Art Hershey of Calabasas wrote me early in the week saying he presumed the players would split the money. He hiked my curiosity and made me want to research and learn what the winning and losing players’ shares were in last fall’s World Series.

Winning Share: (Yankees)

$ 375, 052.73

Losing Share: (Phillies)

$ 265, 357.50

I sent those figures to Mr. Hershey and received this e-mail from him.

Ross………

If you take the winning share of $ 2.125 million with the Lakers for beating the Celtics, and divide by 20 shares (?) you get about $ 106,000 per player. I’m probably off on the number of shares, just adding a few to the player complement of 12. But that $ 106,000 compares to the Yankees’ $ 375,000 which makes sense because the stadiums are so much larger than the arenas, I guess, for purpose of calculating the shares.

Art

Ross,

if I ever became dictator ( or commissioner of baseball—-yeah, right ) I would abolish interleague play and the designated hitter. I guess I’m a baseball purist, but I think both of these don’t really do anything for the game. Interleague play does attract people at the gate, but it seems to me that it’s something the owners came up with to increase teams’ revenue.

It will be interesting to see the Dodgers-Yankee games this weekend. As you may know, the Dodgers ballyhooed the series with billboards all over town. At first, the only way a fan could buy tickets was if she or he bought a season package. It’s just in the last week or so that individual tickets have been sold. I bought a ticket to Sunday’s game. When I did, there was a note on the page saying the maximum number of tickets for a single household was 29.

As far as the DH goes, National League pitchers have been able to swing the bat. I was at Dodger Stadium when Darren Dreifort hit two homers against the Cubs. With the pitcher in the batting order, managers have the option for double switches. It makes the game more interesting.

Sue Kamm

ROSS:

I thought it was unethical, Sue, for the Dodgers to force their fans to buy a season ticket package in order to obtain seats for the three games with the Yankees. I’ve always been opposed to the designated hitter rule. One of the reasons it was accepted was to give aging hitting stars a position to play and keep them around a short while longer. Some American League owners are less enamored with the DH rule now, and it could be eliminated sooner than interleague play.

Dear Ross:

Why does Russell Martin of the Dodgers have a J on his back for a first name?

Jay Roth
Tarzana, Ca.

ROSS:

Jay, his full name is Russell Nathan Coltrane Jeanson Martin. Nathan is for his great grandfather. Coltrane is for musician John Coltrane. Jeanson is his mother’s maiden name so he began wearing J. Martin in 2009 to show love for his mom

Hi Ross,

Thank you for answering my question about ambidextrous pitchers. I knew you were the only guy on the planet that could answer it !

You’re the greatest !

Steve Larson

Happy Anniversary and many more. It is a delight to call you both friends. Thanks for all the good news you gather up and share with all the rest of us. May you continue to pour it on !

Cheers from here.

Lynne Wilkins

Ross:

Do you think the Celtics would have won game 7 against the Lakers if Kendrick Perkins had been able to play?

Cary Jenkins
Springfield, Massachusetts

Ross:

That’s a very good question, Cary, but one we will never be able to answer. There is no doubt Boston missed Perkins’ presence in the middle on defense. He is better defensively than Rasheed Wallace and Glen “Baby” Davis, and in a game decided by four points, Perkins could well have made the difference. Doc Rivers hinted at that possibility in his post-game remarks, but stopped short of claiming his team would have won with Perkins in the lineup, instead praising the Lakers for their victory. Doc showed his class throughout the series. I was very impressed with him.

Dear Mr. Porter:

When is the last time a road team won Game 7 in the NBA Finals?

Brett Carpenter
San Luis Obispo, Ca.

Ross:

That would be 32 years ago, Brett. In 1978, Washington outscored Seattle, 105 to 99 in the deciding game of the Finals in Seattle. This year, the Lakers were 6 1/2 point favorites in game 6 and 7-point choices in Game 7 because they were home. If the final two contests had been in Boston, my guess is the Celtics would have been favored by 3 points in each. I’ve had coaches tell me that homecourt advantage is worth 10 points so that would have been the case this year.

Hello Ross!

I grew up listening to you, Vin Scully and Jerry Doggett on the Dodger broadcasts. I lost track of Jerry. Is he still living?

Thanks.

Jack Donaldson
Bakersfield, Ca.

Ross:

Jerry passed away in 1997, two months before his 81st birthday. He had lunch at home with his wife, lay down on the couch to take a nap before leaving for an appointment, and died in his sleep. Jerry broadcast Dodger games from 1956 until 1987, and was a wonderful friend to me, giving me valuable information and advice as it pertained to my job.

Thanks, Jack, for your question.

Hi, Ross,

We really miss listening to you on the Dodger games. Wish you would come back.

Steve Larson
Los Angeles

Ross:

Thank you, Steve, for your kind comments.

Hi, Ross—–

I had the pleasure of attending the Sportscaster Camp of America in L. A. back in 1986 when you were the guest speaker on baseball broadcasting. I still have the cassette tape of your presentation and listened to it again recently.

I’m a broadcaster here in Sarasota and this past season called baseball games for the Sarasota Sailors which have been one of the premiere highschool programs in the country.

I host a radio show and when you’re available, would like to do a phoner with you sometime.

Thanks,

Doug Miles
Sarasota, Florida

ROSS:

Good to hear from you, Doug. I’ll be delighted to do an interview for your show.

Mr. Porter:

I thought of you with all the tributes to the passing of John Wooden. I remember so well your great work at KNBC and the NBC network in covering not only the local angle of UCLA, but also when you covered the final four for NBC in the 1970′s working with Curt Gowdy and Tommy Hawkins. So many of my friends and I miss hearing your voice on the Dodgers. Your great calls of Dodger games and when you did the NLCS/World Series for CBS Radio in the ’70′s and 80′s were fantastic. Hope to hear your great voice and knowledge again soon. It has been way too long, but the most important thing is that you and your family are healthy and happy.

Sincerely,

Mike Saunders
Los Angeles

ROSS:

What a nice letter, Mike, and I greatly appreciate your kind words.

Ross,

It was such a pleasure to meet you yesterday and put a face with that wonderful baritone. As you noticed, I’m a sports buff and I’m sure we could chat for hours. I did a bit of the same things you did, writing sports in highschool ( I predicted in print that the Yanks and Phillies would play in the 1950 World Series, which nary a professional writer did.) While writing for the Cornell Daily Sun with Dick Schaap, among others, I did the PA announcing for the basketball and baseball games as well. I met Red Grange and Doc Blanchard in the Cornell pressbox. But I stuck to medicine, to the benefit of both professions.

Best wishes,

Dr. Harry Maller
Tarzana, California

ROSS:

It was fun talking sports with you, Harry. You have a great memory and it was interesting to hear you recall the final games of the 1949 American League pennant race when the Red Sox had a one-game lead over the Yankees with two games left between the clubs in New York. The Pin Stripes won both and defeated the Dodgers in the World Series.

Hello, Mr. Porter:

I really miss you on the air——you were very good. Always interesting. When you were no longer there—-I really felt a vacant space—like somebody stole something from me. Difficult to explain. I hope you are busy and happy.

Bill Anderson
Glendale, California

ROSS:

I’m very grateful, Bill, for your positive review of my work. It means a lot to me to hear from such supportive fans as you.

Ross:

Coach Wooden always aspired to be the man his father was…..his father would be proud.

Keith Erickson
Santa Monica, Ca.

Ross:

Keith was an All-America player on John Wooden’s first two NCAA champion teams at UCLA in 1964 and 1965. He also was a U. S. Olympic volleyball standout. Coach Wooden once called Erickson and Rafer Johnson the finest athletes he ever coached. Johnson won the decathlon in the 1960 Olympics.