Going to the movies isn’t a sacrament.
Except that they CAN’T HIT in the first place. They in general don’t invest much of their time into this ancient and hallowed art of yours, so why should I sit there and watch them flail away helplessly when I could see a Big Papi park one over the Monster?
I’ve rarely read such a pretentious load of bollocks on this board before.
Pitchers hitting is going to go the way of the dodo. I’d peg the NL adopting the DH as happening before 2030 or so. Get used to it.
As king, my benevolence would extend to democratic notions regarding the DH. National league fans would be allowed to vote at their local stadiums once every three years. If the NL fans want to see pitchers looking foolish at the plate, so be it. AL fans would also be allowed to vote on a repeal.
There is an image benefit to having pitchers bat in the NL. It makes the best pitchers seem even more dominant. Guys like Scherzer and Kershaw would have less gaudy stats in the AL.
This is the other false argument that annoys me in baseball threads. Here’s the year-by-year game averages for the AL and the NL. Where’s the gap between “little ball” and “boop and a blast”? I guess I’ve been watching too much of the Royals and the rest of the AL Central lately - because they’ve been doing “small ball” better than anyone else for a while now.
Pretty sure that was satirical. Unless you’re being satirical.
He still fell short of claiming that a pitcher, having “earned” a turn at-bat just like the fat kid out in right field, is able to be superlatively sportsmanlike by granting that turn to another player. 
The faction that claims to actually *want *to see weak outs every 9th AB, because that’s what Serious Fans say, has been heard from, their appeals have been heard, the ruling is that view cannot be reasonably held, and they will now submit to their thrashings.
You know why I don’t like the DH? Sure, I object to the idea of old one-dimensional players prolonging their careers, that’s one element of it, but the big reason is that it takes strategy out of the game. Let’s all agree that the pitcher can’t hit. So, every time the pitcher comes up to bat a decision has to be made: does he hit and continue to pitch, or does he get taken out of the game? Will he sustain his performance in the next few innings enough to make that worthwhile? If you take him out of a game he has thus far performed well in for a momentary advantage in the batting order will the next pitcher do as well in future innings?
The AL has none of this nuance, just a guy swinging from the heels. There is no cost/benefit because now you just pitch a guy until he’s visibly tired and pull him for the next guy.
I don’t like the DH either but pitching has changed.
The starter is only going 5-6 innings anyways and the successive relievers either won’t bat during their inning or two or it’s trivial to replace them as they’re coming out anyway.
Has anyone ever gone to the ballpark thinking “Oooh, I hope I get to see a double switch today!” ? 
The next decree: No more rule requiring every team to be represented at the All-Star Game. If all your guys suck, too damn bad. Go get some better ones.
Are the fans still allowed to vote? If so, stop that right now.
That is incorrect, to a certain extent. A lot of that “strategy” is simply forced moves that any manager would make. Pitcher spot leading off, you’re down by 2 and it’s the 7th, he gets pinch hit for. In a DH league it may not be 100% obvious he is losing it, so there you get an actual choice to yank him, or not (cough Grady Little cough)
Pitcher up 1st and 2nd nobody out, tied in the 3rd, he’s bunting, no real choice there either. True strategy involves alternatives. Yeah, you’ll occasionally get a true dilemma there sometimes (or the choice to double-switch thank you Elvis), but that kind of thing is a bit overrated.
[I’ll just note kaylasdad99 had come down against the DH on page one, so I doubt I was Poe’d there…]
Hey, I’m a Mariner fan. We have weak outs every 4 or 5 at bats.
As a Royals fan, I’ll just apologize for the Mark Redmonds, Ken Harveys, and Mike MacDougals on the roster. We weren’t excited to see them, I can’t imagine how unexcited everyone else was.
I just now saw this thread, and as a baseball fan I feel compelled to comment. Lots of good suggestions so far, so lots of these are “me too” items.
Get rid of the DH.
NO INTERLEAGUE PLAY
No expanded replay. Expanding the replay would take us down the road the NFL is currently facing–that is, refs are afraid to make a definitive call. How many times in NFL games do we see refs looking at each other like “what do we do?” and the spectacle where one ref throws a flag and then three others follow suit. Did they actually see anything? No, they’re just tossing flags in solidarity. Then they all huddle up (“what did you see?” “what did YOU see?” “what did you see?”). Then they hope that replay bails them out.
NO INTERLEAGUE PLAY
No stepping out of the batter’s box unless you just got buzzed with a knock-down pitch or foul a ball off yourself. I don’t mind a moment to gather your senses. But no other exceptions.
I like an unbalanced schedule where you play teams in your division more often than the non-division teams.
If you make it to the bag before being tagged, you are SAFE. If you happen to lose contact with the bag while switching hands, you are still safe. If you are on the bag and pop up to a standing position and your foot happens to lose contact for a microsecond, you are safe. You beat the tag, you are SAFE. However, if you overslide the bag and lose contact, then you are still a live player and can be tagged out.
No in-game interviews. I’m watching the game on TV and the game itself is relegated to a tiny little box in the corner while you ask insipid questions? Screw that.
NO INTERLEAGUE PLAY
A team has two uniforms. A home uni and an away uni.
Walk-up music? SAD. Get rid of it.
I love the idea of at least 5 scheduled double-headers.
All teams must be named for cities. Not regions, states, or bodies of water.
NO INTERLEAGUE PLAY
But in baseball, there’s only one official making any particular call.
Last game I watched, it took 20-30 seconds after a play ended for the ball to come back to the pitcher.
During that time, the network showed two replays of the just ended play. An on-site review of a close play could be done in a few seconds, if it’s close enough to warrant a closer look, the umpires can be signaled that a review is underway.
Having a hard time imagining the difference between switching hands, losing contact (safe) and oversliding, losing contact (out). In one cease, it’s hand to hand. In the other case, they can say hand to foot or foot to hand. I get the overall point, I think. Like plays at first, basically you can run (slide) through the base as long as you beat the throw and don’t make the turn?
No, if you overslide, you’re still fair game. You make a clean slide in, the ump calls you safe and the infielder stands there with the ball on your back while you try to stand up without losing contact with the base for even a split second.
The difference is, in my SAFE scenario you are still on/over the bag. The bag is still in your possession as it were. You made it.
However, if you slide past the bag then you are no longer in possession of it. You were not in control of where you needed to end up.
I’ve seen replay calls where a runner is obviously is safe but is now called out because of a momentary shift of body position while still over the bag. Guy slides in feet first, beats the throw/tag by a good two seconds and then pops up to a standing position. He never lost “possession” of the bag IMO even though the transfer of his body into a standing position caused a sliver of airspace between his foot and the bag. He gets called out on replay. In my Baseball Kingdom, he’s still safe.
This is obviously a different scenario than the guy who overslides the bag and is desperately crab-crawling back to reach it and is met by the grinning infielder who (rightfully) tags him out.
Ah, okay. Took me a little while, but it makes sense now, thank you. I can get behind that rule change. Except when the play is in front of Adrian Beltre or we’d miss out on some shenanigans.
I had no idea there was such concern over a variety of uniforms. I don’t care that the Mariners have a different *Sunday Home Game *uniform. I wouldn’t miss it if they didn’t do it, but it really doesn’t matter. I like the blue, green and white options they have for home and away games. Just, please god, don’t go “color rush” like the NFL
Non american here - but one with a srong interest in baseball. The biggest bugbear for me is the time-wasting in the game.
Let me tell you what’s wrong with your game:D:D:D:D:D:D:D
- Yes, pitchers should bat.
- 2 pitchers only per team per game. Sorry, this ‘Bring in a guy to pitch middle-innings against left-handed vegetarians-on-alternate-mondays,but-only-if-the-team-has-a-two-run-lead-and-there’s-a-runner-on-second’ is silly. You pick player to pitch - if he’s having a rough day - you have one replacement. Injuries - put an outfielder on the mound. Sure, you’ll blow out a few arms straight away, but then pitchers will get themselves fit to throw a full game.
- That applies to batters and fielders as well. One in-game replacement only. If you need another, well, there’s that spare pitcher sitting there.
- In other words - 9 men on the field, 2 on the bench. Pick your best players, play your best players.
- Helmets, gloves, shin-pads only for batter protection. Umpires still make calls on whether there was ‘intent to hit batter’. Throw behind the batter - you’re out of there - no arguments. You’re a major-league pitcher! If you are going to aim for the guy, you should be able to hit him!:p:p:p:p
- When you enter the batters box, you’re in the game. If you step out, your choice, but the pitcher can still throw it whenever he wants. (Balk rules still apply). If the catcher catches a pitch and you’re out of the box, he touches home plate and you’re out. (Umps can still call time for injuries etc).
- A foul tip is out. The ball hit the bat, a fielder caught it - that’s out!
- An intentional walk means all runners advance - even if first is open. Yes, he’s a big, scary home-run hitter - you’re job is to get him out, not chicken out.
- Managers - get off the field. You can talk to the players when they are in the dugout.
If you would like any further assistance on any other issues that need resolution, I’m available at standard consultation rates.