put into law even more childishly repressive rules around how voters — Black ones, that is — are treated. But all this raises questions not yet asked: Where is the Black voter backlash, which could remove the bigots from their political offices? Where are Latino voters, who may not realize it but are the next target for repression? And when will it be publicized that Florida already ranks 47th in intelligence by Smartest States? Norman E. Gaines Jr.

Disparate oppression

Brooklyn: Voicers Jeff and Joan Ganeles quote Elie Wiesel, who opined, “It’s not the cruelty of the oppressor that hurts the victim, but the silence of the bystanders.” I take Wiesel’s words to heart, though perhaps not in the way that the Ganeles’ intended. Israelis have been oppressing Arabs for more than 70 years, arguably much longer. And not wishing to be a silent bystander, I have spoken out from time to time in the Voice of the People. So, I speak out again now. What is slowly becoming clear to many is that Israel has never been a democracy. It has from the beginning been a theocracy that is fundamentally racist. Columnist Peter Beinart and many others say so, and they have far more impressive résumés than I. Therefore, in light of the latest obnoxious shenanigans of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, I find it very difficult to have much sympathy for what so-called Israeli liberals are going through right now. Israelis demand empathy for themselves but are loath to grant it to others. I hope and pray for the betterment of Palestinians in that deeply troubled region. Nick Smith

Let them fight

Richmond Hill: I do not understand the hubbub about Ukraine using cluster munitions. They are using what is necessary to force godless invaders out of their country. How they do it is their business. Please aim well and good luck. Robert Clolery

He did it all

Hoboken: To Voicer JoAnne Lee Frank, my favorite misguided orange baboon supporter: The reason your demigod is being investigated and charged so much is not that it’s a political witch hunt — a phrase he has burned into the brains of gullible acolytes such as yourself, among others you gobble up like the gospel — but because he is a criminal — before, during and after his presidency. He topped it off by trying to overthrow our government and democracy. Meanwhile, the only witch hunt is the GOP tripping all over themselves to catch Hunter Biden peeing on a tree or something. BTW, we don’t want Trump off the ticket. Him being on it only guarantees victory because the only people stupid enough to keep supporting him are the aforementioned acolytes. He doesn’t have a prayer of holding onto anyone on the fence. But, sure, that’s why they do it. Joe Ewansky

Suddenly useful

Edgewater, N.J.: Last week, vocal Republicans and their members of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability were so proud of their two star whistleblower witnesses, assuring us they’re apolitical actors who are seriously steeped in the technical nuances of their complicated profession — meaning, up until last week, they were just part of the evil deep state. Jay K. Egelberg

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