Posted on 01/21/2016 3:37:59 PM PST by PROCON
Major League Baseball is exploring the possibility of making the designated hitter a staple of the National League as soon as 2017, according to Newsday's David Lennon.
Commissioner Rob Manfred reportedly said the idea is "gaining momentum," per Lennon.
Although the potential change could ruffle the feathers of baseball purists, Lennon cited several reasons MLB is seeking to implement the DH in the NL:
(Excerpt) Read more at bleacherreport.com ...
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.
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.
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.
No.
Don’t know what you are getting at about the Babe there, he’s only the greatest baseball player that ever lived. He was top ten southpaw of his time. He wanted to pitch but they made him play the field because he was the exception to the rule, a pitcher that actually could hit.
I like inter-league play, but I think it should be limited to natural rivals.
For instance, Dodgers and Angels. Twins and Milwaukee. Cubs and White Sox, Yankees and Mets, etc.
Right now, there is way too much inter-league play, which I find off-putting.
Sometimes that backfires. I saw Francisco Liriano get a hit twice last year in that situation.
On the other hand, an ace starter will face 1,000 batters in the course of a season.
And an everyday position player will only make 650 Plate Appearances.
And more physical effort is required to throw, say, 110 pitches than to play nine innings in the field at any position -- save catcher.
You know, that is one solution I had never heard of, it has some merit.
Until the Dodgers return to Brooklyn, baseball will continue it's downhill slide.
Absolutely none. And it's not the AL that is the big h rule supporter -- it's the players' union.
Those are 15 high paying jobs.
But that everyday position player also plays defense. And will probably play the whole game. Pitchers used to be able to play the whole game, odd that in this time when every sport is seeing players getting bigger, stronger, faster and performing more pitchers have diminishing expectations.
Like football: hitters and fielders?
OTOH, I see so many situations where the opposing pitcher takes the out for granted and ends up walking or letting the pitcher get a hit.
What is really boring is a manager who sits there until his pitcher is gassed and makes the ho-hum decision to pull him.
The DH rule was made for the fan who is drinking beer, talking to his friends or these days checking his phone and only looks up when there's a hit. The DH does produce hits. Watching the defense? That's boring, right?
Oh well, keep doing it until you get it right.
Maybe they should play the games between 3 a.m. and 6 so nobody on both coasts will watch.
I got no business complaining. I have not bought a ticket to the Red Sox in more than 25 years, and that is not likely to change.
It will never happen.
FACT: Pitchers batting averages have gone down each and every decade since 1900. Be assured this trend will continue.
FACT: The only league WITHOUT the DH rule in the USA is the National League. Little League, High School, College and the lower minor leagues all use the DH rule exclusively. The AA and AAA leagues allow the NL affiliates to use their pitchers-as-hitters only in games between each other.
FACT: Although the pitcher is often the best ballplayer (and hitter) on his high school or college squad, from the moment he signs as a pitcher, he knows pitching will be his job -- what he gets paid for. Consequently, he's not going to waste a lot o his time working on his hitting -- which will naturally atrophy over time. And, quite naturally, his team has no problem with this decision. Indeed, most will encourage it -- because turning a young pitcher into a better pitcher is easier to do than turning him into a better hitter.
If they do this I am through with baseball forever.
They should be getting rid of the DH, not spreading it!
FACT: the lower your expectations the worse your results. If the MLB owners and managers turned to the pitchers and said: there’s simply no excuse for you guys to suck at hitting, learn it or you’re out. Baseball has decided they’re OK with pitchers being pathetic at half the game, and so they are.
No, hell no! Instead off adding the DH to the NL they should drop it from the AL.
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