He Won’t Let Claire Get Away With This

A few days ago, General Manager Fred Claire compared his punchless Dodgers to the ‘60s teams, World Series winners on the arms of Koufax and Drysdale. Really.

Well, applying the crafty former publicist’s if-it-looks-like-a-duck logic, then Claire, with two arms and two legs, must be the Braves’ or Indians’ general manager, as they’re both middle-aged Caucasian males. Right, Fred?

The maddening fact is, if Claire was in any comparable senior management position (stewarding such a valuable brand name as the Dodgers) with his .500 record, or if he was a player with comparable statistics, he’d be looking for employment. For nearly a decade, but for the miracle of ‘88, Claire’s teams have played dull, mediocre baseball. Plainly the product isn’t worthy of the continued, outstanding fan support. The question is why the owner accepts this level of performance.

ROBERT COLLECTOR

Studio City