Earlier this week we published several letters about the Houston Astros cheating scandal, a sordid episode in baseball history that taints the team’s 2017 World Series win against the Dodgers. One of those letters had a novel take: “The cheat culture of President Trump now includes even the great American pastime.”

Some readers wrote to express sharp disagreement with the letter and disappointment in the L.A. Times for publishing it. This wasn’t the only submission that compared the win-at-all-costs Astros to Trump, and as the editor who decides what letters get published I’m always on the lookout for unconventional but not beyond-the-pale opinions on familiar topics. To me, the letter was fair game for print.

Many readers disagreed. Here is what some of them said.

Paul Zimmelman of Marina del Rey lumps the L.A. Times in with other societal ills:


The letter linking Trump to the Astros cheating scandal represents the level of your editors’ derangement and delusion. Like or hate Trump, the Astros are solely responsible for their cheating.

For what else will Trump be blamed? Our streets are third-world quality. Our sidewalks are blocked by encampments. Heath insurance premiums continue to rise. And, our once-respected newspaper ignores or under-reports these problems and has become the print version of MSNBC.

Thousand Oaks resident John Moran wants us to acknowledge Trump’s accomplishments:

A writer blames the president for baseball’s cheating scandal and the Senate majority leader for using precedent in a Supreme Court selection. Perhaps these people are responsible for all wrongdoing.


The L.A. Times frequently spews forth ridiculous anti-Trump letters and commentary. There is so much that this president has accomplished in a short time, but no credit is provided.

Meanwhile, I anticipate more nonsense written about the president from nonsensical authors championed by the L.A. Times.

Richard Austen of Los Angeles points out that baseball has long had a cheating culture:

Letters section space is given to a complaining Dodgers fan who believes Trump is somehow responsible for the actions of the cheating Astros.


Cheating in baseball has been a fact since long before Trump took office, but now he is responsible for ills present and past? The biggest names and teams have been caught cheating, which appears to be part of the game.

But let’s blame someone, so L.A. Times publishes a letter that fingers Trump.

Jeff Pressman of Bell Canyon diagnoses Trump Derangement Syndrome:

Just to prove that TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome) is really a thing, I refer to the letter writer who was trying to blame the Astros cheating scandal on Trump.


Per the writer, any alleged dishonesty by the president, his cabinet and his supporters has taken away the ability of adults to tell the difference between right and wrong. Ridiculous.