Posted on 02/12/2022 9:07:15 AM PST by MinorityRepublican
On Thursday, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said the designated hitter is expected to be coming to the National League in 2022.
Whether or not you’re a fan of the move, it’s certainly the end of an era. Personally, I will welcome it with open arms as it will certainly benefit the Dodgers. They’ll be able to shuffle guys in the lineup and get guys off their feet.
With that being said, there is one thing in particular I’ll miss more than anything. Clayton Kershaw’s sacrifice bunts. Not only was Kershaw the best pitcher of the last decade, but he was arguably the best bunter.
Seriously, nobody did it better.
What's done is done, I guess. Baseball is "dead". It was on its way anyway due to Sabermetrics which made the game unwatchable (but that's a different subject).
Oh well, I'll still go to the 'ole ball park for a beer and a hot dog. But that's about it.
The Dodgers used to have pitchers who could hit, too. Rick Rhoden, Terry Forster, and of course Don Drysdale were all very good to excellent hitters.
This is what you get for introducing interleague play.
I quit watching after they had those poor bunts up on top of those pyramids in Mexico, sacrificing them so they would have good crops.
What’s done is done, I guess. Baseball is “dead”.
***3 things could revive baseball.
1) Put in automated strike zone detectors. Umpires are entirely too capricious in calling out the strike zone.
2) Put in a 20 second or 15 second or whatever second rule for pitchers to have to throw a pitch just like the 20 second rule for basketball. Baseball is far too much farting around, squeezing 15 minutes of play into 3 hours.
3) Make the distance and height of homerun fences standard.
There will still be sacrifice bunts... There will be fewer bunts, but they will still be needed from time to time.
Pitchers do not get enough practice to properly hit... This is the best move baseball has made in a very long time and they’ve been indicating the end of pitchers hitting for decades.
Excellent point. Although I think it would only had postponed the inevitable. DH players make money. So the union was in favor of it. In MLB, the union gets to call the shots.
The teams are all owned by corporations so they don't care.
The Millennials are not interested in the game. They just show up for the "atmosphere" of a modern ballpark.
Stopped watching a long time ago. Professional sports cease to be sports eventually.
Sports were better when the idea was to play them, not just watch them.
So, pitchers, who happen to be decent with hitting (I know, not many), can’t be allowed to pinch hit, at the major league level? I can see a situation where a game goes into extra innings and teams end up using up all of their reserve players, with the exception of their pitchers. In such a situation, will teams have the option of using pitchers as pinch hitters?
I’ll miss seeing Max Scherzer stepping up to bat.
He always looked so happy and eager to have the opportunity.
Don’t see many games anymore anyway. Baseball. Hard to find anything with traditional American appeal that hasn’t been ruined.
2) Put in a 20 second or 15 second or whatever second rule for pitchers to have to throw a pitch just like the 20 second rule for basketball. Baseball is far too much farting around, squeezing 15 minutes of play into 3 hours.
3) Make the distance and height of homerun fences standard.
4) No interleague play other than the World Series
5) No playoffs. The winningest team in each league goes to the World Series
6) No baseball after Halloween
420 feet in the corners and 440 feet in the center. More doubles and triples. Less home runs. The game will become more exciting again. If a home run is less likely, it might be worth the risk to steal 2nd base. Now they don't even bother to try when the next batter might hit a home run and it'll be a wasted run if you get caught stealing.
4) No interleague play other than the World Series
***What would that get us?
5) No playoffs. The winningest team in each league goes to the World Series
***The only time I pay attention to baseball and basketball is during playoffs. AFAI’mConcerned, the SFBay area Giants vs. A’s was the best World Series EVER, because it got interrupted by the Loma Prieta earthquake.
6) No baseball after Halloween
***Why?
Here’s a crazy idea:
Make the Distance based upon a mathematical formula looking at how many home runs there were the year before contrasted to how many stolen bases.
Not only was Kershaw the best pitcher of the last decade...
Ha ha ha. Good one.
I have never seen the point of the DH.
1.19 HR per Game National League 2021
1.26 HR per Game American League 2021
In the latter innings in the modern era the pitcher is pulled and replaced with someone fresh in both leages. On average it keeps the better fielders with more innings played, with more talent on the field longer helping team ERA against.
It raises the value of above average fielders much more than pitchers. There are at any time less than a dozen DH specialists worth more than utility infielder average money. DH is a useful parking spot for someone on the trade block (or with a nagging injury) for the month going into the trade deadline.
Who will be the national leagues Edgar Martinez, David Ortiz, Frank Thomas? I expect the manangers will use it as the Paul Molitor and Chili Davis position more often than not as there just isnt the number of exceptional hitters who need the game when the legs slow down.
1.19 HR per Game National League 2021
1.26 HR per Game American League 2021
Is Bob Costas freaking out?
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