“By removing the pitcher from the batting line up we can ditch the DH and possibly approach the real game.”
It depends on what “the real game” is. MLB is more than they throw it I hit it, they hit it I catch it. So simplifying the game by removing it’s parts is not doing so, it is changing it into an unrecognizable business for making cash, not sport.
And if it is changed enough, it morphs into something that has nothing to do with the game. And using either eight or nine hitters in the lineup, and waiting for the long ball, it becomes homerun derby rather than baseball since for the last 20 years averages have gone down but home run amounts have gone up. And I often wonder how much beer is sold when the game is on because a series of batters that hit .230 with few homeruns are not going to keep people interested in the game but in their thirst.
Oh, the owners are presenting a product on the field, but is it entertainment? Only if you can sit on the edge of your seat and watch three quarters of the people playing fail at it. And then pay them the profit from rising ticket prices, and food/drink concessions calling them stars and heroes. Especially when in the long run, their profession means almost nothing in the short or long run.
The game doesn’t need change. It needs competence at what is there. And that’s why it fails whether rules are put in to make it more “entertaining” or not as all it does is back the cake with less chocolate in it. (But sell it at a higher price)
wy69
Do many of you realize that in suburban Atlanta which was always a hotbed of baseball they now have trouble getting enough kids to field a league. The best of the best are now in year round leagues where if you arent in there forget D1 baseball scholarships etc. Baseball has lost the American youth to Ipads, video games, etc. They should now call it Major Latino Baseball MLB.
It isnt coming back to America no matter how rules are changed. Baseball’s heyday is gone. Like trains. Sorry for my pessimistic look but reality has to set in.