Is the DH coming to the NL?

[brett05]

Is that why I already made it clear before your previous post that I didn't believe it would happen, but you couldn't stop yourself anyway?

 

[Parade_Rain]

 

[brett05]

:smh:

 

[Parade_Rain]

:smh:

 

[85Bears]

I hate the DH as an NL fan since birth. But that said, I think both leagues should play by the same rules. It's obvious the AL isn't going to abandon the DH and the NL is at a disadvantage vs. the AL who has the DH. So yes, I'd like to see the DH come to the NL.

Plus, you know.... *cough* Schwarber *cough*...

 

[beckdawg]

I don't like the concept of the DH as I feel it devalues complete players. There's something interesting about NL teams who have a player like Schwarber who's a great hitter or at least appears to be but doesn't have a spot defensively. There's no downside to him when you have a DH spot. And while that's surely good for the cubs I don't think it's good for baseball. I also don't get why people are pushing so hard for a change to the game when we've literally been playing like what over 50 years this way? Pitchers always struggled to hit. There were always injury risks associated with them stepping to plate. Why now suddenly is it an issue?

Just strikes me as change for the sake of change. If you want offense to go up this isn't the move. The move is to call the actual rule book fucking strike zone rather than the one that actually is called in games.

 

[beckdawg]

While I've never been a big fan of it, I'm even less a fan of having two different sets of rules. Before inter-league play, it wasn't that big of a deal. It is now. League continuity is far more important...no other major American sport has a greater rules discrepancy between leagues or conferences than MLB. Actually, I can't think of a sport other than MLB that has any rules differences between conferences.

Why is discrepancy a "bad" thing? I honestly prefer the various leagues having different rules because you get to see the same game played multiple ways.

 

[CSF77]

Zorbrist 2B
Heyward CF
Bryant 3B
Rizzo 1B
Baez LF
Schwarber DH
Soler RF
Montero C
Russell SS

IDK I could live with it

 

[CSF77]

Nothing wrong with a DH. I like that it extends a players' career vs being a pointless PH late in their career.

What it would do is open up 16 full time jobs and the players assn. would back it.

NL Ownership would not as it would add to payroll. But it opens up spots for bat first prospects so a smart drafting team could still keep the costs low

 

[A.C. Milan]

the innings where the pitchers go to bat are very boring, you know they are a sure out ( SO most of the times ) when the pitcher is the leadoff you know it will be a wasted inning, it's time to adopt the DH

 

[Diehardfan]

Why is discrepancy a "bad" thing? I honestly prefer the various leagues having different rules because you get to see the same game played multiple ways.

Your playing for the same championship....same World Series. Rules on both sides of the ledger should be the same. For that reason alone its a bad thing. My vote would be to dump the DH and put all those one dimensional players out of work....but that will never happen.

 

[Parade_Rain]

the innings where the pitchers go to bat are very boring, you know they are a sure out ( SO most of the times ) when the pitcher is the leadoff you know it will be a wasted inning, it's time to adopt the DH

That's when you head to the fridge. It's all good.

 

[beckdawg]

Your playing for the same championship....same World Series. Rules on both sides of the ledger should be the same. For that reason alone its a bad thing. My vote would be to dump the DH and put all those one dimensional players out of work....but that will never happen.

But there's really not an advantage one way or another. NL parks/rules favor NL teams. AL parks/rules favor AL teams. It's not as though the AL has dominated championships the past 20 years or whatever. I understand what you're trying to say but I just don't agree with the premise that things have to be equal. Is it "fair" that colorado can load up on hitters because of their altitude advantage? Or for that matter, is it fair that every home park is different rather than a regulated field as hockey football and baseball have?

Again, if there were a clear advantage to one side or the other I'd agree you need to change it but there really doesn't appear to be from any of the data I've seen. Additionally I'll present a counter argument to one of the main tenants of those who are for the DH in the NL. There is the argument that pitcher get hurt batting. There is also the argument that pitchers are bad hitters and DH would increase offense. DH also increases the number of pitches in a game via that more offense. Which is more likely, a pitcher getting hurt batting or a pitcher throwing the ball?

Sorry to single you out. I get you apparently don't love the DH either. I'm sort of just spring boarding off your post to hit some bullet points that bug me about the debate. In particular, I've always hated the "more offense" argument. I've never once found a 8-7 game more compelling than a 1-0 game. In fact I'd argue the 1-0 is more exciting because when you break through and get that 1 run it feels huge. When you score your 7th or 8th run in a game it doesn't really seem that out of reach to score another. But overall, I just don't see the need for change. All of the arguments for NL DH have been around for 50 years. If we haven't change it in that long I feel like you need to present a more compelling case to change than the same arguments that were used 50 years ago.

 

[CSF77]

But there's really not an advantage one way or another. NL parks/rules favor NL teams. AL parks/rules favor AL teams. It's not as though the AL has dominated championships the past 20 years or whatever. I understand what you're trying to say but I just don't agree with the premise that things have to be equal. Is it "fair" that colorado can load up on hitters because of their altitude advantage? Or for that matter, is it fair that every home park is different rather than a regulated field as hockey football and baseball have?

Again, if there were a clear advantage to one side or the other I'd agree you need to change it but there really doesn't appear to be from any of the data I've seen. Additionally I'll present a counter argument to one of the main tenants of those who are for the DH in the NL. There is the argument that pitcher get hurt batting. There is also the argument that pitchers are bad hitters and DH would increase offense. DH also increases the number of pitches in a game via that more offense. Which is more likely, a pitcher getting hurt batting or a pitcher throwing the ball?

Sorry to single you out. I get you apparently don't love the DH either. I'm sort of just spring boarding off your post to hit some bullet points that bug me about the debate. In particular, I've always hated the "more offense" argument. I've never once found a 8-7 game more compelling than a 1-0 game. In fact I'd argue the 1-0 is more exciting because when you break through and get that 1 run it feels huge. When you score your 7th or 8th run in a game it doesn't really seem that out of reach to score another. But overall, I just don't see the need for change. All of the arguments for NL DH have been around for 50 years. If we haven't change it in that long I feel like you need to present a more compelling case to change than the same arguments that were used 50 years ago.

I think you are trying to justify it or not. It comes down to ownership not wanting to add another 12 mil contract. That extra bat most likely will not add to the box office so in reality it becomes a net loss for a team to do so.

 

[Diehardfan]

But there's really not an advantage one way or another. NL parks/rules favor NL teams. AL parks/rules favor AL teams. It's not as though the AL has dominated championships the past 20 years or whatever. I understand what you're trying to say but I just don't agree with the premise that things have to be equal. Is it "fair" that colorado can load up on hitters because of their altitude advantage? Or for that matter, is it fair that every home park is different rather than a regulated field as hockey football and baseball have?

Again, if there were a clear advantage to one side or the other I'd agree you need to change it but there really doesn't appear to be from any of the data I've seen. Additionally I'll present a counter argument to one of the main tenants of those who are for the DH in the NL. There is the argument that pitcher get hurt batting. There is also the argument that pitchers are bad hitters and DH would increase offense. DH also increases the number of pitches in a game via that more offense. Which is more likely, a pitcher getting hurt batting or a pitcher throwing the ball?

Sorry to single you out. I get you apparently don't love the DH either. I'm sort of just spring boarding off your post to hit some bullet points that bug me about the debate. In particular, I've always hated the "more offense" argument. I've never once found a 8-7 game more compelling than a 1-0 game. In fact I'd argue the 1-0 is more exciting because when you break through and get that 1 run it feels huge. When you score your 7th or 8th run in a game it doesn't really seem that out of reach to score another. But overall, I just don't see the need for change. All of the arguments for NL DH have been around for 50 years. If we haven't change it in that long I feel like you need to present a more compelling case to change than the same arguments that were used 50 years ago.

The only I see here that we can agree on is that I also don't care for the DH so don't confuse what I'm saying as an argument for it....my choice would be to eliminate it from both leagues but the MLBPA will never let that happen. We are stuck with it. My case is for equal conformity across all of MLB. No other major sports league does what MLB is doing. Here's a few examples. Does the East have 3 on 3 OT and the West have 4 on 4 OT in the NHL? Nope. Does the AFC kickoff from the 45 to allow more returns while NFC still kicks from the 35 in the NFL? Nope. How about a 3 Pt line being 23 ft in the East and 22 in the West in the NBA? nope. Everything is same, as well it should be....except in MLB.

 

[JZsportsfan]

As fun as it is to watch Lester bat, I would much rather see Baez hit

 

[beckdawg]

The only I see here that we can agree on is that I also don't care for the DH so don't confuse what I'm saying as an argument for it....my choice would be to eliminate it from both leagues but the MLBPA will never let that happen. We are stuck with it. My case is for equal conformity across all of MLB. No other major sports league does what MLB is doing. Here's a few examples. Does the East have 3 on 3 OT and the West have 4 on 4 OT in the NHL? Nope. Does the AFC kickoff from the 45 to allow more returns while NFC still kicks from the 35 in the NFL? Nope. How about a 3 Pt line being 23 ft in the East and 22 in the West in the NBA? nope. Everything is same, as well it should be....except in MLB.

Like I said I get where you're coming from but as I said before even if you change the DH rules the parks still aren't uniform. And weather conditions in various parks cause games to play different. I just don't see that making everything uniform actually matters because I don't see the impact on wins and losses. No matter what the case both teams playing at a stadium play by the same rules. It's not like NL teams don't get the DH when they go to AL stadiums and vice versa.

 

[Parade_Rain]

As fun as it is to watch Lester bat, I would much rather see Baez hit

I would much rather watch Maddon work strategy, such as double switches, etc. The AL is essentially on autopilot once the lineup card is submitted except for pitching changes.

 

[Diehardfan]

I would much rather watch Maddon work strategy, such as double switches, etc. The AL is essentially on autopilot once the lineup card is submitted except for pitching changes.

Even that is effected as you never have to PH for the pitcher which allows him to stay in the game even if his team is behind. What you're saying is my biggest ***** about the DH...it dummies down the manager, so having a good manager isn't the advantage it should be.

It will never go away...I've given up on that. At least if it hits the NL, the Cubs are more than ready for it.

 

[beckdawg]

I would much rather watch Maddon work strategy, such as double switches, etc. The AL is essentially on autopilot once the lineup card is submitted except for pitching changes.

The other aspect I like about the NL is you get more platoon benches because playing the PH match up matters more where as honestly with the AL you usually just go with split neutral guys. And because of that in the NL I feel like you will often see more platoon spots in line ups which certainly isn't a bad thing and at times(see Cogs/Deon platoon last season) turns out to be a really strong position "player."