One of the unfortunate rules of this particular plane of existence is that you can't change what is real merely by having contempt for it. So in keeping with the Whether You Like It Or Not Doctrine, you should know that the designated hitter is eventually coming to the National League.
The NL, of course, has never used the DH except in road games against AL teams. The AL, meantime, has used the DH since 1973, but there's increasing momentum for the leagues to have uniform playing rules. That's why the NL is going to adopt the DH, likely in time for the 2022 season. Fans of a traditionalist bent of course don't care for this. Even though pitchers are bad at hitting and gradually getting worse -- they're selected for their pitching skills, not their hitting -- a sizable demographic of fans loathe the idea of the DH in the NL. (This is despite the fact that an NL president first formally proposed the rule back in 1928.) However, the DH is used in pretty much every other level of serious organized baseball, and owners are becoming more and more hesitant to see their expensive hurlers risking injury on the bases and otherwise boring the hell out of everyone at the plate. The DH is coming to the NL whether anyone likes it or not.
So proceeding from that firm assumption, let's concoct a compromise solution that will make everyone slightly mad but at the same time make DH bitter-enders slightly less mad than would the full onset of the DH era in the National League.
The big idea? The home team of a given game gets to choose whether the DH is used.
The DH is coming, The DH is coming!
- CardsofSTL
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The DH is coming, The DH is coming!
How MLB could make a designated hitter compromise and occasionally keep pitchers at the plate
- Joe Shlabotnik
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Re: The DH is coming, The DH is coming!
Isn't there a proposal for DH only as long as the starter is in the game? If your going to have a DH, I like that idea. It also helps get rid of the 'opener' idea of using the bullpen to start a game.
- CardsofSTL
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Re: The DH is coming, The DH is coming!
I think there are a few different proposals getting tossed around. The one in the article linked above seems unlikely to me. But I give them points for trying to be creative.Joe Shlabotnik wrote:Isn't there a proposal for DH only as long as the starter is in the game? If your going to have a DH, I like that idea. It also helps get rid of the 'opener' idea of using the bullpen to start a game.
- InvincibleCakeEater
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Re: The DH is coming, The DH is coming!
Pitchers hit .128 .159 .163 .322 last year. 50 years ago they hit .140 .183 .184 .367.
It's amazing to me that people willfully want to watch that [expletive].
It's amazing to me that people willfully want to watch that [expletive].
- JoeMcKim
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Re: The DH is coming, The DH is coming!
Basically people are fine with having guys hitting at the major league level who couldn't hit at the rookie ball level. I like a lot of the late game strategy that having a pitcher means but not to the point of having an automatic out the rest of the game. Right now when you get to the 8th place spot in the lineup with 2 outs you basically give that batter a free walk a lot of the time because the pitcher batting 9th has next to no chance of getting a base hit. The 8th place hitter who's usually the weakest hitting position player and he gets a free base. So basically means you have 7 real spots in the order that can produce.InvincibleCakeEater wrote:Pitchers hit .128 .159 .163 .322 last year. 50 years ago they hit .140 .183 .184 .367.
It's amazing to me that people willfully want to watch that [expletive].
- TheoSqua
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Re: The DH is coming, The DH is coming!
I really like the idea of tying the DH to the starting pitcher. I also like the idea of letting the home team determine if the DH is in effect for that game. I wouldn't mind tying the 3 batter minimum to the DH as well. Want a LOOGY? NO DH FOR YOU!
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Re: The DH is coming, The DH is coming!
I'm all for the idea of having a DH for the starter. Then you have to use pinch hitters the rest of the game for your relievers. That works for me as a compromise as long as it applies to both leagues.
I do not like the idea of the home team choosing whether there is a DH on a game by game basis though. Suddenly you are in a position where if one team has a dominant DH that can change a game with one swing but is terrible at defense (like most DH's are I assume), they can effectively be taken out of a huge chunk of games during the season simply because the other teams don't want to face them and they are enough of a defensive liability that their team can't risk running them out into the field for half of the season. I know that is an extreme example/excuse as to why I don't like it, but it is what it is.
I do not like the idea of the home team choosing whether there is a DH on a game by game basis though. Suddenly you are in a position where if one team has a dominant DH that can change a game with one swing but is terrible at defense (like most DH's are I assume), they can effectively be taken out of a huge chunk of games during the season simply because the other teams don't want to face them and they are enough of a defensive liability that their team can't risk running them out into the field for half of the season. I know that is an extreme example/excuse as to why I don't like it, but it is what it is.
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Re: The DH is coming, The DH is coming!
Understood. But, letting them hit also speeds up the game, alleviates stress on pitchers arms, and can arguably bring more strategory into the game though there's certainly a case it doesn't. Plus, who doesn't want to watch Flaherty run the bases...er...well, maybe that's a point in favor of the DH.InvincibleCakeEater wrote:Pitchers hit .128 .159 .163 .322 last year. 50 years ago they hit .140 .183 .184 .367.
It's amazing to me that people willfully want to watch that [expletive].
I don't think it's as simple as 'do you want to watch a pitcher hit' though.
- ndistops
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Re: The DH is coming, The DH is coming!
The DH is arcade nonsense, but the fact is, once they instituted it at so many other levels of baseball, it was inevitably going to result in MLB pitchers getting even worse at hitting. They might as well just get it over with.
- GeddyWrox
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Re: The DH is coming, The DH is coming!
I'm tired of MLB hemming and hawwing over this. Just do it already. Give us the DH. Haters will get over it.