[PROCON]

Uh-oh, this is going to cause a stir.

What say you baseball purists?

[PROCON]

Ping

Do you have the baseball ping list?

[forgotten man]

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

[BenLurkin]

[Dacula]

NO

[IrishBrigade]

What say you baseball purists?

Garbage rule, a rule only progressives can love...

[samadams2000]

***ABOMINATION ALERT***

[Dr. Sivana]

Although the potential change could ruffle the feathers of baseball purists

Many of us purists quit following MLB when interleague play (the baseball equivalent of shacking up) was instituted. I show my seven year old son YouTube video of great games from the '80s and earlier. The '77 Dodgers-Phillies playoffs were a favorite.

[brothers4thID]

I’m with Crash Davis on this one: “there ought to be a Constitutional Amendment outlawing astroturf and the designated hitter.”

[discostu]

People like to complain about how much the NFL tries to protect QBs, put dresses on them and all that nonsense. But really there is no athlete in sports more pampered than the MLB pitcher. With relief pitchers, and the DH, and a punishment that refuses to acknowledge that they only play 1/5 of the games. And they tend towards to top of the pay scale.

[colorado tanker]

I hate the DH. The game is sooo much more interesting when managers really have to manage. It's like there's a 10th position that has to be skillfully played.

OTOH, as a National League fan I hate the inherent advantage the American League gets from that darn rule.

I guess there is no chance to force the Americans to give up the DH?

[who_would_fardels_bear]

What they should do is allow baseball clubs to have three teams (similar to football):

1. A team of good batters
2. A team of good runners/base-stealers
3. A team of good defensive players

That would maximize the entertainment value

They should also get rid of the silly mascots and replace them with scantily clad cheerleaders.

Also more loud, booming music ... especially rap. And get rid of those boring old organs for gosh sakes.

/sarc

[Mat_Helm]

Dummies need to eliminate the DH in the American league and not the other way around.

[major-pelham]

Nothing more exciting than a feeble pitcher ending a key rally. Nothing better than hitting for a guy who’s given up three hits through 6 innings. This is so long past due I’d forgotten about it. It’s like not using the internet.

[Billthedrill]

Anyone who doesn't like the DH rule is UNAMERICAN and should be relegated to watching a broke black-and-white TV with tinfoil on the rabbit ears and nothing but futbol on, where guys in skimpy shorts lay a lip-lock on one another after one of them manages to kick a little rubber ball into a great big net you couldn't possibly miss from the pitcher's mound in a decent game.

Anyone who does like the DH rule is WORSE!!!

Nazis. Dang it, I missed Godwin's Rule. I shoulda said Nazis.

[Tupelo]

Grandpa,
Why don’t you ever go to baseball games anymore?

Designated hitter, inter-league play, prima donnas players and ticket prices through the roof, Child, and that is just for starters.

If that damn designated hitter rule was in effect in 1918, Babe Ruth would have been out of baseball by 1921.

[centurion316]

The game is changing. You don’t need a stable of aces for a starting rotation. You can do what the Royals have done, put out some reliable starters who can give you about 5-6 innings and then roll out your killer bull pen and the game is over. People aren’t willing to pay to see great arms, they want to see great hitters and great runners. I don’t really like the DH but it does help fill the seats.

[stylin_geek]

I love the traditions of baseball.

I think the DH in the AL is cool and the Pitcher flailing in the NL is cool.

I do not think it should change.

Ground rules are ground rules. If the home team has the pitcher hitting, then the visiting team abides by those rules.

[big'ol_freeper]

I find the NL very boring but the compromise solution is just don’t have the pitcher in the batting order. So you have eight batters instead of nine.

[ameribbean expat]

No.

[Jim Noble]

What say you baseball purists?

Until the Dodgers return to Brooklyn, baseball will continue it's downhill slide.