Boston had an unfair DH advantage

[davego]

Crazy thought, but MLB could say that the DH will be added to both leagues, but no player can occupy the position more then X-amount of games...thus making sure the DH had to play other positions and wasn't just a hired gun...or teams could get 2 or 3 of them on the bench...but then not have depth at other positions...

[Fear The Chorizo]

Boston also had an unfair pitching, defensive, and baserunning advantage

[THEbrewguru]

Honest question -- You would rather watch Fielder struggle along defensively & Ben Sheets batting than seeing Overbay at first, & both Prince + Lyle in the lineup?

 

I'd rather have Ben Sheets at first than Lyle Overbay in the Brewers lineup at all.

 

I hate Overbay; very mediocre player.

 

But, to get to your original point, no DH for me.

 

When the Brewers moved to the NL, I hated it because I didn't want to see the pitcher bat. After a year in the senior circuit, I never wanted to see anyone use a DH ever again. It denigrates the game of baseball. If a player is unable to field, he shouldn't play the game.

[TooLiveBrew]

But bad fielding by a position player is not the cause of the DH -- it's bad hitting by pitchers. The logic is backwards imo. I'm sure there are many competent-fielding players that DH at least from time-to-time.

[THEbrewguru]

I don't like the DH because I like the strategy involved in the National League game.

 

Your pitcher is pitching great, but the tying run is at second with 2 outs in the 7th. Do you pinch hit for him?

The double switches, the strategy of moving runners over.

 

Look at the arguments here about Kendall batting ninth!

[LouisEly]

Actually, I'd say why not Braun for DH.

 

I didn't list him because he was the DH for the 2nd game Saturday; I was assuming they were using the DH to give regular position players the equivalent of a half-game off, so Braun already had his. A valid point however, but Braun has been surprisingly decent in LF; his biggest issue now is judgment of fly balls due to lack of experience out there, but he has the speed to cover ground and has above-average arm strength and is quite accurate with his throws. With more experience he could potentially move to RF with his arm.

[rluzinski]

Milwaukee is just as talented as Boston, but our players don't play like them.

 

Come on, now. Boston was projected to win 92 games in probably the hardest division in the league. The Brewers were projected to finish with 85 wins BEFORE Gallardo went down. Boston has more talent, which would be expected, since their salary is 65% higher than Milwaukee's.

[jeffy]

Braun has been surprisingly decent in LF

I agree with that and he certainly is better defensively than Carlos Lee, for example, but he is still the weakest defender in our outfield. Didn't know that he had DHed, since that game was not on TV. What I've noticed with Braun is a some fly balls that seem like they should be outs fall in front of him, not sure if this is from him misjudging these flys or because he plays unusually deep...either of which is understandable, due to his inexperience.

Anyway, in addition to using the DH to give some guys a partial day off, Yost should use it to keep some of the weak defenders off the field. Prince and Weeks should be the first choices for DH, when looking to upgrade the defense.

 

Using TGJ as DH, gave no one a partial day off and also did not upgrade the defense...as you indicate, a difficult decision to understand.

[Phenomenal Smith]

Honest question -- You would rather watch Fielder struggle along defensively & Ben Sheets batting than seeing Overbay at first, & both Prince + Lyle in the lineup? The opinion that a guy 'has' to be good defensively is one I don't share, since all 8 defensive positions are played anyway... it's not like AL teams get to automatically use a GG'er in place of their DH. So to me, the question does come down to preferring to see a P or a batter at the plate. If the argument is that there should be no DH bc a guy has to be able to field a position, it inherently means P's need to bat.

 

I think a guy like Ortiz would still be getting everyday PT, since a hitter like him is too important to not have in the lineup. The product on the field is a better one with the DH -- less butchers in the field, & less 'butchers' (P) at the plate. It's not that Ortiz 'can't' play 1B (he'd probably be about as good as Prince), it's that the Red Sox have a better gloveman in Youkilis, and they can put an overall better team on the field (offensively & defensively) utilizing the DH. I understand the 'purist' stance, I just don't necessarily agree with it. What I want to see as a fan is that 'best' team on the field. If that meant Overbay at 1B & Prince DH'ing, that'd be fine for my personal tastes.

It's not real baseball if you don't have to field your position.If you want the "best" baseball product, then let's expand the active rosters to 50 and have 8 Adam Everetts and 8 David Ortizes playing at the same time.

[endaround]

Given that vast majority of professional baseball has the DH there is a lot of fake baseball out there.

[Phenomenal Smith]

But bad fielding by a position player is not the cause of the DH -- it's bad hitting by pitchers. The logic is backwards imo. I'm sure there are many competent-fielding players that DH at least from time-to-time.

Actually, it was low-scoring in the 70s that brought about the DH. That low-scoring environment no longer exists.

[Phenomenal Smith]

Given that vast majority of professional baseball has the DH there is a lot of fake baseball out there.

Correct.

[TooLiveBrew]

If you want the "best" baseball product, then let's expand the active rosters to 50 and have 8 Adam Everetts and 8 David Ortizes playing at the same time.

 

That's a strange argument that has already been addressed. No one is calling for this kind of extreme stuff except people overreacting to/espousing their distaste for the DH.

[Phenomenal Smith]

It's not overreacting at all. Either you're all in or you're not.

 

I think the better product is seeing guys be forced to play a position. If they can't so be it - it exposes their flaws rather than covering them up.

 

I don't care if the AL has a DH. I just want to be able to watch baseball as God intended. If Bud Selig takes that away from me, then I'm done with this game.

[TooLiveBrew]

It's not overreacting at all. Either you're all in or you're not

 

Really? I'm not all in, and I'm not all for. Strange.

 

There are interesting elements of both the AL style & NL style.

 

 

I don't care if the AL has a DH. I just want to be able to watch baseball as God intended. If Bud Selig takes that away from me, then I'm done with this game.

What? Did God intend for players to wear more protective gear (including gloves), use better-balanced bats, & play in retractable roof stadiums? The notion that the DH is the only major change to take place in baseball blows me away.

[danzig6767]

It's not overreacting at all. Either you're all in or you're not.

 

I think the better product is seeing guys be forced to play a position. If they can't so be it - it exposes their flaws rather than covering them up.

 

I don't care if the AL has a DH. I just want to be able to watch baseball as God intended. If Bud Selig takes that away from me, then I'm done with this game.

I hate the DH as much as most other DH haters, but i do think it's overreacting to say i'd never watch baseball if the NL adopted it.

I don't like that in pro football today wide receivers can't be touched without drawing a flag and that quarterbacks often get roughing the passer calls if they get breathed on, but i still love football and watch. I know many sports fans don't care for the NBA anymore, but i still watch even though it disgusts me that stars get foul calls any time they recklessly charge into the lane.

I'd be very disappointed if the NL ever adopted the DH or if the Brewers switched back to the AL, but no way would i stop watching the team i love. The good thing is i think the vast majority of fans for NL teams would be against the DH, so i don't see a change happening anytime soon. Plus, owners would have to ratify a chance like that and i can't fathom enough NL owners agreeing to it because it would anger fans and cost owners more money.

 

[Weirdos19]

I started a thread about this last year ( I believe). It stated that AL Teams will get a guy just to hit and pay him 8 million, where that same spot in the NL is almost always a guy that can play multiple positions. Counsell, DeRosa, Schumaker, come to immediate memory.

 

An NL team cannot talk a great hitter like Ortiz, Sheffield, or Thome to sign with them so they can hit just for interleague play or in case we make the World Series. You could offer 20 mil and most of these guys would just rather play.

 

The other side of the sword is that these guys, or the guy they replace in the field, are the first man off the bench in the NL parks. They will obviously pinch hit when needed. So, basically with Boston you could have Ortiz, Lowell, or Youkilis as your first man off the bench. Yankees could have ARod or Giambi coming off the bench. Detroit could have Sheff, Cabrera, or Guillen.

 

To me, something has to be done. There is plenty of offense in the majors, get rid of the DH. It was put into the game to increase offense and they don't need that anymore.

[BrewCrewForever]

Come on, now. Boston was projected to win 92 games in probably the hardest division in the league. The Brewers were projected to finish with 85 wins BEFORE Gallardo went down. Boston has more talent, which would be expected, since their salary is 65% higher than Milwaukee's.

That may be true, but there is no reason we can't compete with Boston and win at least 1 game. Heck we could have had 2 out of 3 in that series. I could care less about projections. Boston may have more talent, but not by a huge margin.