Dear Editor:
Rey Ordonez, shortstop of the New York Mets, suggests that the fans are stupid and is immediately repudiated by management, fellow players and press because of their firm belief that the average visitor to a ball park is extremely knowledgeable. The consensus of public opinion is resolute in believing that the fans who incidentally consider themselves highly intelligent, have been maligned by Mr. Ordonez.
To arrive at whether this clamor is justified or not, I feel it is essential to review some recent history regarding the relationship between baseball and the fans: Management has been considered courageous on spending large sums of money for free agents while remunerating itself by increasingly higher admission prices and the fans accept this; players have shown a deep concern for preserving the All Star game while preparing to strike a few weeks before World Series time and the fans understand; management has agreed to the dictates of television by scheduling games of the World Series at night to the utter disregard of workers who must rise at an early hour and children who must attend school the following day and the fans tolerate this; players continue to claim that the major reason for their steadfast insistence on escalating contracts is so future players will benefit while virtually closing their eyes to the desperate plights of former players who, unfortunately, are ineligible to reap the gains of the current bonanza and the fans consent to this; the willingness of management to create ever more expansion teams while simultaneously diluting the quality of the players, especially pitchers, thereby generating a travesty of the sport and the fans acquiesce; players, who consider a .275 batting average or a 12-11 pitching record as symbolic of a “quality year” naturally entitling them to at least a five million dollar raise, will consider it an affront to the highest order if asked to accept even a slight reduction in salary following a disastrous performance and the fans continue to applaud them; management which professes to maintain a strict code of conduct commensurate with respect for the dignity of the game while transposing these venerable parks into tawdry honky tonk areas by means of blaring loudspeakers which relegate the game, itself, to the status of an added attraction and the fans endure this; playes self-righteously accepting the mantle of hero which some zealous baseball writer has bestowed upon them after they valiantly singled home the winning run and the fans submit to this; or when a favorite of the people deserts them by signing with another team or when an owner trades a cherished player in order to increase profits, the fan absorbs these indignities stoically.
Indeed, how could Rey Ordonez ever have suggested that the fans are stupid?
Howard Lawson