I'm a baseball purist. I am a fan of one of the oldest franchises in MLB (the Philadelphia Phillies), love small ball and 4-6-3 double plays (and, attempts by baserunners to break up double plays). I loathe American League baseball, and became a fan of the Royals during the past two post seasons because they play like a NL team.
And I absolutely hate the designated hitter in MLB and think we should discuss adding it in the SDMB League at the major league level.
We currently have the DH in the minors, but it's not used in the college or high school leagues. Allowing the DH at all levels will allow position-less batters a chance to play, and save teams from possibly having an albatross contract.
I don't know if this is a good idea, and if it will help non-Seattle teams to compete better, but I think it is worthy of discussion.
Any thoughts?
John Grondin is so excited that you have suggested this.
ReplyDeleteI do not think it will help us all catch Seattle. I know personally right now, I do not have another bat to plug into the extra spot in the lineup, but Seattle has a couple dozen. That will change with Mike Peoples gets into the Majors in a season or two, as he is not good in the field, but now I would have to put in Evanoff and find another OF and that is just not good for anyone involved.
It is pitching that we lack in this league not batting, so personally, I do not think this will help or hurt the league.
That is just my opinion, I could be (and probably am) wrong.
I don't know if me weighing in one one side of this or the other is helpful. I think people could rationally say, for example, "Seattle is against this proposal? Then we're for it!"
ReplyDeleteRegardless of that possible effect though, I'll take the wishy-washy position. I'm fine either direction on this issue. As a long-time AL guy I was vigorously in favor of the DH at the major league level in the league for a lot of years. I think some all-time greats (Brian Frison, as an example) could have had their careers extended by playing DH and I think that world is more fun than relegating someone like that to pinch-hitting duties. But I've softened on that and gotten used to no DHs. It's always kind of fun to go to a box score and see that some pitcher unexpectedly hit a home run or collected a couple hits.
So, in the end, my opinion is now, "Meh. Whatever." And whenever I can chime in to take absolutely no position on an issue, I'm happy to do so.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI would love a DL spot for some of my 'massive bat / no glove' guys, and I grew up an AL guy, so yeah, I wouldn't mind having the DL.
ReplyDeleteThe radical decision, of course, is to split us into two leagues (AL / NL) and have DH in only one league. We draw straws to see who gets put in to the league with Seattle :-)
I don't have a strong opinion on this one way or the other. I set up the league without a DH because that's my preference, but it's certainly not something that I wouldn't change if enough people wanted to have one.
ReplyDeleteHowever, just to address Scott's point, I don't think having split rules is the answer. :) Either all in or all out.
Zev
Yes, by all means bring on the DH!
ReplyDeleteWhile we're at it, can we get Edgar Martinez in the HOF, please? (Sorry, couldn't resist.)
I had an intelligent, witty response to post yesterday, but it got eaten ( I think from trying to post from a work computer). I was raised an AL guy (Orioles), so I am pro DH and think we should use it. Don't think it will help with catching Seattle, unfortunately, as he will also have more guns to fill his DH spot.
ReplyDeleteYeah, you are all right about evening things up with Seattle. And, Jeremy, while Grondin would appreciate it in the short term, I was thinking 5+ seasons from now, as current superstars will be approaching DH status (example on my team: Tomas Kalakay).
ReplyDeleteBy my count, three yes votes (Matt, Scott, and Bill), and a few "I don't care" votes (Zev, Mack, and Jeremy). I'm leaning "yes", as I wouldn't have suggested it if I didn't want to consider it.
In real life, I love that the leagues are split because I think their are pros and cons to both ways. In this league, I'm leaning more towards having a DH - there are only so many players (really, 1) that I can stick at 1B when they lose all defensive prowess, so this would be a good way to get more use out of those players.
ReplyDeleteYou can put me in the same column as Michael - leaning yes, but not a strong opinion either way.
i have no problem with having a DH
ReplyDeleteI am a National fan (Padres) so I'm not a fan of the DH rule but, I think it would be cool to have split leagues with one having DH and one without. And I would love to be in the same league as Seattle.
ReplyDeleteGuess i'm late to this party lol but I also am a National league fan and one who doesn't like the DH rule. I think that having a DH in this game will make the pitcher be used more and unless you have elite talent like a (Seattle or division leaders) your pitcher will have a higher ERA and rebuilding teams like mine are already getting pounded just about every night. So I say Nay to DH.
ReplyDelete