Designated hitter

[Kontiki]

I'm curious: Were pitchers, on the norm, always useless batters? In my lifetime, there are only a few decent hitters that stick out, while the vast majority probably couldn't get a base hit off a t-ball stand. What about back in the good ol' days of the 40's, 50's and 60's? Or even before

[Flubber]

I've always found it interesting that , with rare exceptions, pitchers hit like crap. If you look at world class fastpitch softball, pitchers are often some of the best hitters, and in fact, many play a position when they are not pitching because they are good fielders and hitters. In softball, there is often a DH but they are as likely to be batting for some other infielder as the pitcher.


I'm a little suprised that there is no one in baseball that is good enough to be a regular position player and pitch as well.

For me, no DH . . . pitchers should learn to hit . . . . and managers SHOULD face the agony of whether to lift their ace when trailing 1-0 in the seventh and with a runner on base

[Ming]

NO DH... make them have to bat, just like EVERY OTHER player.

[Richelieu]

Either you remove the DH or you do the same as in Football: an offense and a defense taking turns on the field.

I'd prefer getting rid of the DH though.

[FrustratedPoet]

The DH is for wimps.

NL games are far more interesting to watch. It's just a shame that 75% of the games we get in the UK involve only AL West or AL East teams.

/me sighs and goes back to watch his recording of the Angels .v. A's game from Sunday.

[FrustratedPoet]

Originally posted by Sten Sture A comparable rule in Football would be to have old Strikers that are slow be allowed offside. Dumb rule.

[Sava]

DH SUCKS!!! Get rid of it!

And Calc... when Babe Ruth played, first as a pitcher who hit well, then as an outfielder who hit well; there was no DH in the AL.

And without the DH, pitcher who can't hit will be either forced to get better in the batter's box, or risk their ineptitude reflect on their value as a baseball player.

Also without the DH, wasted pieces of crap like Frank Thomas would be out of the league.

[Stuie]

DH. Get rid of it.

I was happy to see the Phillies use a pitcher as a pinch-hitter last night. Haven't seen that in a while. And he moved the base runner, setting up the winning run.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I've always found it interesting that , with rare exceptions, pitchers hit like crap. If you look at world class fastpitch softball, pitchers are often some of the best hitters, and in fact, many play a position when they are not pitching because they are good fielders and hitters.

The reason is that players that are good at pitching AND hitting are usually turned into full time hitters (so they can get the benefits every day instead of every 5 days). John Olerud, for example (the 1B of Seattle), was a very good pitcher in college, but Toronto made him into a full time hitter, just like any other team would have done.

[Tuberski]

I voted no- here's why:

» July 4, 1985: In a marathon game that borders on the surreal, the Mets endure two rain delays and 6:10 of playing time to beat the Braves 16–13 in 19 innings on Fireworks Night in Atlanta. The Mets had taken a 10–8 lead in the top of the 13th inning, only to watch the Braves tie it up. The Mets score again in the 18th, but relief hurler Rick Camp (a .060 hitter who was batting because Atlanta had no more position players available to pinch-hit) ties the score with his first ML home run on a 2-out 2-strike pitch in the bottom of the inning. No pitcher ever homered that late in a game before. Finally the Mets erupt for five runs in the 19th off Camp and Atlanta can respond only with 2. Keith Hernandez hits for the cycle for the Mets, and the game ends at 3:55 A.M. on July 5th, the latest finish in ML history. At 4:01 A.M. the post-game fireworks display begins, causing local residents to think the city is under attack.

IIRC, it was Rick Camp's very first hit after going 0-99.

I actually stayed up until 2:00 AM to watch all of this game. It was incredibly fun to watch.

I also just realized that I've been a Braves fan for over 20 years.

ACK!

[Six Thousand Year Old Man]

...

Originally posted by Richelieu
or you do the same as in Football: an offense and a defense taking turns on the field.

[Q Classic]

go braves! NL is real ball, since the DH rule is an affront to all that is good in the game.

if you field, you hit. nobody quits because they're bad hitters; you play it to win, and you play ALL of the game.

it's truly something when you see a pitcher hit a triple and tie up a game.

[Zero]

No DH is currently very popular...

And shame on you brave fans... shame!

[Q Classic]

better a braves fan than a bloody yankees fan.

GO BRAVES!

[Tuberski]

Why shame on us poor Braves fans, I went through many years where they lost 100+ games a year, and it looks like they are headed in that direction again.

ACK!