Do you think the AL should be like the NL or the other way around?
2007-01-02 09:20:08 · 20 answers · asked by Blue Sun 2 in Sports ➔ Baseball
As brilliant as the game of baseball is, it's the only sport that was seperate rules within itself.
National League has a slight edge when it comes to this topic and the World Series. The NL gets the luxury of having a batter hit for their pitcher when they play on the road at the AL. When they come home they get to have their pitcher hit, meanwhile the AL pitcher more than likey has never swung a bat.
Both leagues seem to be happy.
2007-01-02 16:51:10 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
You mean, let the pitcher do anything and everything possible to avoid actually having to hit.
No, it is not more difficult to manage in the NL because the lack of a DH. In fact, it's much easier to do, as you have the built in spots in which your decision to pull a pitcher is just about made for you. And please, please, PLEASE, don't start in about double switches. You know what they say about babes in arms and ships at sea, right? Well, those same babes in arms and ships at see can manage a double switch just as well as can the most "brilliant" manager. All that's involved is knowing who's still on the bench and what that player can do. I'm an AL fan, and yet I've sat and home and watched many NL games, and never come to different conclusion than did the manager.
In the AL, in contrast, you have to know how to tell when you pitcher should be pulled. That, of course, means having to know and understand something about pitching and pitchers, or having to rely on your pitching coach to tell you when to pull a pitcher.
That is, unless it's 1989 and you're Bobby Valentine, your pitcher is Cecilio Guante and you're facing the Blue Jays. It was Guante who hit Tony Fernandez in the face very early in that season. A couple of months later, Fernandez had to face Guante again for the first time since he was hit. Watching Fernandez psych himself up for that PA was excuciating, and I was at home.
Guante pitched against the Blue Jays 3 more times that season, and each time, faced no more than 8 batters. He would come into the game immediately after a Fernandez PA and the be pulled from the immediately before Fernandez' next PA. In the NL, who knows how long he would have staying in the game.
The concept of the DH was originally proposed by Branch Rickey in the 1930's, when he was GM of the Cardinals. These days, the National League is the only baseball league on this planet to still not use the DH. Maybe everyone else is getting it right.
2007-01-02 10:47:37 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
The NL needs to wake up and adopt the DH or they can just continue to save money and get whooped by the AL. And to the people saying the NL is more exciting with the pitcher hitting I just have 2 words for you DAVID ORTIZ!
Keep in mind the NL does not adopt the DH for one reason and one reason only......the money.
2007-01-02 11:03:32 · answer #3 · answered by Ballzy 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Call the Designated Hitter Rule what it really is. It's the Fat Aging Slugger Rule. It's an embarassment to baseball. I can think of no other position in all of sports that requires so little conditioning and so little payoff. Even a placekicker in football needs to be accurate at LEAST 80 to 85% of the time, as well as keeping his leg in shape, to keep his job, and every once in a while, they have to make a tackle.
In addition, American League pitchers throw at batters without a care in the world because they know they never have to stand in the batter's box. I know Roger Clemens has been in the National league for two seasons, but if he had been a National League pitcher for the majority of his career, he would have eaten a LOT of baseballs as a hitter at the plate. He got away with murder for years under the protection racket that is the Fat Aging Slugger Rule.
2007-01-02 09:48:06 · answer #4 · answered by jpspencer1966 3 · 3⤊ 1⤋
DH... (1) The pitcher hitting is a wasted at bat (2) teams pay millions for talented, specialist (6/7 inning pitchers, 1 inning relief specialist, etc) and there's a bigger chance they'll get hurt (3) they can't run (4) they can't steal (5) they hardly remember the signs (6) they bunt like little leaguers
Sure, every now and then a pitcher will suprise you with a homer, some good baserunning, etc... but they mostly look like clueless scrubs on everything but the mound.
2007-01-02 21:47:19 · answer #5 · answered by tron 2 · 2⤊ 2⤋
No DH let the pitcher hit. Why wuss out & let somone else bat for your pitcher. That is why the NL is the best league!!!!
2007-01-03 05:09:39 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I think the DH rule has hurt baseball. Pure baseball is in the NL the manager has alot more to think about. You will never get the union to get rid of it because of the extra jobs it creates though.
2007-01-02 10:00:24 · answer #7 · answered by ktar0420 2 · 3⤊ 1⤋
All of the answers sound good. I don't really know a whole lot about the intricacies of baseball. I do like the N.Y. Yankees though,I'd like to see pitchers in both leagues bat. .I'd think it would be less biased towards the American league if both league's pitchers batted.
2007-01-02 10:35:24 · answer #8 · answered by cheekydogg1 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I have always liked to see the pitcher hit. It is part of the game and one of my fondest memories is hearing on the radio in my Dad's car when Tony Cloninger, a pitcher, hit 2 Grand Slams in
one game.
2007-01-02 10:34:31 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Play real Baseball no DH
2007-01-03 07:39:07 · answer #10 · answered by Ricky Lee 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋