DH or batting pitchers

[LLXerxes]

I've been wondering, which would you prefer in baseball.
The american league Designated hitter,
OR,
the national league and batting pitchers.
Feel free to post!
EDIT: Doh! I forgot to put the poll! :shakehead

 

[marioh]

It's the cheap answer, but I kind of like it as it is now. Adds a certain uniqueness to each league.

If I had to choose, make the pitchers hit. Adds alot more strategy to coaching.

 

[pawpaw]

if you think back to little league/high school/ and even college, the best hitter on your teams was mostly the pitcher. its not till the minor leagues do they "forget" everything they knew. the dh is the unions way of keeping 20 jobs for vetern players. the minute its gone so are those players, they will fight it till the end

 

[Marla_Singer]

Didn't you realize they were the Euro ?

How anyone could think about any other sport right now is beyond me !

 

[marioh]

if you think back to little league/high school/ and even college, the best hitter on your teams was mostly the pitcher. its not till the minor leagues do they "forget" everything they knew. the dh is the unions way of keeping 20 jobs for vetern players. the minute its gone so are those players, they will fight it till the end

Yeah, usually the best athlete on the team was the pitcher, who also would play either third base or shortstop. Why pitchers can't hit in general really baffles me. I would guess the DH in the minors is a big reason.

 

[marioh]

Didn't you realize they were the Euro ?

How anyone could think about any other sport right now is beyond me !

Euro, what's that ??













Just kidding !

 

[Tomoyo]

In little leagues, the best athlete usually had the best arm, so they were the pitcher. Pitchers can't hit because no one expects them to

I think if pitchers had to hit, pitchers in the future would hit more, and we would see more Dontrelle Willis pinch-hitting or Steve Trachsel pinch-running.

 

[Daniel Khan]

Pitchers should hit. It's part of the game.

 

[dgfred]

Even though the DH has much effect on coaching and pitching strategies,
it seems the fans and the players (AL at least) prefer the DH. I like the
different managing choices for the NL better, but really tire of seeing
starting pitchers that can not hit at all bat for 6 or 7 innings. So basically
I can not decide on which is better , but if I had
to vote or anything I would go for the DH.

 

[Tomoyo]

Even though the DH has much effect on coaching and pitching strategies,
it seems the fans and the players (AL at least) prefer the DH. I like the
different managing choices for the NL better, but really tire of seeing
starting pitchers that can not hit at all bat for 6 or 7 innings. So basically
I can not decide on which is better , but if I had
to vote or anything I would go for the DH.

The ideal solution to that would be to eliminate the DH, encouraging pitchers to actually learn to hit.

 

[dgfred]

I think you are right T. I think maybe the biggest problem they have with
that is in the minor leagues. The owners/managers like to have more
"players" in the lineup so they can evaluate another players potential each
game as far as hitting instead of having a pitcher in the lineup. But like you
said if the DH is eliminated the pitchers will have to learn to hit better.

 

[El Justo]

the DH rule stinks IMHO

i would settle for watching some of those pitchers "attempt" to hit rather than have the DH. the managerial strategy of AL mgrs is one dimensional. no double-switches, less pinch hitting, less sacrifice bunts.

i agree that some pitchers look absolutely pathetic in the box but as long as they can at least square up and lay down a sacrifice, then i'll take that.

as my dad would yell at the TV when i was a kid when the pitcher couldn't get a bunt down or went to 2 strikes: "They should fine that guy!!!"