the Designated Hitter

I’ve noticed that no one has started a thread like this in Great Debates, so I will start it:

The Designated Hitter in the American League… for or against?

Y’know, I read “the designated Hitler” and was expecting another Bush bashing thread.

BTW, this probably belongs in IMHO.

IMHO…
That would seem like a better place, wouldn’t it? I suppose that’s why there weren’t any debates about the DH in Great Debates…
oopsies.

The Designated Hitter is a travesty and should be abolished. Unfortunately, that’s never going to happen so they should just suck it up and offer the DH to the National League if the union agrees to a meaningful salary cap (around $85 million) and revenue sharing.

I don’t like the Designated Hitter. It has always felt too gimmicky to me. I also suspect that there are a number of players who were able to pad their stats when they were well past their prime as a fielder and switched to being a DH.

It also takes a bit of the strategy out of the game.

One thing I’ve always thought of when considering the DH is what would Babe Ruth’s career might have looked had the DH existed in his day? Ruth started out as a pitcher, and he was a damn good one in his day. When it became clear that he had excellent prowess at the plate, he was moved out to the outfield so that he could bat every game instead of just the games in which he pitched in. If the DH had been in place, that probably would have taken a lot longer to happen, if at all.

Get rid of it.

I love the DH for one reason: Edgar Martinez. Keeping him hitting for 17 seasons makes it all worthwhile. 'Gar is, of course, the greatest DH in the history of the DH.

I’m one of those heretics who like the DH rule. I think it makes for more entertaining games. How many NL rallies get killed when a pitcher has to hit?

I also think it’s a good way to extend the careers of some players that can still hit but can’t play in the field anymore.

Perhaps this belongs in ATMB or the Pit :wink: but I’m tired of the hostility towards baseball debates in GD. Baseball is a heck of alot more important than some stupid pathetic war in Iraq that tries but fails to surpass the Falkland Islands in relevance. Baseball is much more important than some ridiculous “race” for the presidency in 2004, that will again be populated solely by authoritarian statists looking to enhance their own prestige, hand out perks to their constituents, and pad their own pockets. Baseball is what’s good about America, perhaps the only thing left that’s good about America, and I say we take it to GD!

I have in the past applauded the DH rule. It allows for pitchers to remain in games longer, and that’s definitely a good thing considering the terrible state of pitching in the major leagues. Of course, I’ll be cursing the DH rule when that jerk Barry Steroids breaks the HR record by playing a couple years at DH for the Angels. But I’m willing to accept that. The DH may break the pattern of 3’s in baseball, and may go against tradition, but it does make for more interesting games. Since pitchers apparently don’t care about hitting anymore (gone are the days of Babe Ruth who was an all-star caliber player both pitching and hitting), I suppose it just makes the games more exciting to get rid of the automatic out that most pitchers represent.

Moderator’s Note: Tossing this one over to IMHO.

(Sorry, Rex Dart.)

Can the DH. Hate it. No sir, don’t like it. And I’m with you, RexDart. Baseball is one thing that’s right with America.

Except for the DH rule, interleague play, Bud Selig, steroids, and out of control salaries.

I even read it twice (after the move as well) as the Designated Hitler. :o

I’m in the minority of non-Americans who actually likes watching baseball - I have even seen three ML games in stadiums in the States (although the last was in 96). The pitcher has a unique position in the game, and I can see the logic of allowing him to rest and have a DH. That said, I don’t understand why there is a differnece between the two leagues in this respect.

If this is a poll, I vote for Dump the DH. Pitchers batting adds strategy to the game. Any semi-alive ape could manage an American League team.

I don’t buy the ‘added strategy’ thing. I think of it more as being forced to deal with having one really crappy hitter on your team and scrambling to not foul up your pitching in the process.

In other sports, how often do they have whole groups of people performing tasks on the field where they are just no darn good at it? Pitchers batting just seem like fish out of water to me (I usually watch AL games).

I don’t mind the DH.

But I hate there being 2 sets of rules. Either get it in the NL too or get rid of it altogether!

Pffsshhaaaw. If that were the case, then maybe Dusty Baker would have out-managed Mike Scioscia at some point in his career. But every time they go head to head…

I don’t like the DH – it eliminates strategy.

However, I know I’m fighting a rear guard action. Eventually, the NL will end up adopting it, mainly because you have a bunch of pitchers who never had any chance to bat and have to learn hitting at a major league level.

The DH detracts from the strategy of the game. You’re in the sixth inning of a scoreless game, your pitcher has thrown well so far and may have two innings left in him. Runner on second, two out, and your pitcher is up. Do you let him hit? Situations like these are the spice of baseball, let’s get rid of the DH and American League fans can enjoy the game more.

“If you’re not willing to pick up a glove, then you shouldn’t be allowed to pick up a bat!!”

I don’t really mind it at all. It seems to me it offers more opportunity for people to get playing time in the major leagues, a good thing, and increases the quality of play, another good thing. It has lengthened the careers of fine players and gentlemen like Edgar Martinez, Hal McRae, Dave Winfield, and Paul Molitor, still another good thing. And its being in one league and not the other makes the leagues different, an EXTREMELY good thing in my opinion.

The much-vaunted increase in strategy is, IMHO, absolute bunk. I understood the intricacies of the double switch when I was ten years old. And you get the pitcher to bunt if someone’s on with less than two out. Wooo, big strategy.

Furthermore, the DH has made little difference in pitcher’s ability to hit. Pitchers have always been terrible hitters; the Babe Ruths and Don Newcombes were just as rare in their day as Kerry Wood and Livan Hernandez today.