19TH HOLE: THE READERS TAKE OVER

ARTIFICIAL TURF
Sir:
I'm glad to see someone finally point out the evils of artificial turf (The Tyranny of Phony Fields, et seq., Aug. 12). It is hard to believe that team owners would pay millions for a player just to ruin him on an artificial surface. It's like buying a thoroughbred racehorse and running it on a concrete track; it isn't natural or humane.
RUSSELL M. BAGGETT
Pensacola, Fla.

Sir:
I believe all artificial turf should be torn up and all domed stadiums torn down. Baseball should be played under the sun, and dirty, grass-stained uniforms should be a part of every game. Football is meant to be played outside where teams must compete in snow, cold and mud, as well as against each other. Here's some advice to any future franchise owners: Bring back grass. If you want a hard, convenient surface and indoor facilities, buy a basketball team.
WES CROY
Trenton, Mo.

Sir:
Hooray for your article on artificial turf! It's about time somebody with a big voice stood up and said the emperor is not wearing any clothes.
TIM CHAMPLIN
Nashville

Sir:
I'll never forget the feeling of that "fuzzy concrete." Our Bucknell squad was playing at Cornell in the late '70s. During pregame warmups, the carpet ripped a large patch of skin off my elbow. I couldn't believe it. It felt like I'd been attacked by a belt sander. It was the first time I was happy to be a reserve.
WILLIAM G. DUNN
Clinton, Conn.

Sir:
When you have nothing to write about, reduce the size of the magazine and forget it. Don't bore us to death with 21 pages on turf. Twenty-one pages on a two-page subject is a bit much!
H. LLOYD TAYLOR
Wilmington, Del.

TONY'S COVER
Sir:
Tom Seaver wins his 300th game on the same day that Rod Carew gets his 3,000th hit, and you put Tony Dorsett on the Aug. 12 cover because he has financial problems. Give me a break.
DAVE ALM
Chicago

Sir:
Was it just my copy, or did the Tom Seaver cover photo of everyone's Aug. 12 issue appear on pages 14 and 15?
DAN DI GIORGIO
Old Bridge, N.J.

Sir:
As one of the 54,032 fans in attendance at Yankee Stadium for Tom Seaver's 300th career victory, I can state without reservation that Craig Neff's article (Tom Takes A Giant Step) captures the excitement and emotion of the moment.

Together with Rod Carew's 3,000th hit, Seaver's feat made that Sunday a remarkable day in the history of baseball. Such achievements have been accomplished by only 17 (300 wins) and 16 (3,000 hits) players, respectively, and never by two men on the same day!

It was therefore disappointing that you did not celebrate these milestones on your cover. I happen to be a Dallas Cowboy and Tony Dorsett fan, but I would rather see TD's picture when he is running over the Washington Redskins, not when he is displacing Seaver and Carew.
ARTHUR J. MOLINS
Flushing, N.Y.

Sir:
I was very happy to read Rod Reels In His 3,000th Hit by Bruce Anderson. Rod Carew is simply the best.

For as long as I can remember, Carew has been my idol. He has established himself as the game's best hitter over his brilliant 18½-year career. A lifetime average of .328, seven American League batting titles and now 3,000-plus hits is proof enough. But throughout his career, Carew has not been given the recognition that he so richly deserves. For whatever reason, his accomplishments have been overlooked by baseball fans and the media.
PAUL KRATZKE
Wabasso, Minn.

DORSETT'S DILEMMA
Sir:
I am making less than $20,000 a year take-home pay and working part-time so I can buy a home for my wife and two children. I have not filed for bankruptcy, I pay my bills on time, have no tax shelters and cannot have my military contract renegotiated. In short, I have no sympathy for the Tony Dorsetts (Thrown For Some Big Losses) and Harvey Martins who are making the big bucks. I sincerely hope that in the future you will stop filling up the pages with this trash.
HARRY C. JONES
Master Sgt., USAF
Fort Rucker, Ala.

REPORT CARD
Sir:
William Oscar Johnson is correct that the Moses Brown School field house is the site of the first synthetic turf, put down in 1964. The school predates the turf just a bit, however, being 201 years old, not the stated 21. [A typographical error.—ED.] Moses Brown [above] was a Quaker philanthropist who financed the first textile manufacturing in America. An amateur scientist, he would have been pleased to know that his school was the first to experiment with synthetic turf. He was an abolitionist a century before the Civil War and would have been upset to learn that his name had "the ring of the ghetto," or that in 1985 such an insensitive phrase could still be used. Also offended are 700 students from very diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, 3,500 living alumni, the faculty and I, upon learning that our school is "mainly populated with preppies."
DAVID C. BURNHAM
Headmaster, Moses Brown School
Providence

PHOTO

MOSES BROWN SCHOOL ARCHIVES

Letters should include the name, address and home telephone number of the writer and be addressed to The Editor, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, Time & Life Building, Rockefeller Center, New York, N.Y. 10020.