I don't care about pitchers not hitting as much as I care about a guy who does nothing all game except walk to the plate four times and swing the bat. It's kinda lame for that guy to have such a major potential impact offensively and not have to field a position, all game, every single game.
yeezus (10-06-2016)
Yeah, I think most have accepted that it's going to happen at some point. But I do agree with giles that it isn't boring. To me, the more baseball becomes about just mashing, the more boring it is. I like variety and the idea that players of varying skills can have impacts on the game, and that there are multiple ways to score runs. I know that discussion isn't entirely about the DH, though.
But to take it to its logical extreme, we could eliminate strikeouts and move the fences in another 50 feet. After all, that would mean more offense and thus be more exciting, right? I don't think anyone would enjoy that just because more runs were scored.
Whether you like AL or NL baseball better is an opinion.
The AL being better than the NL due to the DH is a fact.
Whether or not you think that advantage needs to be corrected is also an opinion. If you think it is acceptable for the AL to have a measurable advantage over the NL in interleague play and the World Series, then I question your understanding of creating an even playing field.
Smootness just listed out how much the DH advantage has benefited the AL in the WS over the last few decades, and I gave the data about their advantage in interleague play. That advantage needs to be remedied, either by removing the DH completely, or adopting it completely. I'm pretty sure we all know which outcome is more likely to happen (or maybe not).
I've advocated home-team option for years. I think it would add a lot of strategy to the game in how teams view other teams' strengths and weaknesses. Add a player to the roster with 25 active on game day (and the inactive player cannot be a pitcher from the starting rotation). That would give teams the flexibility to add an extra bat in non-DH games if they so chose. Make a requirement that teams would have to play so many DH or non-DH games during the season.
smootness (10-06-2016)
I get that, but to me it's just part of baseball. If a team doesn't want that to happen, then find pitchers who can hit. I just hate that the DH was ever adopted in the AL because now the easy answer is just, 'Let's add the DH.' And we know it's not going anywhere in the AL, which makes it inevitable to eventually come to the NL.
I think we should just adopt the DH in both leagues but just make the DH pitch each inning. That should solve everything right?!?
smootness (10-06-2016)