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Letters to the Editor: Dodger fans can’t whine about cheating when their stadium sits on stolen land

A family is evicted from their Chavez Ravine home on May 8, 1959, in advance of Dodger Stadium construction.
(Regional History Center)
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To the editor: I have had it with some of the Dodger faithful demanding that their team be awarded the 2017 World Series title because the Houston Astros cheated. Nothing in life is guaranteed, even if you take away one team’s ability to cheat.

But if we want to talk about cheating, let’s go back to before 1962 and revisit the land grab by the city of Los Angeles so the Dodgers could build their stadium.

The land on which Dodger Stadium and the surrounding parking lot sit was cleared because the city cheated people out of their homes. There are pictures of young men being dragged out of their homes by police and mothers being arrested as their young children look on. When the last member of a family was thrown out the door, the bulldozers would move in.

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I believe that cheating scandal trumps every argument for the Dodgers deserving anything, let alone an unearned World Series championship. Past misdeeds have a way of coming back to haunt us.

Homer Alba, Glendale

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To the editor: In writing about the Astros cheating scandal, the L.A. Times Editorial Board notes that Major League Baseball says it “doesn’t have the capacity to hold [individual] cheaters accountable.” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said, “It is impractical, given the number of players involved.”

It isn’t capacity that the league lacks, it is integrity.

Is doing the right thing required only when it is practical or convenient? Is this the lesson that, say, the U.S. Senate should take away from Major League Baseball?

There is no joy in Mudville.

Bart Braverman, Indio

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