Letters

Your story on the Guerrero family was very disturbing. That's not what family love is supposed to be about.
STEVE CHRONISTER, BELLINGHAM , WASH.

Circus Family
Your story on the Guerrero family (A Delicate Balance, June 9) was the most powerful article I have read in a long time. It amazes me that through all their family troubles the Guerreros can still perform such astonishing feats together.
NIYUM GANDHI, State College, Pa.

You are to be commended for reaching beyond the bounds of your normal coverage to write about something that teaches us more about life than the average sporting event does.
JON BUSHARD, Bloomington , Minn.

The article on the "amazing" Guerreros didn't leave me feeling that they are amazing in a positive sense. I can't understand why these obsessed, negligent parents are worthy of praise.
RICHARD ARVEY, Seattle

Out of Uniform
Your May 8, 1978, cover, which served as the illustration for your update on Elvin Hayes (CATCHING UP WITH..., June 9), shows in the background San Antonio Spurs guard Mike Gale wearing a non- San Antonio uniform. Gale's regular uniform was lost in a baggage mix-up, and, this being the NBA of the late '70s (and the Spurs being the Spurs ), there was no replacement. The solution? Gale was decked out in a road uniform of the host Washington Bullets , worn inside out.
CARL P. LAVIN, Allston, Mass.

Cup Clash
In preparation for writing his POINT AFTER (Let This Cup Pass, June 2), Steve Lopez never interviewed the umpire, Steve Schneider, who was looking out for the child's well-being. Did he ever stop to wonder who would have been held liable had she gotten hurt? Melissa's family might have sued the league and blamed the umpire for not following the rule book.

Second, Melissa's coach, who should know the rules, should have had Melissa purchase the proper equipment made especially for females. Isn't it a shame that a mother would encourage her daughter to disobey a rule that was made to protect the child.

This was not harassment, this was not discrimination, this was the umpire doing his job right and following the rules.

And now on a more personal note, yes he has gotten to first base, and no he doesn't sleep with the rule book under his pillow.
DIANE RIVERA SCHNEIDER, Boca Raton , Fla.

During my youth, I never heard an ump ask any of us boys if we were wearing a cup. That would have been embarrassing. I can only imagine how Melissa must have felt being mortified in public. Fortunately, the media are quick to react to a story like this, and I believe it's the ump who is humiliated now.
BARRY E. BURUD, Minneapolis