My Position: The designated hitter rule is fucking lame

[friedo]

Dear ass-grabbing whiny pitcher bitches:

Pick up the fucking bat and swing, you lazy twats.

Love,

friedo

Discuss.

[Borborygmi]

Agreed. What's to discuss?

[Hi, Neighbor!]

I just think that it creates a big imbalance in inter-league play. DHs on AL teams could be 30+ home run guys. Hell, they could even be All-Stars or on the MVP ballot when it's all said and done. When an NL team plays at an AL park, they have to use a guy who's rarely used (and probably not very good).

For instance, my Phillies would probably put in Matt Stairs (.202, 5 HR, 17 RBI), Greg Dobbs (.257, 5 HR, 19 RBI), or late season acquisition Ben Fransisco (.252, 15 HR, 45 RBI). This is going against AL DHs like Adam Lind (.305, 35 HR, 114 RBI), Jason Kubel (.298, 24 HR, 93 RBI), and Billy Butler (.306, 21 HR, 93 RBI).

There are ways around it I suppose, as you've seen NL playoff bound teams pick up DH caliber players - the Dodgers acquired Jim Thome, and Colorado signed Jason Giambi.

[SoylentPopTart]

The DH rule is needed to keep all the DH's employed. If it wasn't for this rule, they would be unable to get work because they don't have any fielding skills to fall back on.

Won't someone think of the children?

[BarbarianAtTheGate]

Of course, that sword cuts both ways, Hi, Neighbor!. When an AL club visits a NL park, they lose one of their big bats from the lineup that they've built their franchise around, to be replaced by a weak-hitting pitcher. Perhaps, if there were no DH rule, they would have spent their money on a better-fielding but only marginally-less-well-hitting player.

With that said, this AL fan (go Tigers, one more win for the Division title!) doesn't like the DH and wishes it would just go away. I'm not passionate about it either way, but in general I just have never liked it. I think the NL rules make for a more interesting game, strategy-wise.

And I fondly remember the days of my youth when the Tigers would occasionally bring in Earl Wilson to pinch-hit late in close games. I specifically remember him winning a game with a home run in the 9th inning of a tied game back in 1968. That is excitement, IMHO.

[Hi, Neighbor!]

I feel that even the best hitting pitchers in the NL don't give their teams that much of an advantage over a DH playing in AL parks. For instance, Carlos Zambrano, who is widely regarded as the best hitting pitcher in the league, still only hits for a .240 average. Yes, this is leaps and bounds higher than the average pitcher, but no one is going to complain if he doesn't get a hit - and he's still going to be in the 9 spot.

The way I see it, you may have an NL pitcher hitting .217 going against an AL pitcher hitting .182. There's really not much a difference - they're both pretty bad. Now, say you were an owner of an NL team: would you go for the pitcher with a 17-8, 3.22 ERA, 165 K line who bats .138, or one with a 13-11, 4.35 ERA, 124 K line who bats .227? How much influence does hitting ability have on whether or not a team signs a pitcher? I'm guessing the final decision to sign a pitcher is based on 99% pitching ability, and 1% hitting ability. I'm just speculating at this point, but I will look into this further.

There are some decent hitting pitchers (which I consider anyone batting over .200). But this makes me wonder why some of them, like Jake Peavy, decide to switch over to the AL. He had many suiters in the NL who would have gladly paid him what he wanted, but he ended up with the White Sox. Originally, he had even stated that he wanted to stay in the NL.

I remember when, as a rookie, then-Arizona pitcher Micah Owings pitched 7 innings, struck out 7, and went on to hit 2 HRs and rack up 6 RBI (box score here). I also remember when Joe Blanton of the Phillies hit a monster shot in the playoffs last year against Tampa Bay. The crowd went absolutely bonkers. When pitchers get hits, it's more of an "added bonus" or "pleasant surprise" type thing.

[The Superhero]

The DH is the reason I just don't care about the AL. And while the World Series winner is, of course, The Champion, I kind of half-consider the NL Champion to be the real best team in baseball in any given year, since they're the ones playing real baseball instead of 10-man sissyball.

I know this idea is ludicrous, but I just can't take a baseball team with ten positions seriously.

[Dread Pirate Jimbo]

I have lots to say about this momentous subject, but I will save it for when I have a little more time for proper ranting. Suffice to say, I agree with Crash Davis in thinking there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing the designated hitter.

[Alpert]

Pitchers suck at hitting.
Designated Hitters are good at hitting and make the game more exciting.
Therefore, Designated Hitters like cupcakes.

[Fish]

I can't get worked up about the designated hitter rule one way or another. Once Edgar Martinez retired, they could've discontinued the role for all I cared. That man took the position seriously

About the only argument I can think of for it ... with all the expansion that baseball has been doing, good pitchers are getting rarer and more costly, so I could understand why owners would want to subject their most valuable assets to as little danger of harm as they could. Survival of the fittest surely applies anyhow: no pitcher is going to be hired for his batting skills when he only plays 1/4 or 1/5 of the games.

[Crunchy Frog]

Another baseball fan here who hates the DH. I've heard it argued before that since the pitcher is a purely defensive position, it makes sense for someone to bat for him. I call BS on that. If that's the logic, why not just have a defensive team and an offensive team like football? The same 9 guys who play the field should bat. That's how it was till 1973(?), that's how it should be again.

The DH is dumbed-down baseball. It takes away so much strategy of the game. And let's not forget one of the most iconic momements of baseball history -- Calrton Fisk's dramatic walk-off HR against the Reds in Game 6 the World Series was set up by an equally dramatic HR earlier in the game when Bernie Carbo pinch hit for the pitcher to tie the game.

[hilarity n. suze]

I thought this was a poll.

Yes. DH rule sucks.

[hilarity n. suze]

Originally Posted by Alpert

Pitchers suck at hitting.
Designated Hitters are good at hitting and make the game more exciting.
Therefore, Designated Hitters like cupcakes.

How about a designated hitter for the shortstop? For 2B? Hmmm?