Off-Topic Forum

DH should be eliminated. You're a ballplayer so play! 

My problem with this statement is that we let so many other athletes play one specific role but pitchers are expected to do everything.  We don't expect quarterbacks to come out and play defense,  goalies to score the goals, or even in baseball, players play their position.  A catcher isn't going to be put at shortstop or first baseman into center.  

David, there's a small flaw in your argument. I agree with RJ - Catchers bat. First basemen bat. Everyone who plays the field bats. Only pitchers in AL parks don't bat.

This is not advocating pitchers playing 3rd base or catching. This is advocating pitchers batting, like the rest of the team does.

Right. I wasn't reading carefully.

Thus, I now hate the suggestion. As an NL fan in an NL city, I have no desire to the DH ever used in NL parks at all. My home game, my rules.

While I'm back in this thread, I would not like to see the season shortened, especially to 141 games. No sport has an odd number of games, and for good reason. You get to play the same number of home games as road games. And the history, being able to compare seasons from old times to the present, is important. Yes, there have been tweaks in the past 154 to 162, but a 13% drop in games would make all the stats seem way off and allow for people to argue for more play-off teams, which baseball does not need.

v3

I really enjoy seeing a rally killed by an intentional walk to the #8 hitter and then 3 fastballs down the middle of the plate that the batting pitcher backs away from.  EXCITING!!!!

On the flipside, if pitchers felt more pressure to actually work on their hitting, sometimes they'd continue that rally by hitting safely. And that would be extra exciting.

I mean if we're worried about excitement. Seeing twelve home runs per game has made them completely blase. More exciting to see the pitcher get out of the threat by striking out the pitcher who couldn't hit. Carlos Zambrano, however, would double down the line....

v3

Many pitchers do work on their hitting and like to but managers and coaches would rather pitchers focus on pitching.  I remember an interview with the Atlanta Braves pitchers in the 90's, who were decent hitters, asked about hitting and they responded that they liked to hit but it was hard finding time to get time in the batter box.  Would you rather a slumping David Justice get an extra 15 minutes trying to work out his kinks, or give that time to Greg Maddux who at his best might get a bloop hit.  So the coaches would have them practice bunting a bit and maybe get a few swings and that was the extent that they were allowed.  

I agree totally with sandyrusty.  As a Braves fan I have seen that exact situation too many times, where we are in the middle of a rally and boom the pitcher's spot.  Then your manager has the awful decision of sticking with a pitcher that is doing well and probably ending the rally or changing pitchers and putting in a pinch hitter with no guarantee (unless your an Astros player) that he is going to get a hit.

I HAVE to call attention to Handberry's last line in his reply before the newest one.

Catchers and Shortstops generally have the fastest reaction-time to every play b/c they have to cover the most ground in the shortest period. If you put a good catcher at shortstop without the catcher's padding weight, he's probably going to be a great shortstop. Also, many 1st basemen start their careers in the outfield until they don't have the legs to run down a deep flyball or a line drive over the infield. Almost ALL DH's were either OF or 1B in the early part of their career! Once you lose the leg speed to play OF, you move to 1B or 3B. But in the AL you just become the DH (most of the time).

No, I will not move my 1B to the OF if he isn't young. But if he is still young enough to run out a deep flyball or charge towards a pop-up or grounder that gets past the infield, you can bet I'd make the switch if I needed to do it.

_______________________________

Pitchers that can hit a pitch are what makes the NL so much more exciting than the AL having a DH. As V3 said before, Zambrano could put a ball in play. So can/could many pitchers in the NL (especially the NL Central). Even relievers weren't a guaranteed out in the NL Central. Some pitchers that weren't that accurate throwing the ball kept their jobs b/c they could handle pitches at the plate. A pitcher taking a walk or successfully laying down a bunt can be just as advantageous as having a DH come up to the plate and fail to hit a homer!