Alex Gordon

How ironic that Sirhan Sirhan complains of "American justice" denying him parole when in virtually any other country he would have been executed years ago. ALEX GORDON Los Angeles

The Angels' first game with new $240 million first baseman Albert Pujols is underway. Starting pitcher Jered Weaver took the mound for his third consecutive opening-day start and threw ball one to Kansas City Royals leadoff man Alex Gordon. Gordon flew out to center field one pitch later. Weaver then struck out Lorenzo Cain looking and Eric Hosmer flied out to left fielder Vernon Wells. The pre-game ceremonies included a full introduction of players and clubhouse personnel, a large flag unveiling in the outfield, first pitches by 2002 World Series stars Troy Percival, Tim Salmon and David Eckstein, and a flyover by a massive U.S. Air Force plane.

Kansas City Royals outfielder David DeJesus is scheduled to undergo season-ending surgery on his right thumb after further examination showed a complete ligament tear. Earlier Friday, DeJesus was put on the 15-day disabled list because of what was originally called a sprained right thumb. He suffered the injury and left Thursday's game against the New York Yankees after crashing into the center-field wall in the third inning while trying to track down a Derek Jeter drive that eventually wound up as an inside-the-park home run. DeJesus, who has been the subject of trade speculation, batted .318 with five home runs and 37 runs batted in over 91 games this season.

No offensive outburst yet in Anaheim. Through four and a half innings, Kansas City Royals pitcher Bruce Chen is matching Angels ace Jered Weaver in a scoreless tie. Chen has retired Angels' free-agent slugger Albert Pujols twice: a double-play line drive to shortstop and foul pop fly to third base. After Pujols' anticipated first at-bat closed with a line drive that Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar gloved and turned into a double play, the first at-bat by Kendrys Morales after he fractured his ankle celebrating a game-winning home run in 2010 was also anti-climactic: a double-play grounder to Escobar.

The Angels' first game with new $240 million first baseman Albert Pujols is underway. Starting pitcher Jered Weaver took the mound for his third consecutive opening-day start and threw ball one to Kansas City Royals leadoff man Alex Gordon. Gordon flew out to center field one pitch later. Weaver then struck out Lorenzo Cain looking and Eric Hosmer flied out to left fielder Vernon Wells. The pre-game ceremonies included a full introduction of players and clubhouse personnel, a large flag unveiling in the outfield, first pitches by 2002 World Series stars Troy Percival, Tim Salmon and David Eckstein, and a flyover by a massive U.S. Air Force plane.

No offensive outburst yet in Anaheim. Through four and a half innings, Kansas City Royals pitcher Bruce Chen is matching Angels ace Jered Weaver in a scoreless tie. Chen has retired Angels' free-agent slugger Albert Pujols twice: a double-play line drive to shortstop and foul pop fly to third base. After Pujols' anticipated first at-bat closed with a line drive that Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar gloved and turned into a double play, the first at-bat by Kendrys Morales after he fractured his ankle celebrating a game-winning home run in 2010 was also anti-climactic: a double-play grounder to Escobar.

Albert Pujols struck out swinging against Kansas City Royals reliever Aaron Crow in the seventh inning, and the Angels and Royals enter the eighth inning scoreless. Pujols earlier lined into a double play and fouled out to third base in his debut at Angel Stadium, where a sellout crowd of 44,106 is watching. The Angels, riding a strong performance by starting pitcher Jered Weaver (10 strikeouts through eight innings), haven't had a runner at second base since the first inning.

Throwing football speculators for a loop, the Raiders made a trade Monday that did not involve Marcus Allen, Bobby Hebert, the San Francisco 49ers, Steve Beuerlein or Vann McElroy. Instead, they sent reserve cornerback Dennis Price to the New York Jets for linebacker Alex Gordon in what amounts to a swap of injury reports. Price spent the last two weeks on the team's practice squad after a four-week stay on injured reserve with a chest injury.

Alex Gordon, who produced low-budget exploitation movies in the 1950s and '60s, such as "The She-Creature," "Dragstrip Girl," and "Shake, Rattle and Rock," but devoted most of his professional life to his childhood western screen hero, Gene Autry, has died. He was 80. Gordon, longtime vice president of Autry's Flying A Pictures and director of licensing for the Gene Autry Music Group, died of cancer Tuesday at a nursing home in Hollywood.

Rep. Charles Wilson (D-Tex.), predicting that Wright would survive a letter of criticism from the Ethics Committee in a House showdown, added: "We're gonna win this. We're gonna circle the wagons and shoot the damn Indians" (Part I, April 14). Wilson should be made to apologize to the Indians for this stupid, ill-educated and insensitive remark. ALEX GORDON Los Angeles

Albert Pujols struck out swinging against Kansas City Royals reliever Aaron Crow in the seventh inning, and the Angels and Royals enter the eighth inning scoreless. Pujols earlier lined into a double play and fouled out to third base in his debut at Angel Stadium, where a sellout crowd of 44,106 is watching. The Angels, riding a strong performance by starting pitcher Jered Weaver (10 strikeouts through eight innings), haven't had a runner at second base since the first inning.

Kansas City Royals outfielder David DeJesus is scheduled to undergo season-ending surgery on his right thumb after further examination showed a complete ligament tear. Earlier Friday, DeJesus was put on the 15-day disabled list because of what was originally called a sprained right thumb. He suffered the injury and left Thursday's game against the New York Yankees after crashing into the center-field wall in the third inning while trying to track down a Derek Jeter drive that eventually wound up as an inside-the-park home run. DeJesus, who has been the subject of trade speculation, batted .318 with five home runs and 37 runs batted in over 91 games this season.

Alex Gordon, who produced low-budget exploitation movies in the 1950s and '60s, such as "The She-Creature," "Dragstrip Girl," and "Shake, Rattle and Rock," but devoted most of his professional life to his childhood western screen hero, Gene Autry, has died. He was 80. Gordon, longtime vice president of Autry's Flying A Pictures and director of licensing for the Gene Autry Music Group, died of cancer Tuesday at a nursing home in Hollywood.

Throwing football speculators for a loop, the Raiders made a trade Monday that did not involve Marcus Allen, Bobby Hebert, the San Francisco 49ers, Steve Beuerlein or Vann McElroy. Instead, they sent reserve cornerback Dennis Price to the New York Jets for linebacker Alex Gordon in what amounts to a swap of injury reports. Price spent the last two weeks on the team's practice squad after a four-week stay on injured reserve with a chest injury.

How ironic that Sirhan Sirhan complains of "American justice" denying him parole when in virtually any other country he would have been executed years ago. ALEX GORDON Los Angeles

It is virtually impossible these days to see a European film without animal killings. Saura stabs horses, Bertolucci shoots ducks, crushes cats and stabs pigs, Chabrol beheads geese and others cut the throats of sheep and goats. In "Cinema Paradiso," a heifer is knifed to death. The Humane Society says it has no jurisdiction over European and Latin American productions, but it should attempt to restrict the viewing of this unfortunate suffering by warning animal lovers to stay away.

In Charles Champlin's review of David Thomson's book, "Suspects" (Book Review, July 14), he refers to Paul Henreid 'lighting up for Bette Davis in that unforgettable bit of business from "A Stolen Life." ' Alas, it was in "Now Voyager" that the 'two cigarettes' bit became famous, even though it had been done at least twice before, seven years earlier, in "Honor Among Lovers" and "The Rich are Always With Us." ALEX GORDON Los Angeles The forgotten unforgettable was remembered by a baker's dozen readers.