Posted on 01/21/2016 3:37:59 PM PST by PROCON
I do not think it should change.
Every year, MLB conducts research among the fans.
Approval of the DH rule is consistently split 50/50.
Virtually 100% of fans in AL parks approve of the DH. And virtually 100% of fans in NL parks disapprove.
Accordingly, right now, everybody is getting what they want.
Unfortunately, among the "natural rivalries" are those thrilling Padres-Mariners match-ups.
Not only NO, but HELL NO!
And getting rid of Inter-League play, and returning to a 154-game schedule.
Recal Koufax as being a terrible hitter early in his career. He improved signifantly in the early 60’s. He was RH hitter, got hit on the left arm more than a few times, then switched to batting Left handed later in his carrer to protect his pitching arm. In a year or 2 he was a decent LH hitter.
More disgusting NBAization of the sport I love.
In essence, it has taken 60% of the strategy out of the fame.
Much more of this, and MLB should just scrap the game, and play HR derby.
This purist quit following baseball after the strike of ‘94. “Never again”, I said, and I’ve followed through. When I heard of inter-league play, expanding the playoffs, all-star game determining home field advantage, this game has been perverted beyond belief.
I’d like to see, “My 25 guys against everybody else’s 25 guys”. NO rent a player for a month. Best record goes to the world series. Have a AAA call up in september. NO playoffs, NO divisions, NO inter-league play, NO designated hitter (the 2 player switch was one of the best plays in baseball) and maybe, just maybe, they’ll get me back.
Until then, they can go f*ck themselves.
I hate 10-9 slugfests, give me a 2-1 pitchers’ duel any day.
Hell no! I’m OK with them using it in the AL, but leave real baseball in one league.
Heck yeah! Or at least the man-eating ATVs. This one cracks me up every time, and Coco Crisp was cool about the thing. Come to think of it, I'd bring back Veeck's midget batters too. Baseball's a game, not a religion, and games are supposed to be fun, right?
As a Mariners fan you have no idea how remembering that has kept me sane all these years...
Actually, today's pitchers are bigger an stronger than they've ever been.
But, in order to succeed, they have to employ maximum effort on just about every pitch. Because the hitters are also bigger and stronger than they've ever been.
Moreover, it requires more pitchers to complete an average inning. About 15-16 is the optimum nowadays.
Pitch counts are way up from the twenties, the fifties, even the seventies. That's because batters take more pitches now, waiting for a pitch they can drive. This has proven to be a productive offensive strategy -- it results in more power, more runs.
As a result, walks and strikeouts have multiplied -- and those 5-and-6 pitch ABs are replacing the 1-and-2 pitch ABs that were common earlier in the game's history -- when there was an onus against striking out.
Go to Baseball Reference and check the hitting and pitching league leaders for walks and strikeouts between today and, say, 1952. You'll be stunned.
We've only got pitch counts for the last 30-or-so years, but it's believed that sixty years ago, it took an average of 80-90 pitches to work a complete game. Today, the average would top 150.
No. Rob Manfred, a cursed Yankees fan, may very well be the anti-Christ.
I also hate punk AL pitchers who don’t have to hit after starting bean ball wars. (Hear that Royals?)
Why limit it to one DH? Just have 9 DH’s to do all the batting .... the other 9 can just rest up between time on the field.
The organizations are not lowering their expectations of their pitchers. The contrary FACT is that an aditional thirty minutes minutes spent on the fine points of holding runners, changing speeds, working on a breaking pitch, developing deception in their delivery, etc., etc. will be more productive to their team than spending another thirty minutes at batting practice or another hitting drill.
One would think, though, that the SOBs could at least learn how to bunt!!!
Back in my day, if Bob Gibson gave up a home run, the next batter KNEW he needed to kiss dirt to avoid being hit by an inside pitch.
Today, you go to the inside of the plate, the umpire gives you a warning.
Field of Dreams (paraphrasing) Shoeless Joe: “The last pitch was high and inside, what’s the next one going to be?”
Archie Griffin: Low and outside
Shoeless Joe: Right, but watch for one in your ear
Todays hitters wouldn’t stand a chance against pitchers of yesteryear (provided yesteryears rules were in force).
Well said. My own personal opinion is the more you understand baseball the less you like the designated hitter rule.
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