Why? Because I'm a glutton for punishment.

[NICKinDALLAS]

Waaaay back in June we started this round of P/CP. It quickly fell by the wayside. Now, in the spirit of kicking a perfectly good dead animal....

My topic was...
Keep MLB's DH the way it is? Make both leagues use the DH? or Get rid of it all together?

My opponent was...
The recently out-ed GayJays (not that there's anything wrong with that)

My Point..
First, I’d just like to say that me writing about baseball is a lot like the President talking about politics; without the proper fact finders in the background, things can go south quickly. O.k., now that that is out of the way let’s talk DH.
The Designated Hitter is quite possibly the most ridiculous position in all of the four major sports. Wait. Lemme think. Yep, the most ridiculous. I would love for Jays to tell me one that beats it. What if the NFC decided that kickers really aren’t all that great? Tell ya what, score a touchdown and we’ll just give you the PAT. No need trot out that spare at the end of your bench. Save that money for your big free agent at the end of the year. What? The AFC doesn’t like the idea? That’s alright, we’ll do it anyway. Better yet, shaq really sucks at free throws so let’s get a DS (Designated Shooter) for when he gets fouled. We’ll just do it in the East, screw the West.
I understand the reason that the DH came to be. The league (AL) was struggling and needed something to give its popularity a boost. Apparently signing the up-and-coming Latin and Black prospects was out of the question (although the NL was having success at it). No sir, the AL needed to put more offense on the field and not have its defense exposed in the process. Voila, the DH is born.
The DH very well may have saved the game at the time it was introduced. Ladies and Gentlemen that time is gone. The league is seeing more offense now than it ever has and plenty of that is coming from the NL. As of now the NL’s albert pujols is the league leader in home runs leading the closest AL slugger by 5. He is also the RBI leader by 11 over david ortiz. Three out of the five RBI leaders are DH’s and of those only one (ortiz) would make the top five in the NL. The same holds true for the home run leaders, only jim thome would make the top five.
The MLB union would likely never relent the position. Never mind that dissolving the position could open the doors for young prospects. No sir, no way. What would we do with the overpaid relics that are skewing the salaries to such a large degree? Let them bore viewers to death with their under-analysis of the game on some local channel? That’ll come later. For now, wheel them out to the plate and let’s see what happens.

[NICKinDALLAS]

The idea here would be for Jay to post his point, then our CP's and let the general public judge.

[Rusty27]

They've got mine too. Ssig posted it a while back. This fiasco still irratates me.

[BaldBil]

The DH rule sucks and has always sucked. I remeber Orlando Cepeda who was the first one for the Red Sox. His knees were so bad he could barely walk. They should junk the whole idea and go back to playing real baseball.

[Mike]

I agree that the DH does suck but is does restore or keep going some old veterans careers

[BaldBil]

Originally Posted by Mike

I agree that the DH does suck but is does restore or keep going some old veterans careers

Sure but at what expense? I would rather see these guys retire if they have to. In the past those guys moved to 1B until they couldn't handle that and then they retired. David Ortiz is a prime example. The fact is he is not a horribile 1B'r. He could do the job but would certainly never win a gold glove. Would his numbers br the same if he played the field everyday. Probably not. There would be more of a wear and tear factor both physically and mentally.
The DH skews the stats across the board. I want to see the pitchers hit(or not as the case may be). I want to see Ortiz at first base with a glove.

[BtownJay]

I'll try to see if I can find mine saved somewhere Nick. If so i'll post it.

[NICKinDALLAS]

Cool

[Mike]

I think that we should resurrect this once again, make it that better, have all the topics, writers, judges and a prize for the winner >> $$$ so there is incentive!

[Smiling_Goat]

Originally Posted by BaldBil

Sure but at what expense? I would rather see these guys retire if they have to. In the past those guys moved to 1B until they couldn't handle that and then they retired. David Ortiz is a prime example. The fact is he is not a horribile 1B'r. He could do the job but would certainly never win a gold glove. Would his numbers br the same if he played the field everyday. Probably not. There would be more of a wear and tear factor both physically and mentally.
The DH skews the stats across the board. I want to see the pitchers hit(or not as the case may be). I want to see Ortiz at first base with a glove.

i agree totally. Players stats get inflated by only having to swing a bat. I am against any DH going into the HoF. Edgar has great career numbers but he didnt play the game, he played part of the game.
Plus having a DH makes the AL managers useless.

[BtownJay]

I can't find it yet Nick. I have since got a new computer for my house and can't seem to locate it on my work comp.

Maybe Beers still has it??? Beers?

I will keep looking though, seems like most here aren't on my side so it should start some good debate. I feel many will be ready to blast me after reading it.

[NICKinDALLAS]

Since we can't find it I'll summarize it for everyone. It said, and I quote, "Blah blah blah, DH Good, blah blah blah".

[ssigman]

i might have it...let me check.....

"Major League Baseball needs a change. Okay, well maybe more than 'A' change, but lets focus on just one of the changes for now. Any logical person, scratch that, any person can tell you it makes no sense to have two seperate leagues have different rules. There is no reason for the American League to use a different line-up than the National League does. That change would directly affect the use of a designated hitter or not. I don't care which you prefer, a change is nessessary. To me, it makes the most sense to have a designated hitter in BOTH leagues. I know, I know, not a popular opinion... but maybe i can change your minds!

Let me ask you this, why does a pitcher need to have at-bats? Really, think about that for a minute. Why not have them stay focused on their task at hand, which oddly enough is pitching and getting opposing hitter out. Sure, some will argue their are some pitchers who can hit the ball pretty "well" (well compared to what? Certainly not compared to ANY of other positions). Most will agree that pitching is more important than hitting. Then let the pitchers pitch and let the other guys worry about the hitting. Pitchers don't hit in college or in the minor leagues, why suddenly change that because they are now professionals?

The classic argument for the DH has to do with letting the older players play alittle longer in their careers. These guys (Molitor, Thome, Thomas, Baines, etc) were/are major contributors to their teams on and off the field. Without the DH most of those players would have retired years before they did. If they had, many teams, players and fans would have missed out on what was a great ending years to their careers. Would we ever even have had the great Edgar Martinez in the biggs if not for the DH? That would have been a shame.

Now for my biggest problem with the National League not using the DH. Picture this... you are down 1-0 in the top of the seventh inning, the bases are loaded with two outs. Coming up next is your ace starter who is hitting .067 this season (i know, you are excited!). Well at this point you have to take your starter out who has been incredible, but hits like his eyes have been removed from his head. The game no longer is decided by your best players. But whats even more frustrating for fans? When its the third inning and your team works to get the bases loaded, and who steps to the plate? Yep, that same pitcher who has no eyes. The result is, inning over, no runs, momentum killed and team let down. Sure, I realize this can happen with a different number nine hitter, but the facts show its alot less likely to happen.

After really taking a look at the two leagues, I don't see how anyone would rather have the pitcher bat. Why would you want to make offense worse in any sport? You might as well reduce the size of the basket in the NBA, or make a first down 20 yards in the NFL, or make the net smaller in the NHL. Defensive players in the NFL don't have to play offense. Why is that? Because it would make the offense worse (ah, just like pitchers batting does). I say let the players do what they do best and not force teams to make decisions they shouldn't have to."

[BtownJay]

Cool thanks Sig. I either lost it or erased it once the competition was dead.

There ya go Nick... there is my blah, blah, blah