Juan for President, or Mayor
Sir: A superb cover story on Juan Marichal [June 10]. Bat-swinging incidents and beanballs are unpleasant but real phenomena of baseball. Any one incident, such as the Marichal-Roseboro affair, will not live long in anyone's memory. The memory that will linger is that at one time Juan Marichal was indeed "the best right arm in baseball."
NICHOLAS R. LANG Staten Island, N.Y.
Sir: A basic component of greatness in baseball is longevity. Juan Marichal's skillful assortment of pitches and love of the game ensure his being a 20-game winner for at least another decade. He may not be President of the Dominican Republic by then, but being the mayor of San Francisco isn't so bad.
ALLEN GROSNICK Springfield, Mass.
Sir: It's about time someone recognized the "real" Juan. As a native of Santa Cruz, Calif., I am a faithful Giant fan and arch Dodger foe. They can have their $130,000 Koufax. We've got Willie and Juan, and that's all it takes.
DAL A. COTTRELL Allendale, N.J.
Sir: A pitcher must be judged not by the number of different pitches in his repertoire, but by his effectiveness, particularly in "clutch" situations. Sandy has no peer in this department today; it is unlikely that there has ever been anyone to match him on that score. Nor is it fair to state that Koufax gets his "kicks out of setting strikeout records," any more than it would be fair to say Joe Louis got his kicks out of knocking opponents down. Marichal is a fine pitcher, but Koufax is a living legend.
VICTOR H. BLANK Woonsocket, R.I.
Voices from the Foxholes
Sir: As I finished reading about the frustrations and inconveniences visited upon the poor students facing the draft [June 3], I received the news of the death in Viet Nam of my nephew, Lance Corporal Philip Dorn of the Marines. No one had to twist his arm to get him to go and help out in the job he knew had to be done. He and the thousands like him who have enlisted have made possible the deferment of many students who are using someone else's future to educate themselves. I wouldn't trade one of the memories I have of my nephew for the whole, smug, overeducated carcass of one of these bearded, unbathed louts who are infesting our colleges and using them as a haven for their cowardice or as a sounding board for Red propaganda.
VICTOR DORN Shrewsbury, N.J.
Sir: Perhaps those students who 25 years ago "tramped off to the Post Office to enlist en masse" were of a different breed than the Class of '66. If that is so, I am ashamed to be a member of the present generation.
BARRY F. WESTFALL 1st Lieutenant, U.S.M.C.R. Phu Bai, South Viet Nam
Sir: As I prepare to go on an operation against "the enemy I don't know," I would like to know one thing: When will these college boys become men? They sound like a bunch of girls with growing pains.
(L. CPL.) JOHN K. MCDERMOTT Hue, South Viet Nam