The DH adds excitement to baseball. It add to scoring and interest. It has made the game a better spectator choice.
The idea that pitchers should hit has been proven wrong. Pitchers are born with the ability to throw hard and control where it goes. This does not translate into being athletic. They don’t hit or run well. They not only are a dead spot in the lineup but they kill the 8 slot too. The batter before the pitcher is pitched around . So there are 2 dead spots.
It is like saying a second baseman is a baseball player. Therefore he should pitch. But we know they can not and we don’t want them to try. It is not what they do.
I grew up in Detroit following the Tigers. We had Hank Aguirre pitching. He was a big strong man. About 6 2 and not wimpy in real life. They called him old 2 for 3 . The reason is that he got 2 hits in 3 years. At least that was the joke.
Baseball has been around for over 100 years. When it is argued the DH kills strategy it is wrong. The game is a series of set plays. When a man is on first with 0 or 1 out ,they bunt. Where is the strategy. It is what they do about every time.
Sometimes it is argued that Bob Lemon (and a few others)was a hitter and pitcher. so. They are rare. The fact that they are rare proves the case.
In 1968 Lolich hit a homerun in the World Series. He was a crappy hitter for 20 years. That did not change how many dead spots he caused for his career.
I’m in the minority of people who prefers the the DH, for all the same reasons you’ve listed. It removes a rally-killing dead spot from the line up, it facilitates more scoring, it spares us the sight of pitchers flailing impotently at the plate and it extends careers. Requiring pitchers to hit is as outdated, in my opinion, as making quarterbacks kick and punt.
Not to mention the effect it’s had on the competitive balance between the leagues. The AL teams’ need to upgrade their pitching to face solid 1-9 lineups, and the development of hitters that the extra lineup spot has allowed, have reduced the NL to “AAAA league” status. Really, how often do you see a World Series or All-Star Game and not wonder if the NL team can avoid getting humiliated this time?
The NL has won 5 of the 13 World Series’ since the strike. Would you care to take back your obviously wrong point?
As to the DH, only a heathen would support the DH. UnAmerican Commie Heathens!
Screw that! The DH is what is wrond with baseball today. The DH led to steroid abuse, Steinbrenner and the Black Sox scandal. The DH makes the baby Jesus cry.
High salaries and being competitive is what made for steroids. Plus a few chemists. Bonds and the DH needs an explanation. Are steroids only in the American League.?
Since you’ve provided substantiating evidence for it, no, of course not.
The DH caused the Black Sox scandal too? 
While the American League currently has done better (8 - 5 in the last 13 years), that’s hardly such dominance that you think that the National League cannot compete. And please note that the National League did just fine against the Tigers just two years ago (making the otherwise quite dominant looking Tigers look so badly, they didn’t appear able to compete with an otherwise mediocre Cardinals club. 
).
As for the stupid idea offered in the OP that pitchers can’t hit, I offer to you Carlos Zambrano.
And I think the American League sucks. There isn’t any strategy any more, it’s all about hitting the shit out of the ball as far as it can go. I find it quite boring. It is sad that this country insists upon glamorizing scoring, and diminishing the value of strategy in all its games. :mad:
What little strategy offered by having pitchers bat (and that is very very little) is offset by the numerous times you will have, say, runners on second & third, 2 outs, and now the pitcher’s coming up. Rally’s over folks! See you next inning!
I’m opposed to anything that makes the game longer than it already is. If anything, there should be more easy outs along the way
The DH has led to such absurdities as Roger Clemens not having to travel with his team when he wasn’t pitching. Players play.
Why not have designated free throw shooters in basketball? Why should a great defensive player have to sit out in end game situations just because he’s a bricklayer?
I don’t understand. How would having or not having a DH make a bit of difference in this scenario? It’s not like the pitcher hits on the days he doesn’t pitch (usually, don’t bother coming up with exceptions). Roger Clemens didn’t have to travel with the team because he’s Roger Clemens.
I agree with the above AL fans. NL baseball is boring. Watching a pitcher flail away ineffectually is not entertaining. I guess I just don’t see the appeal. Watching the very best pitchers square off against the best hitters, however, is exciting.
The designated hitter violates Rule 1.01 of Major League Baseball.
My point is that if you are on the team, you are on the team. Only a pitcher could get away with not traveling with the team. And your admonition aside, some pitchers do pinch hit. Or even pitch in relief out of rotation. It is not usual, but also not rare, for a manager to have to use a position player in relief when the bullpen is depleted. Having another player available can make the difference between a win and a loss, and one win can make the difference between making the playoffs or not, etc.
Now the manager has to decide whether to leave in the pitcher or replace him with a pinch hitter. It makes the game more interesting. The DH was a mistake.
I agree with all of this but none if it is an argument against the DH. Clemens would have gotten the same deal if he were in the NL.
Anybody who thinks the DH is a good idea needs to be taken out back and unceremoniously shot in the back of the head.
I have often thought that since pitchers are only every 4th or 5th day active, a smart team would send their pitchers a few days early when on long trips . Completely logical.
Your one exception does not undermine the rule. The fact remains that the vast majority of pitchers are lousy hitters. Even those who somehow manage to have a batting average that’s a little above the Mendoza Line are few and far between.
I’m afraid it’s been that way since the end of the “Dead Ball Era” around 1920. Besides, today’s fans have little tolerance for low scoring games in any sport. That’s one reason why soccer hasn’t caught on in the U.S.
Interleague records (AL perspective):
2007 137-115
2006 154-98
2005 136-116
Personally I like the DH. Pitcher hitting has been selected out of the game because it doesn’t matter how well they hit. Imagine another sport where you have to do something even though you aren’t good at it at all.