MAILBAG: Sept. 20

Q: I understand that what happened in New York last Tuesday was detrimental to the whole country, but what I don't understand is why baseball was discontinued for so long. Aren't they getting paid? Aren't they professional? Many of us have friends and family in New York, but the very next day we have to go on with our business and go to work.

Had the media taken off work to mourn over the incident, where would we get the news? If all of us did that, America would stop. I know it was great that the ballplayers all stuck together and decided "not to work," but for the rest of us who aren't millionaires, I guess we don't have a choice? Can you explain why they are allowed to take off work instead of providing us viewers a source of relief from the whole incident? -- Gary, State College, Pa.

	Fans react as a giant American flag is displayed on the field prior to Monday's game in Los Angeles between the Dodgers and Padres.

PWG -- Understand that no matter what spin they put on it, the owners agreed with you and wanted games to resume Friday. A cynic would suggest that -- and the 162-game schedule -- had more to do with owners not wanting to give back or lose any ticket money. But players, like most of us, were not ready to go back at that point, and I don't believe the public was ready, either. By Monday, things were different, and as far as I'm concerned the players who led the charge to refuse to play at the risk of losing their paychecks rather than play on a national day of mourning are heroes.

Q: How do you think the week of rest will affect pennant races? Prior to our tragedy all of the talk was slow bat speeds. Furthermore, what about the losses of both momentum and the intensity within the clubhouses? -- Brett Mace, Houston
PWG -- I think the layoff was so slight that there are two ramifications: 1) a struggle to focus, especially among those teams that had long, treacherous travel routes back to their families; and 2) a week's re-energizing physically, which could help individuals on a lot of teams. But the teams that have nothing to play for wish the season was over, and may play as if their minds are home, their bodies at the park. I witnessed a thrilling Tampa Bay-Boston game where the Red Sox clearly were somewhere else.

Q: MLB is making the claim that they may be able to bring the nation together for a good cause after the events of last week. I agree. However, if MLB locks out after the World Series, any effort to bring the nation together again, by baseball, will be in vain. Thoughts? -- Ben Magnano, San Francisco
PWG -- Bud Selig has stated that the nation needs baseball and the 162-game schedule now -- as opposed to 1972, 1981, 1994, 1995 -- is sacred. Therefore, to threaten a lockout or shut things down even in November would be hypocritical -- how can you say this is entertainment and a diversion and then go into an aggressive labor program when Boeing is laying off 30,000 people? And to even allow the "war games" between billionaires and millionaires to rage this winter would be tasteless, self-absorbed and potential suicide.

Q: It's great that the players expressed their strong feelings of support for the victims of Tuesday's tragedy and their families, but have you heard of any player -- anyone at all -- preparing to postpone his baseball career to join the military at this time of need? We talk about sports heroes --Ted Williams should be at the top of any list. And Williams wasn't the only athlete to willingly suspend his life to fulfill what he felt was an obligation to his country. Tuesday's events are no less an attack than was Pearl Harbor, but, sadly, I don't expect to see the same sacrifice from the nation's athletes. It's one thing for those who are married, with families. But the rest ... it seems they, more than anyone, would feel a responsibility to defend what this country stands for. Thoughts? -- Mark, Columbus, Ohio
PWG -- I don't know that we will see that, just as I have heard of no one at ESPN or on the executive council of the owners enlisting. This is different, to a degree, but your point is well taken. I hope the executive board of the Players Association soon begins a plan for players to interact with the needy people in New York and Washington all winter.

Q: I don't have a question, but I'd like to remind people of this monologue by Terence Mann (James Earl Jones) in "Field of Dreams": "The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It's been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, is a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again. Oh, people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come." I think this is appropriate at this time. -- T.J. Paulsen, Lincoln, Neb.
PWG -- Indeed. But let's hope that baseball tries to be respectful enough to keep them coming. A few versions of "America the Beautiful" are pretty hollow if that's all there is.

Q: How will the recent attack on the Pentagon affect the possibility of relocating a franchise, such as the Expos, to northern Virginia? -- Ben Mersey, Atlanta
PWG -- It might help, as there may be more focus on what people want rather than Peter Angelos' considerable ability to litigate and other owners using D.C. to blackmail their own communities and taxpayers.

Q: I will admit I have lost some focus on the baseball season at this point, as much of the world has. But with the rescheduled season, I would like to know where Cal Ripken Jr. will finish his career (I know it was going to be in New York). -- Mike Pace, Covington, Va.
PWG -- Cal finishes his career Saturday night, Oct. 6, in Baltimore.

	Brooklyn native John Franco wears a Fire Department of New York hat in the Mets' return Monday.

Q: I want to see the Yankees play the Mets after the World Series and have all the proceeds go to all the firefighters and all of the people that have lost someone during this tragic situation in the United States. Do you think that would be possible? -- Dan, Red Hook, N.Y.
PWG -- It can't happen this year, but one cannot express more respect than everyone has for the Mets and their passion for the city and the people, led by John Franco. And the Yankees are playing on another level of purpose, according to White Sox GM Ken Williams.

Q: Since baseball will play all 162 games, doesn't that mean that some of the World Series will be played in November? If so, say Cleveland makes the World Series. John Hart's last day as GM of the Indians is Nov. 1. What would happen there? -- Bob Marconi, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
PWG -- Everything will be rolled back, unless, as rumored, Dick Jacobs does indeed join the group that includes his former real estate development partner Steve Karp, the Red Sox are sold the last week of November, and at Jacobs' suggestion John Hart takes the Red Sox GM job. Bet he'd hire Buck Showalter.

Q: Your column on the impact of the attack on America upon baseball was much appreciated. It was about time someone took a look at the Big Picture and how the national pastime would be affected by national tragedy. But you couldn't set aside the attacks on Red Sox fans for even one week? The constant cheap shots are getting tiresome. -- Miles Grant, Warwick, R.I.
PWG -- When the pitiable behavior ends, I'll stop.

Q: I am a lifelong Red Sox fan with all that goes with that. But I'm embarrassed by the bleacher fans who chant "Yankees suck" at a game against Tampa Bay in April, and the same fans who yell "Mondesi, you suck" at the Toronto outfielder in May. Two weeks ago, after the team fell apart against superior clubs, my boss took his 12- and 14-year-old sons to the park and said that he had never seen so much venomous negative behavior in his life. In the light of our recent national tragedy, what do you think the chances are that the vocal minority of "sports talk-radio nation" can learn to watch baseball without inflicting others to their abusive behavior? -- Erik Kunz, Boston
PWG -- My point, precisely. Peter Ueberroth once campaigned for the behavior of people at baseball games, but after Bart Giamatti and Fay Vincent, that focus died -- but it could come back to haunt these folks in a less prosperous time.

Q: This is not a question but a comment. I along with thousands of baseball lovers participate in a fantasy league. We play for the love of the game and bragging rights more than anything else. Our league has decided that the funds received by our league for the season can find no better place than New York City to help in some minuscule way in this unbelievable tragedy. Our league would like to encourage other leagues to do the same. We can think of no nobler cause. -- Robert M. Graham, West Palm Beach, Fla.
PWG -- What a great idea.

Q: I am writing in response to Curt Schilling's "Letter to America." I love the idea of an American flag on jerseys, but I have one question: Do you think that Canadian teams would adopt this tradition as well? -- Matt, Derwood, Md.

Q: The addition of "God Bless America" and the Stars and Stripes adorning player uniforms and stadiums is a fine and sincere example of baseball's concern for last week's tragedy, but it leads me to think of the Denver Nuggets player who endured the needless abuse of fans for refusing to stand for the national anthem on religious grounds. Does baseball face a similar embarrassment in asking players from so many different national and religious backgrounds to don the American flag on their jerseys? I can't help but think that a more international symbol might be more suitable to our international game, while still conveying our respect for the dead and our unity. -- Brent Ruswick, Madison, Wis.

PWG -- In this case, I believe that the flag represents something far greater than simply the United States, although I would like to see the Canadian flag right next to the American flag on the Blue Jays' and Expos' uniforms as a show of the relationship between these countries. The flag is supposed to represent not the USA, right or wrong, but the principles of higher values and freedoms. This does not justify the hatred of Jerry Falwell or those who facelessly bomb abortion clinics in the name of religious beliefs; those folks are no different than bin Laden, and the flag does not represent them.

The flag represents the ideal that this nation -- since the first English immigrants seeking religious freedom and asylum landed in Virginia -- has been a haven for the right to believe whatever one believes, be he Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Zoroastrian, Hindu, agnostic or whatever. That is why it is wrong to make fun of Carl Everett's belief that there never were dinosaurs, because that is what he and his sect of Christians believe. It is about pure freedom.