Bye-bye NL Baseball

[Bobster21]

535B586F795C7B741A0 wrote: I don’t love baseball because of the watchability factor. On its face, baseball isn’t “watchable.” It’s actually rather boring with not a lot of action. I don’t care. I love it anyway, the same as I like watching golf. Yeah, it’s fun seeing guys boom 350 yard drives, but every tour player will tell you they make their money from 150 yards and in. I like small ball. I like sacrifice bunts. I like managers needing to decide if they want to pull a good pitcher in the bottom of the sixth inning in a 1-1 game, or try and get a run across with guys on second and third, two outs, and the pitcher’s spot up.



I like the opposing manager knowing the pitcher is in the hole, and playing a game of risk/reward to potentially IBB the bases full and make his counterpart make a decision.



This is to say nothing of the advantage teams have when their pitcher can actually hit. Think if Ohtani played in the NL. His team would have a HUGE advantage every five days. I realize Ohtani isn’t the best example, but you get the idea.



Here’s AL baseball summed up...sit around and wait for a three run jack. That’s it. It’s boring as hell. I have MLB.tv, and I can count on one hand the number of AL games I watch every year. This universal DH is the next step in the Yankees/Red Sox protection plan.



This idea won’t ruin baseball, but it won’t be good for the game. Sad reality is they THINK this will be good for the game because it “attracts younger fans,” “is more exciting,” and all that. Baseball is fine just as it is. The old adage still applies...if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
The argument has always been that the DH adds offense and offense adds fans. However, there is never a discernible difference between attendance in the 2 leagues. But I guess we aren't supposed to let facts get in the way of a good excuse.

[gileszee]

At least we will see less of Josh Bell's defense on the field with the DH, silver lining to a circumstance that I am not happy about otherwise.

[2drfischer@gmail.c]

2E20252C3A332C2C490 wrote: At least we will see less of Josh Bell's defense on the field with the DH, silver lining to a circumstance that I am not happy about otherwise.


But a players defensive liabilities (or offensive ones) are a major factor in a manager's filling out his line-up card each night, a strategic decision that needs to be made in the NL even before the first pitch is thrown.  How many games throughout history, especially big games, were effected or even determined just from that?  That's why to me the NL game will always be superior.  It's not always what happens on the field is the only thing that matters.

[NJBucsFan]

I realize the DH is inevitable at some point. It's probably appropriate if it's brought on by a worldwide pandemic.

[DemDog]

I am a traditionalist at heart. Don't like the DH, 3 batter rule, instant replay, pierogi races, hot dogs and t-shirts fired out of an air canon, grooming the infield every 3 innings, quiz games on the scoreboard and those with Inkman giving away some goof prize. You get the gist of it guys.



But, I have to change my ways to some extent. I grew up with muscle cars with big V-8 normally aspired engines from the likes of Chevy, Buick, Pontiac, Olds, Plymouth, Dodge and the like. Now days you can get cars with just as good performance that are using 4 cylinder or 6 cylinder engines with fuel injection, or turbo power.



So maybe I have to get into the future of what baseball might look like whether I like it or not.



I will go with the DH for sure, instant replay for HRs only, centerfield cameras that some way block the view of the catcher's signs to the pitcher, maybe a designated fielder(for either Bell or Moran).



My grandkids are young enough to not really know much about the game and the live in an AL city anyway that some of these ideas will not ruin the game for them.

[MaineBucs]

Disappointed that the DH is part of the package to have ML baseball return this summer.



And, if teams can carry 30 players as is being talked about, and there are many less opportunities for a pinch hitter, every team will either be carrying 15 pitchers or there will be a lot of players who never leave the bench.



Lastly, hard to believe that Little League games from my youth may actually end up having had more fans in the stands than what there will be when (if) MLB returns. Guess we won't have too much trouble hearing the crack of the bat on a hard hit ball.

[shedman]

Possum just about sums it up for me; "Don't like the DH, 3 batter rule, instant replay, pierogi races, hot dogs and t-shirts fired out of an air canon, grooming the infield every 3 innings, quiz games on the scoreboard and those with Inkman giving away some goof prize. You get the gist of it guys."



But I am even more annoyed by an owner like Nutting who uses baseball to further enrich himself at the expense of Pirate fans everywhere.

[johnfluharty]

I'm not a purist.  I don't mind rule changes - even the DH.   What i want is for the games to be about baseball and not two guys in the booth chatting and I hate that it seems to take 30 to 40 seconds between pitches.  Get the ball, throw the ball.  Stay in the box and stop adjusting your stupid gloves.  Anything else I can handle.

[GreenWeenie]

I've made this point before.  If the best thing is to get rid of the worst hitter in the line-up, why stop there?  Bat the nine best hitters, regardless of whether they can play adequate defense or not, and find nine other guys who can play the best defense.  Defenders of the DH say that goes too far.  Why, if it's nonstop excitement they want?


I've never heard one DH advocate make that suggestion. Not one. I talk with my fair share of baseball fans, and the only person I've heard that from is you. With so little talk about it, I don't buy it as a true objection.



Look at reality, not "conceptions." Reality is that it took about 100 years for DH implementation, and that was for only one of the MLB leagues.



Somewhere around 40 years after that, the other league might finally get in the game.



So, that's about 140 years for one DH. Reality says that it might not be "stopped", but it's stopped.



Secondly, we have roster sizes. At 25 men on a team, it's stopped. How long does it take for MLB to expand rosters, knowing that BOB won't increase payroll?



Finally, even IF there were nine DHs on a club, there would be nothing wrong with it. It still comes down to one man trying to get a hit and nine other guys trying to get him out. Other sports have specialists, and no one ***bats*** an eye. With roster size limits, though, forget it.



The bottom line is, I'll enjoy the game either way. It still comes down to one guy trying to get a hit off some other guy and eight teammates trying to get him out. May the best men win.



And, may the best men be Pirates. That's what really matters.



Sadly, the best men aren't Pirates often enough to satisfy me.

[Surgnbuck]

There's no use trying to get through some of your heads. The NL has been using a defacto DH for quite some time now, just too many oldtimers hanging onto to old time notions.



The NL version of the DH is awful though, because after your starting pitcher gets that one, MAYBE two AB's in a game you oh so crave, the rest of the time, those AB's are taken by guys who hit about as well as most pitchers anyhow.



But go ahead, keep telling us these magical stories about pitchers hitting, strategy, and so on. That doesn't exist in the real world, and hasn't for over 30-40 years. Bullpens have been specialized long before people GAFF about who the 7th inning reliever was prior to fantasy baseball.



Time to open up your eyes old guys. You've BEEN watching the DH, however, there's no amount of proving it to you to ever get to you to agree.



Just go with it. Unless you make a rule where a starting pitcher has to stay in until he doesn't want to be in, the DH point is moot. Give me someone who is competent at bat, instead of Brian Bixler now getting 2 AB's because of the oh so brilliant double switch with two outs in the fifth inning.