The DH is coming, The DH is coming!

Discuss all things Cardinals Baseball

How will you feel about the DH being implemented across all of MLB?

Hate it
12
36%
Love it
5
15%
EH
16
48%
 
Total votes: 33

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Kincaid
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Re: The DH is coming, The DH is coming!

Post by Kincaid »

Famous Mortimer wrote:I find the increasing ultra-specialisation of sport boring. It just smooths out all the fun little wrinkles and inconsistencies that make sport what it is. Perhaps if "we" expected pitchers to be better hitters, they'd practice more, and the all-rounder would be a more common thing than a random sack of flesh who can throw 101.
The argument for the DH is that ultra-specialization of pitchers already happened without it. The DH is a response to that specialization rather than a cause of it. Pitchers as all-around players was the original idea in the early days of the game, but after the switch to overhand pitching (the original rules called for underhand, as in "pitching" horseshoes), the position became specialized pretty quickly because the pitcher has vastly more impact by how well he can get batters out than by how well he hits over a few PAs. By the start of the 20th century, teams had already stopped caring how well pitchers hit and basically only selected them based on their pitching ability. Even before the DH, it's happened that a pitcher has gone an entire season as a starter without getting a single hit and it never jeopardized his job.

You occasionally get a pitcher who can hit, but teams view it as a bonus and don't really decide playing time by it. Micah Owings for example spent the latter half of his career in the bullpen (in the NL) even though he was a good enough hitter to also pinch hit because his teams preferred to have a marginally better pitcher at the back of their rotation rather than get Owings' bat in the lineup. MLB's history pre-DH (and the NL post-DH) indicates pretty strongly that even when pitchers have to hit, teams still prefer the guy who can throw 101 but can't hit to an even slightly worse pitcher who hits well.

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Joe Shlabotnik
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Re: The DH is coming, The DH is coming!

Post by Joe Shlabotnik »

wart57 wrote: I have better things to argue about, like why Fig Newtons are cookies.
Exactly.

BTW, I'm sure you meant why Fig Newtons aren't cookies, right?

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wart57
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Re: The DH is coming, The DH is coming!

Post by wart57 »

Joe Shlabotnik wrote:
wart57 wrote: I have better things to argue about, like why Fig Newtons are cookies.
Exactly.

BTW, I'm sure you meant why Fig Newtons aren't cookies, right?
Image

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JoeMcKim
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Re: The DH is coming, The DH is coming!

Post by JoeMcKim »

It would be a good idea if the hometeam had the option of choosing the type of rules they used in a game. Like say the Angels have Shohei Ohtani pitching and know the opposing team have no pitchers that can hit at all. That would be a strategic advantage for them in that game and it would also strengthen the value of home field advantage in a game. I want to improve the hitting of the 9th place hitter in the lineup and also be able to keep strategy in the game. Doing stuff like that would just change the kind of strategy that a manager had to do.

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TheoSqua
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Re: The DH is coming, The DH is coming!

Post by TheoSqua »

I'm all for anything that adds a bit more flexibility to the game. One of Baseball's biggest struggles with creating stars and excitement is that the game is equally turn based.

In basketball LeBron James takes way more shots than their 5th best player. Alex Ovechkin takes more shots than their #6 Defenseman. Julio Jones gets more targets than the #5 slot receiver.

In most sports, the game or coach has the ability to put in your biggest stars in the game's biggest moments.

I like the Baseball is a bit different and unique in that regard. It's truly a team game. But I wouldn't hate if the game came up with some flexibility to the standard lineup to increase the times the best players in the game come up during the most important moments.

For example, what if the DH could be removed in exchange for rearranging the lineup? Say the Angels are down by 2 runs in the 7th, they have runners at 1st and 3rd with two outs and Trout is 4 batters away. They could forfeit their DH slot in exchange for moving Trout up in the lineup.

It doesn't seem any more complicated than a double-switch, can only happen once in the game, and increases the number of times your best hitter is up to bat when it matters.

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GeddyWrox
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Re: The DH is coming, The DH is coming!

Post by GeddyWrox »

TheoSqua wrote:....
For example, what if the DH could be removed in exchange for rearranging the lineup? Say the Angels are down by 2 runs in the 7th, they have runners at 1st and 3rd with two outs and Trout is 4 batters away. They could forfeit their DH slot in exchange for moving Trout up in the lineup.

It doesn't seem any more complicated than a double-switch, can only happen once in the game, and increases the number of times your best hitter is up to bat when it matters.
It's like the castle move in chess! Sheer anarchy!

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TheoSqua
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Re: The DH is coming, The DH is coming!

Post by TheoSqua »

GeddyWrox wrote:
TheoSqua wrote:....
For example, what if the DH could be removed in exchange for rearranging the lineup? Say the Angels are down by 2 runs in the 7th, they have runners at 1st and 3rd with two outs and Trout is 4 batters away. They could forfeit their DH slot in exchange for moving Trout up in the lineup.

It doesn't seem any more complicated than a double-switch, can only happen once in the game, and increases the number of times your best hitter is up to bat when it matters.
It's like the castle move in chess! Sheer anarchy!
My Dad still swears that's cheating.

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Kincaid
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Re: The DH is coming, The DH is coming!

Post by Kincaid »

Vladimir Kramnik would be pleased with the direction this discussion has taken.

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GeddyWrox
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Re: The DH is coming, The DH is coming!

Post by GeddyWrox »

TheoSqua wrote:
GeddyWrox wrote:
TheoSqua wrote:....
For example, what if the DH could be removed in exchange for rearranging the lineup? Say the Angels are down by 2 runs in the 7th, they have runners at 1st and 3rd with two outs and Trout is 4 batters away. They could forfeit their DH slot in exchange for moving Trout up in the lineup.

It doesn't seem any more complicated than a double-switch, can only happen once in the game, and increases the number of times your best hitter is up to bat when it matters.
It's like the castle move in chess! Sheer anarchy!
My Dad still swears that's cheating.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castling

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Leroy
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Re: The DH is coming, The DH is coming!

Post by Leroy »

Why not just make the DH pitch to one batter for every time he bats?

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