It's Election Day. Would you vote for or against the DH?

[brwrsfan]

The DH is just stupid in my opinion. In what other sport can you play just half of the game? Can a basketball player just play defense?

 

Football?

 

Football true, but players CAN play both sides of the ball if they wanted to. Football and baseball are very different sports, but like I said, it's not forbidden. And guys do play both sides occassionally (see Charles Woodson). And in high school, MANY players play both sides of the ball. Every other position is required to play both sides expect a DH/AL Pitcher, how does that make any sense? Why not have someone just play shortstop and have someone else hit for them? That idea seems silly, but it's no different at all.

[Dollarbill13]

You can have someone play SS and have someone hit for them in the AL...

[RightFieldCoder]

I vote no.

 

Why not have 9 fielders and 9 different hitters?

[jerichoholicninja]

You can have someone play SS and have someone hit for them in the AL...

 

MLB rules are you can only DH for the pitcher. In high school and college and probably everywhere else you can DH for anyone but not in MLB.

[joepepsi]

Isn't the NL the only league pro and amateur that doesn't allow a DH? I vote for it. I like the DH a lot. In the NL you bsically have the excuse to field crappy fringe major leaguers for your 7,8,hitters because the pitcher is an automatic out. Plus, in most games the NL uses a DH after the 5th or 6th inning anyway. They just call it a "PH" instead.

[logan82]

I think I lean slightly toward the "pro-DH" side, but overall, I don't care.

I would take it one step further and say they should crap or get off the pot. Pick one set of rules for both leagues and stick with it.

[brwrsfan]

I think I lean slightly toward the "pro-DH" side, but overall, I don't care.

I would take it one step further and say they should crap or get off the pot. Pick one set of rules for both leagues and stick with it.

 

Agreed. As much as I'm anti-DH, I wish they would just pick one set of rules and go with it. It makes such a difference in the game, in free agents (see Prince), etc.

[StearnsFTW]

No to the DH.

[MNBrew]

I'm very anti-DH, and having it in only 1 league, while not my preference, sure is better than having it in both.

[Ennder]

The DH is just stupid in my opinion. In what other sport can you play just half of the game? Can a basketball player just play defense? Defense and offense are part of the game, allowing someone to do just one aspect of it has always been silly IMO. So I vote against it.

 

Football

Soccer

Hockey

NASCAR (driver vs pit)

Lacrosse

Water polo

 

To be honest almost every single competitive team sport outside of basketball and baseball.

 

No matchup in sports is as lopsided as the pitcher hitting vs another pitcher. The closest you can find is probably a kicker tackling in the NFL. Even the best hitter in baseball would struggle to hit effectively if they only got to bat every 5th game every year. The pitcher hitting in major league baseball is just absurd. One of the dumbest thing in all of pro sports. When you consider a pitcher being 1/3 as effective as an average hitter to be a 'good hitting pitcher' you know your system is flawed.

[ReverendBrewmeister]

DH delenda est.

[TooLiveBrew]

DH delenda est.

I had to look that up... nicely played

[trwi7]

The DH is just stupid in my opinion. In what other sport can you play just half of the game? Can a basketball player just play defense? Defense and offense are part of the game, allowing someone to do just one aspect of it has always been silly IMO. So I vote against it.

 

Football

Soccer

Hockey

NASCAR (driver vs pit)

Lacrosse

Water polo

 

Umm, what?

[Ennder]

The Goalie is a defensive only position... Didn't think it was that complicated.

[Funketown]

The Goalie is a defensive only position... Didn't think it was that complicated.

 

Tim Howard, Ron Hextall, and Evgeny Nabokov say hello!

 

I find something beautiful about a pitcher's complete inability to hit a baseball. On one side of the ball they can be so dominant, making elite hitters flail. But, give them a bat and they look entirely ordinary. Having all players contribute on both sides of the playing field is one of the reasons baseball is so unique.

 

(Oh, and for the record, I love watching kickers try to tackle a return man. That's probably the closest comparison in American sports to watching pitchers hit. Either that or watching Shaq try to hit a three pointer.)

[Mr QL]

No DH in either league or at the very least the continuing of the status quo in both leagues

[stoutdude04]

The Goalie is a defensive only position... Didn't think it was that complicated.

 

While true, the other players also play defense and some goalies have scored goals as sell.

[jerichoholicninja]

The Goalie is a defensive only position... Didn't think it was that complicated.

 

Tim Howard, Ron Hextall, and Evgeny Nabokov say hello!

 

I find something beautiful about a pitcher's complete inability to hit a baseball. On one side of the ball they can be so dominant, making elite hitters flail. But, give them a bat and they look entirely ordinary. Having all players contribute on both sides of the playing field is one of the reasons baseball is so unique.

 

(Oh, and for the record, I love watching kickers try to tackle a return man. That's probably the closest comparison in American sports to watching pitchers hit. Either that or watching Shaq try to hit a three pointer.)

 

Or watching Shaq try and make a free throw.

 

But I agree with you completely. I love watching a pitcher try and hit. Having a pitcher that is even somewhat competent with the bat is a huge advantage for a team and makes the game much more interesting and fun to watch. Heck, in 2011 the Brewers practically had a DH when Yo, Greinke, and Wolf were at the plate.

[brwrsfan]

The Goalie is a defensive only position... Didn't think it was that complicated.

 

While true, the other players also play defense and some goalies have scored goals as sell.

 

 

Sure, goalies technically only play defense, as they rarely score or get involved in the offense, though they CAN if they want to. On top of that, the goalie never leaves the field and does nothing. His/her head is always in the game, it's hardly the same thing as me hitting, then not doing anything at all until my turn in the lineup comes up again.

[Nottso]

I've said for some time that I'd like to see the DH tied to the starting pitcher. When the starter is pulled, so must be the DH. This would stop pitchers from hitting, but still involve NL type strategy, which makes the game infinitely better.

[bani1717]

 

Sure, goalies technically only play defense, as they rarely score or get involved in the offense, though they CAN if they want to. On top of that, the goalie never leaves the field and does nothing. His/her head is always in the game, it's hardly the same thing as me hitting, then not doing anything at all until my turn in the lineup comes up again.

 

There is no rule requiring use of a DH, so an AL pitcher CAN bat if he/she wants to. They just rarely, if ever, do (similar to how NFL players rarely play both ways, goalies rarely play offense, etc.) I am against the DH, but the other sports argument really isn't why. I just would rather see baseball played with more strategy and have teams use their benches more often (such that depth is important).

[Oxy]

I've said for some time that I'd like to see the DH tied to the starting pitcher. When the starter is pulled, so must be the DH. This would stop pitchers from hitting, but still involve NL type strategy, which makes the game infinitely better.

 

I think this idea is the winner. Somebody get Bud on the phone.

[Invader3K]

I've said for some time that I'd like to see the DH tied to the starting pitcher. When the starter is pulled, so must be the DH. This would stop pitchers from hitting, but still involve NL type strategy, which makes the game infinitely better.

 

I think this idea is the winner. Somebody get Bud on the phone.

 

Yeah, I could get behind this one as well, though I'm sure there's some downside we're not thinking of yet.

[RightFieldCoder]

The Players Association would lose 14 starting (and high paying) jobs.

[Ennder]

I've said for some time that I'd like to see the DH tied to the starting pitcher. When the starter is pulled, so must be the DH. This would stop pitchers from hitting, but still involve NL type strategy, which makes the game infinitely better.

 

Not a bad idea at all. Another option is to allow you to PH for your starting pitcher but not take him out of the lineup. You still get the strategy of when to burn bench slots and when not to but you only leave your pitcher in to bat in situations where it doesn't really impact the game as much.