DOTW 7/31/13: DH in the NL?

[weso1]

I think we may have already had this debate a while ago on the other new board, but now that we have more people over here I figured maybe we could talk about it again.

So, should the NL adopt the DH or not? Gattis would be one hell of a DH for us.

[Heyward]

I hope they announce it soon like the next couple years.

Having Mac and Gattis in the lineup most of the time would be pretty awesome.

[BlackwaterPark]

I am 50/50. Part of me loves seeing it when they have big hits and HRs. Part of me likes an easier out. But I really hate seeing pitchers hurt and careers ended due to to it like Wang for the most part had his ended.

[bravesnumberone]

Given the amount of extra hitters we have, and that we can't bunt, and that we're managed like an AL team anyway, I'd say it'd be good for us.

I don't have a strong opinion one way or another. I say I'd prefer the pitcher hit. But either way, I think it needs to be uniform across MLB.

[mfree80]

I was dead set against it for a long time, but I am coming around.

It is so prevalent at every level that it has really become part of the game. The kids grow up with it in Youth Leagues and High School and College. Most minor leagues use it as well. The NL is kind of like the final holdout. For most of these leagues it is a way to get one more kid into the lineup, but everyone is so attuned to it that is has become part of the game.

I am to the point where I would not object to it.

[50PoundHead]

I think it's bound to happen. I still like the idea of "home team option" across all of baseball.

[PawPawMaxwell]

Either it will be in both or it will be dropped by the AL. After Selig goes out and subsequent CBAs it will be a negotiating point for the MLBPA and a counter point for MLB which will be looking for a salary cap. IMO. The TV money is just getting too big and corporate owners will be driving hard for the cap.

[VirginiaBrave]

Nope. Don't need it, don't want it. There used to be a charm about the game of baseball that has completely erroded over the last 30 yrs or so. PEDs leading to false records are a big part of that, but another has been baseball's unecessary need to modernize itself. Interleague play, the All-Star game fiasco but this is one thing that doesn't need to change. I have no interest in watching 4+ hour ballgames every night. I think its great when you see a pitcher get a big hit to win the game it's just a lot more fun. There are enough traditionalists left that I think there is chance it won't happen. It almost happened in the early '80s and failed all because Phillies ownership was fishing and couldn't be reached. I would be interested to know if we had a board poll how the vote would break down and how it would break down by age. I would venture a guess that the majority of the yes votes would come from folks too young to remember baseball before interleague.

[bravesnumberone]

Agree with the above somewhat, but I think the trend is toward it being in both leagues rather than out of it altogether.

Also, I vote interleague be the next topic of conversation because I definitely have issues with that.

[50PoundHead]

Nope. Don't need it, don't want it. There used to be a charm about the game of baseball that has completely erroded over the last 30 yrs or so. PEDs leading to false records are a big part of that, but another has been baseball's unecessary need to modernize itself. Interleague play, the All-Star game fiasco but this is one thing that doesn't need to change. I have no interest in watching 4+ hour ballgames every night. I think its great when you see a pitcher get a big hit to win the game it's just a lot more fun. There are enough traditionalists left that I think there is chance it won't happen. It almost happened in the early '80s and failed all because Phillies ownership was fishing and couldn't be reached. I would be interested to know if we had a board poll how the vote would break down and how it would break down by age. I would venture a guess that the majority of the yes votes would come from folks too young to remember baseball before interleague.

In principle I agree. You want more offense in baseball? Make tin-gloved hogs like David Ortiz play in the field.

I just think the die is cast.

[VirginiaBrave]

My answer to that would be, We've done it this way for 40 yrs. Why all of sudden does this have to change? The competitive imbalance myth? The NL has won what, five WS titles since 2006? I just don't see the answer to the why question.

[bravesnumberone]

I would imagine there'd be more competitive imbalance from a free agency and trade market standpoint than a playoff standpoint.

[jason27nc]

Like others, I have always been against it. However, now I am for it. I have never understood why there was one in the American league and not the National.

[CyYoung31]

One thing that might get me to stop watching baseball is if they institute the DH in the NL. I like all forms of baseball, but the game is at its best in the National League. I feel that some of the people that find baseball boring do so because they're subject to too many 4+ hour Yankees and Red Sox affairs.

[weso1]

I was 100% against it until Gattis came along. Now I'm 100% for it.

[thethe]

I don't care one way or the other. I just want it to be consistent. Prefer the NL style of play.

[VirginiaBrave]

The Braves won't have need for the DH next year anyway. Mac will be somewhere else.

[elmonthc]

Saw the little piece espn did on it. Braves were one of the teams that voted yes all those years ago. I dont want the dh in the nl.

[JohnAdcox]

I don't want the DH either. I hate it. I hate the very idea of it. It's almost the very antithesis of baseball; it removes the strategic element from the thinking man's game. That said, it think it's inevitable. In fact, I think it's going to happen soon. See, MLB is going to want to institute stricter drug testing and much harsher penalties. There will be tremendous pressure on the players' union to accept it. They will feel that they need to get something in return to save face. This could very well be the bargaining chip.

[Orphan Black]

I don't like the DH either, but I would like the NL to go to it. Every little bit to keep pitchers from getting hurt helps in my eyes. Plus there would have been a chance Chipper would have hung around a little longer if the NL had the DH.

[Dalyn]

Don't think the Braves will ever learn how to play small ball again, so I am for it.

[PawPawMaxwell]

Saw the little piece espn did on it. Braves were one of the teams that voted yes all those years ago. I dont want the dh in the nl.
Iam assuming Turner was the owner when the DH came to a vote. I can see Ted wanting it as a means to generate more income. Especially since he need the money to finish buying Nebraska and Argentina.

[chopdrew]

If they bring it to the NL, id like to see a rule where no player can have more than 200 ab's a yr as a DH. The DH should be used for giving a guy a day off in the field but having his bat in the lineup...

[50PoundHead]

If they bring it to the NL, id like to see a rule where no player can have more than 200 ab's a yr as a DH. The DH should be used for giving a guy a day off in the field but having his bat in the lineup...

I prefer a home-team option, but I could go along with something like this as well.

[PawPawMaxwell]

The real PawPaw Maxwell told me (and others) something when I was 16 years old. "Enjoy the game, enjoy life".

Baseball with the DH is not "the game" IMO and therefore not as enjoyable. Purely for entertainment, and enjoyable as such but it is not part of the game I grew up with.

[VirginiaBrave]

I don't like the DH either, but I would like the NL to go to it. Every little bit to keep pitchers from getting hurt helps in my eyes. Plus there would have been a chance Chipper would have hung around a little longer if the NL had the DH.

Chipper is gone...time to move on. Pitchers already get treated with kid gloves. Love the name on the front of the jersey not the back...

[mossy]

I'm tired of watching pitchers bat. The sport needs to evolve and let pitchers be just what they are.

It's one sport, there should be 1 set of rules.

[bravebonebook]

Baseball is the only professional sport in the world where it has two different rules for its 2 divisions! Really?! Tell me MLB isn't screwed up. Does the NBA allow the 3 point shot in the Western division but not the Eastern? Does the NFL allow 2 point conversions in the AFC but not the NFC? MLB has to have one rule for both.

Now, I prefer no DH due to the strategy and 'old school' tradition of it. If a player plays baseball, he should throw/pitch, field AND hit, not be allowed to skip 1 or 2 parts of it because he's good at just 1 part of it.

On the other hand, it's gonna sukk if the DH is put in now after Chipper has retired and BMac probably gone. And if the Player's Union frets, I say, instead of putting in the DH, just expand MLB rosters by 1 or 2 players so teams can still employ these 'all hit/ no glove' guys that seem to end up as a professional DH.

[ant0288]

I'm for it. There is no way the AL ever gets rid of it (the MLBPA would never allow it) and I think that gives them a major advantage in signing players like BMac. they can keep him healthy longer by moving him to DH. It also allows a player to extend their career. MLB definitely needs just one set of rules and the only way of doing that is to adopt the DH (I personally would love to see it happen this year so we can keep gattis and mccann).
I wouldn't be against a rule limiting DHs to a certain number of AB/games per year. This would keep a little of the players need to both hit and field. But I don't like to watch pitchers hit either. Why should we have an automatic (or close to it) out in the NL just for the sake of letting the pitcher hit.

[The Chosen One]

I'm for it. There is no way the AL ever gets rid of it (the MLBPA would never allow it) and I think that gives them a major advantage in signing players like BMac. they can keep him healthy longer by moving him to DH. It also allows a player to extend their career. MLB definitely needs just one set of rules and the only way of doing that is to adopt the DH (I personally would love to see it happen this year so we can keep gattis and mccann).
I wouldn't be against a rule limiting DHs to a certain number of AB/games per year. This would keep a little of the players need to both hit and field. But I don't like to watch pitchers hit either. Why should we have an automatic (or close to it) out in the NL just for the sake of letting the pitcher hit.


Great first post and welcome to the board. :tchop:

[zitothebrave]

New modified DH for both leagues. 300 PA max at DH.

[mcollier]

I would support it if the discussion was last year and we could get Chipper to play 2-3 more years. That guy could hit in a wheelchair!

Seriously, I'm a younger guy (I'm 32) but I am a purist. Leave the DH out of the NL, and while you're at it, stop this stupid home field advantage thing for the ASG. It is ridiculous.

[Yogi44]

I'm 52 years old and have watched alot of baseball over the years. I still like the "old school" way of doing things, but things change. In my mind, once we went to an interleague series being played every night somewhere, this becomes a bigger point. I wouldn't actively advocate adding the DH, but if they were to add it, I would not be as upset as I would have been a couple of years ago.

But MLB and the union need to decide on one and make it apply for both leagues.

[VirginiaBrave]

By the way, our DH's have RBI's the last couple games. Conclusive proof the DH has no place in the NL...