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Interesting article by Tom Verducci about the possibility of the NL using the DH in the future:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/w ... mlb_t11_a0

Its garbage. As someone who loves AL baseball, at heart Im a purist and personally I think the AL should ditch the DH and go back to the NL style. That being said, the AL will still be superior to the NL.

The Juggler wrote:

Monster Rain wrote:

Interesting article by Tom Verducci about the possibility of the NL using the DH in the future:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/w ... mlb_t11_a0

But the biggest change of all may be around the next corner: the end of baseball as it was originally designed.


i really hate this shit. the added playoff teams are only the beginning.

I like the fact that there the leagues each have their own style of play. It makes the game different than the NFL, NHL, and NBA. The different conferences in those sprts are pretty meaningless. However, I don't see MLB being able to avoid having the DH in the NL without either adding or subtracting 2 teams to give each league an even number of teams. I can't imagine the MLBPA would be too happy about losing 50 jobs, so contraction is unlikely (unless Oakland can't find another home and another team ends up in a similar no-win situation), so the candidates become expansion or the DH in the NL. The owners and players would probably both love expansion for obvious reasons--50 more jobs for the union and the owners get to split the entrance fees for the new teams--but if they can't even find a viable home for Oakland, what hope is there for finding homes for 2 new teams? Even if they add a 3rd team in NY (the Mets would fight it to the death, though) they still need another city. I don't know if it's feasible (although that didn't stop them from adding a team in Tampa). I would say the most likely scenario is the DH in the NL. All it'll take is one AL pitcher to be injured batting or running in September during a pennant race and it'll get done.

Monster Rain wrote:

The Juggler wrote:

Monster Rain wrote:

Interesting article by Tom Verducci about the possibility of the NL using the DH in the future:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/w ... mlb_t11_a0

But the biggest change of all may be around the next corner: the end of baseball as it was originally designed.


i really hate this shit. the added playoff teams are only the beginning.

I like the fact that there the leagues each have their own style of play. It makes the game different than the NFL, NHL, and NBA. The different conferences in those sprts are pretty meaningless. However, I don't see MLB being able to avoid having the DH in the NL without either adding or subtracting 2 teams to give each league an even number of teams. I can't imagine the MLBPA would be too happy about losing 50 jobs, so contraction is unlikely (unless Oakland can't find another home and another team ends up in a similar no-win situation), so the candidates become expansion or the DH in the NL. The owners and players would probably both love expansion for obvious reasons--50 more jobs for the union and the owners get to split the entrance fees for the new teams--but if they can't even find a viable home for Oakland, what hope is there for finding homes for 2 new teams? Even if they add a 3rd team in NY (the Mets would fight it to the death, though) they still need another city. I don't know if it's feasible (although that didn't stop them from adding a team in Tampa). I would say the most likely scenario is the DH in the NL. All it'll take is one AL pitcher to be injured batting or running in September during a pennant race and it'll get done.

i think the dh is horrible. i think we've talked about it before. nl pitchers have been hitting for well over 100 years and its never really a problem. that argument is funny to me.

but i do agree that with the new season long interleague play (pains me just to type that) they need to be on level playing fields and the dh will never go away in the al so it's inevitable that the nl will adopt it soon.

it's just a lesser brand of baseball to me and i hate that.

hope it doesn't happen, but i could see myself losing interest in the sport as i get older with all these changes taking place. i just have a feeling mlb will more closely resemble the nhl and nba in 20 years than the mlb we all grew up with.

Cliffy6745 wrote:

Stop it jeags, that's absurd. One more "playoff" team and the dh is going to make you lose interest in the sport. Come on man. I'd like the division series to get extended and that's all there will be. They can't add any more teams because they can't play longer. You don't like the dh and you don't like the all star game so you're gonna stop watching?

i hope not. i'm probably exaggerating just because i'm upset about it. but realignment next year and the inevitable dh to the nl thing is a pretty fucking huge deal man. you act like it's a little change that might be made. that will be a change that will literally change the entire landscape of the sport, for the worse in my opinion. again, i understand why it will most likely happen. i just hate that it's even there in the first place so it's a lose-lose for people like me.

Cliffy6745 wrote:

The Juggler wrote:

Cliffy6745 wrote:

Stop it jeags, that's absurd. One more "playoff" team and the dh is going to make you lose interest in the sport. Come on man. I'd like the division series to get extended and that's all there will be. They can't add any more teams because they can't play longer. You don't like the dh and you don't like the all star game so you're gonna stop watching?

i hope not. i'm probably exaggerating just because i'm upset about it. but realignment next year and the inevitable dh to the nl thing is a pretty fucking huge deal man. you act like it's a little change that might be made. that will be a change that will literally change the entire landscape of the sport, for the worse in my opinion. again, i understand why it will most likely happen. i just hate that it's even there in the first place so it's a lose-lose for people like me.

But realignment makes sense. How can you win one division by beating three teams and lose another by beating 4? That doesn't make sense. Yeah, the DH is a big deal but it's been a long time coming, pretty much since the day it was adpoted. I get that you hate it and that's fair, but it's going to happen at some point and it will surely get people like you angry but in the long run people will get used to it, just like AL fans have.

it's a lesser brand of baseball cliff. i'm not a fan of games regularly lasting over 3 hours and i hate all the strategy that goes out the window. long term, i think this will turn more people off than bringing in more fans. but who knows?

again--i agree if they will have interleague all year long, that you need to both have the same system regarding the dh. but if it takes 10 years or so, per the verducci article, that's just stupid. why not have all your ducks in a row at the time you realign? there will be a lot of teams at a disadvantage for the next decade or so...

Jearlpam0925 wrote:

The whole pitchers hitting in the NL for over 100 years is pretty exaggerated. Hey, I'm not a fan either, but Verducci makes a valid point that pitchers practically don't start hitting for themselves until they get up to the NL due to the DH being used in every division of the sport(Legion, HS, college, minors) until the Majors(NL).

yeah that is a good point. but it doesn't make it right though.

i dh'd a few times back in the day (was a much better hitter than fielder). i just remember thinking that i wasn't really part of the game just hanging out in the dugout most of the time and stepping up to the batters box every couple innings or so. i'll never like the dh

The Juggler wrote:

it's a lesser brand of baseball cliff. i'm not a fan of games regularly lasting over 3 hours and i hate all the strategy that goes out the window. long term, i think this will turn more people off than bringing in more fans. but who knows?

again--i agree if they will have interleague all year long, that you need to both have the same system regarding the dh. but if it takes 10 years or so, per the verducci article, that's just stupid. why not have all your ducks in a row at the time you realign? there will be a lot of teams at a disadvantage for the next decade or so...

We have been through this many times. You think it's better baseball and strategy, I think both are overrated. I think it will piss some people off but long term, the game will be the game. Baseball is not going to go the way of the NHL or the NBA, it's just too popular. No one goes to the ballpark just to see a double switch or the pitcher hit.

Cliffy6745 wrote:

Jearlpam0925 wrote:

The whole pitchers hitting in the NL for over 100 years is pretty exaggerated. Hey, I'm not a fan either, but Verducci makes a valid point that pitchers practically don't start hitting for themselves until they get up to the NL due to the DH being used in every division of the sport(Legion, HS, college, minors) until the Majors(NL).

That's a huge point from a lot of people who think the NL should adopt the DH. The NL is literally one of the only leagues in the world that doesn't use it at all.

...yeah maybe they'll start using aluminum bats too. you know, since most everyone else is doing it?

the "everyone else is doing it argument" doesn't work for me. i don't care if the rest of the world plays a dumbed down version of baseball. i enjoy it the way it was meant to be played. screw the american league.