# MLB Contempating DH Rule for NL by 2017 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 21, 2016, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-contempating-dh-rule-for-nl-by-2017/743834 "2016-01-21T22:56:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-contempating-dh-rule-for-nl-by-2017/743834/1 "2016-01-21T22:56:11Z")
Per [Bleacher Report](http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2609911-mlb-exploring-adding-designated-hitter-to-nl-latest-details-reaction?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial) Doesn’t this offend the purists in the National League camp? (Doesn’t bother me a lick, personally, since I’m an AL fan.) ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-contempating-dh-rule-for-nl-by-2017/743834/2 "2016-01-21T22:58:00Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Doesn’t this offend the purists in the National League camp? I would say that many will be quite upset by this proposal. I’m not one of them, but this will be a huge controversy. Probably bigger than when the AL adopted it. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-contempating-dh-rule-for-nl-by-2017/743834/3 "2016-01-21T23:01:30Z")
I’m an AL fan (Orioles) and I think the DH should be abolished. I tentatively supported it as an experiment, then for decades was neutral, and in recent years have gone to the “get rid of it” camp. The pitcher is a player, and should bat just as all the other players do. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-contempating-dh-rule-for-nl-by-2017/743834/4 "2016-01-21T23:03:49Z")
I am not merely offended, I am sickened. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-contempating-dh-rule-for-nl-by-2017/743834/5 "2016-01-21T23:12:19Z")
With season long interleague play , it was inevitable. It really won’t bother me. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-contempating-dh-rule-for-nl-by-2017/743834/6 "2016-01-21T23:17:01Z")
Either implement it in the NL, or abolish it in the AL. I don’t give a shit, but let’s get it together boys. Different rules? Bush league. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-contempating-dh-rule-for-nl-by-2017/743834/7 "2016-01-22T00:27:03Z")
I grew up in an AL-area, then moved to an NL-area. I primarily follow two teams, one in each league. I used to prefer the DH rule - who wants to see a pitcher try to hit? But I’ve come to hate it - who wants to watch some fat or old guy too slow to play in the field? I think having pitchers bat adds to the game, with tougher choices later in the game, fewer plunkings (or at least more consequences), a reduction of prima donnas who can’t be troubled to bat or play in the field, and a number of pitchers who can actually hit (go MadBum!). So I’d be pissed if they went to a DH. Much better to get rid of it in the AL. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-contempating-dh-rule-for-nl-by-2017/743834/8 "2016-01-22T01:06:01Z")
That does it; I’m moving to Australia and becoming a cricket fan. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-contempating-dh-rule-for-nl-by-2017/743834/9 "2016-01-22T01:06:32Z")
I used to be a NL fan and then we moved and the local-est team is AL. I never understood the whole DH thing and after watching for a few years I’m like **TroutMan** ; I hate it. (And I say this as a Rangers fan who has come to admire Prince Fielder much more than I expected to.) It’s baseball. Play it or don’t but don’t get a special rule to let you play half of it! I will be very sad if they do DH everywhere. It’s really about how much money pitchers are making and how nobody wants to risk that million dollar arm standing at the plate (and maybe being thrown at), right? ---
**Author:** ![Stormcrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/0ea827/32.png) [@Stormcrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stormcrow)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-contempating-dh-rule-for-nl-by-2017/743834/10 "2016-01-22T01:13:40Z")
I think they’re less interested in if the pitcher gets thrown at (it doesn’t really happen anyway, even in the NL) as they are in increasing offense, and limiting freak pitcher injuries, like Adam Wainwright last season. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-contempating-dh-rule-for-nl-by-2017/743834/11 "2016-01-22T01:29:37Z")
I’m not a purist when it comes to change in baseball. I can handle the World Series being played at night. But this is beyond the pale! ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-contempating-dh-rule-for-nl-by-2017/743834/12 "2016-01-22T01:50:22Z")
I’m very much not a fan of the addition of the DH to the National League. If I could I’d abolish it in the American League. But, as it is firmly entrenched in the AL, I don’t see any reason to change anything now. Two different styles of baseball, appealing to two different kinds of fans, is fine with me. Besides, any right-thinking baseball fan already prefers the National League, not the bastard Johnny-come-latelys in the AL with their corrupted form of baseball. Any fat slob can swing from the heels 3-5 times a game. It takes a real man to brush back a hitter and then step up to the plate and take his lumps, occasionally even helping his own cause. Plus, no Yankees in the NL, which automatically makes it a better league by default. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-contempating-dh-rule-for-nl-by-2017/743834/13 "2016-01-22T02:06:42Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Either implement it in the NL, or abolish it in the AL. I don’t give a shit, but let’s get it together boys. Different rules? Bush league. No, maintaining a difference between the leagues is fun. ---
**Author:** ![Carnacki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Carnacki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnacki)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-contempating-dh-rule-for-nl-by-2017/743834/14 "2016-01-22T02:24:44Z")
I guess if they switch to the DH rule in the NL, maybe then they’ll finally fix Rule 1.01 of Major League Baseball, which the AL is currently breaking? “1.00–OBJECTIVES OF THE GAME 1.01 (1.01) Baseball is a game between two teams of nine players each,” ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-contempating-dh-rule-for-nl-by-2017/743834/15 "2016-01-22T02:28:23Z")
the DH is an abomination getting the DH in the NL would just be another sign of the breakdown of our society ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-contempating-dh-rule-for-nl-by-2017/743834/16 "2016-01-22T02:32:54Z")
When I was a fan I hated the DH, Braves fan, but since I’m no longer a fan I don’t care as much. The older I get the less I like baseball. I still think the DH should have never been adopted. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-contempating-dh-rule-for-nl-by-2017/743834/17 "2016-01-22T03:00:13Z")
> [@Carnacki](#): > > I guess if they switch to the DH rule in the NL, maybe then they’ll finally fix Rule 1.01 of Major League Baseball, which the AL is currently breaking? > > “1.00–OBJECTIVES OF THE GAME > 1.01 (1.01) Baseball is a game between two teams of nine players each,” What about the benches and bullpens, then? No, you have to assume that the “teams” here refer to the fielders versus the lineups. Each side is a set of nine _at a time_. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-contempating-dh-rule-for-nl-by-2017/743834/18 "2016-01-22T04:34:27Z")
> [@Carnacki](#): > > I guess if they switch to the DH rule in the NL, maybe then they’ll finally fix Rule 1.01 of Major League Baseball, which the AL is currently breaking? > > “1.00–OBJECTIVES OF THE GAME > 1.01 (1.01) Baseball is a game between two teams of nine players each,” MLB teams have at least 25 players each. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-contempating-dh-rule-for-nl-by-2017/743834/19 "2016-01-22T04:53:31Z")
There’s very few true DH’s in the game, and AL teams tend to rotate their DH among position players to give them a breather. Plus they sub pitchers like crazy to coddle them, keep their innings low. No DH in the NL means less coddling and more strategy for pitcher substitutions. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-contempating-dh-rule-for-nl-by-2017/743834/20 "2016-01-22T05:02:38Z")
I’m still more pissed about inter-league play than this. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-contempating-dh-rule-for-nl-by-2017/743834.md?page=2)