RIP to a Met who knew how to take a pitch

Manhattan: I was saddened to hear of the passing of ex-Mets second baseman Ron Hunt. In 1961, I reported to Waycross, Ga., for my first spring camp with the Milwaukee Braves organization. Like Hunt, I was a second baseman competing for a job at the highest classification. We were on different squads in Waycross, fighting for the same Cedar Rapids, Iowa, second base job in the Class B Three I League. The more experienced Hunt won the job.

He was as tough as they came! He played second base skillfully and ran the bases with ferocity. Hunt’s rough-and-tumble style of play caused him to be involved in many on-field fights throughout his career! Most older Mets fans were used to seeing him crowd home plate when he was batting. This was his method to draw walks or get hit by pitches. Hunt loved playing at Shea Stadium, starting in 1963. The team was awful in those years, but he was angry at being traded to the L.A. Dodgers. He wanted to finish his career with the Mets.

If Mets owner Steve Cohen and team president David Stearns want to educate themselves about what key elements go into winning, study Hunt — a high-character ballplayer who played the game with passion, smarts, mental toughness and, most importantly, an unquenchable thirst to win!

Gerard Rosenthal

Skirting the rules

Manhattan: The legal principle that no man is above the law appears to have eluded the City Council. Its recent initiatives to both significantly increase its own salary and circumvent collective bargaining to raise city worker salaries reflect disturbing governmental arrogance. The mayor should veto such unlawful actions. If not, where does governmental lawlessness lead?

Roger B. Adler

Optimistic opportunists

Beechhurst: Mayor Mamdani’s signature drab, dark suits and dark ties mirror his bureaucratic collectivist mindset amidst this sinking NYC milieu. And those down-on-America DSA primary candidates — who capitalized on white, college-educated, radical transplant voters to ride to victory on Hizzoner’s lingering coattails — have the same smarmy smiles on their faces that their political idol perpetually presents as he extolls the dubious warmth of Eastern Bloc socialism. Left-wing pundits are trying to put this Marxist interloper on a pedestal, even arguing that he’s just a throwback to the New Deal progressivism of Fiorello LaGuardia. But gritty and savvy native New Yorkers know the score when it comes to this nepo-baby con man who cleverly exploits class resentment to indulge his own naked ambition.

James Hyland

Self-identify

Delhi, N.Y.: As an 82-year-old American who relies on programs like Social Security and Medicare, I’m deeply concerned by how our political language is being twisted. Recently, we’ve seen the felon president and others from his cult weaponize the word “socialism,” deliberately equating it with communism to scare voters. These “socialist” programs, as well as many others, aren’t radical or authoritarian. They are deeply patriotic safety nets we paid into for our entire working lives. To stop this unfair rebranding, it may be time for the democratic socialists to change their name. Shifting to a title like democratic humanist or nationalist would reflect the core goal: putting human wellbeing and the American people first.

Arthur Martello

Quick fix

Brooklyn: Here’s a thought: Why not just use our Real ID, which is already mandated, for voter ID? Simple fix.

Susan Caprio

Limits of air power

Woodstock, N.Y.: Voicer Ed Houlihan is correct that LBJ’s Rolling Thunder bombing of North Vietnam was a failure. Too bad that Drumpf and his minions, who between them have never cracked a history book, couldn’t learn from his mistake.

Suzanne Hayes-Kelly

Coin of the crown

Copiague, L.I.: President Calvin Coolidge inherited an extremely corrupt federal government from President Warren Harding that he worked hard to reform. He shared a commemorative coin with George Washington in 1926, breaking with an unwritten but inviolate tradition established by Washington. The reason for this taboo was the belief that only monarchs put their faces on their own coins, and the U.S.A. was not a monarchy. Coolidge’s coin was a one-year commemorative issue, so it didn’t violate any specific law. But in 1986, Congress enacted a law requiring congressional approval even for non-circulating commemorative coins. Congress has honored the letter of the law and traditions behind it — until President Trump demanded a coin to honor himself. It’s not as clearly unconstitutional as “nationalizing” states’ elections, but is the sort of thing only a tyrannical despot would want.

Mitch Kessler

Adding insult to injury

Manhattan: Doesn’t that mango monstrosity remember that during the California wildfires, Canada sent firefighters to help? Now he’s putting tariffs on Canada instead of sending help to the Canadians. I’m reminded of what Joseph Welch said to Joseph McCarthy: “Sir, have you no decency?” Of course, the answer is no! I guess he’s jealous that the smoke pollution is being caused by the fires instead of his policies that revived burning coal and oil.

Joie Anderson

Carriage ban bandwagon

Charlotte, N.C.: The way the death of the poor tourist killed in the carriage accident has energized calls for banning the carriages almost has me wondering if the horse was intentionally spooked. Where’s the outcry over the government rounding up the wild horses in the West for slaughter, or the plan to eliminate bison from the Great Plains?

Barbara Haynes

Past their expiration

Brooklyn: To Voicers Maurice DePalo and Diane Moriarty, who want to save the carriage horses: NYC no longer has cobblestone streets, and cars are 20-fold what they were back then. The exhaust from cars and buses isn’t safe for any living being. The crowds of people and deafening noise aren’t healthy for anyone. Nostalgia and tourism are selfish excuses to continue the suffering of these sentient beings. Humans have used animals for their own amusement, experiments, etc. for too long. This needs to stop! Thank you, Mayor Mamdani, for leading the charge.

Susan Cassano

Unrequited emotions

Manhattan: The digital age and dating have been consumed by individual thoughts and feelings and the constant desire to control another person. Limerence is entirely different from a healthy crush or genuine love. That exists in someone’s head for another person who is not involved or interested — imagined scenarios and struggles. This affects both males and females, for months and even years. Obsessive love, attachments that are not real.

Alan Lehrer

Save daylight

Bronx: If Daylight Saving Time were year-round, the sun in early winter would not rise here until almost 8:30 a.m., meaning children would wait in the dark for a school bus. However, if Standard Time were year-round, the sun in June would rise at about 4:30 a.m., shining in our eyes way before most of us want to wake up! I say we continue to change the clocks twice a year to preserve light and dark when they are most beneficial.

Barbara Sulkowski