NBCSports: More Momentum for DH to National League

[Rene88]

Watching pitchers bat is both boring and stressful (possible injury).

Times change: women can vote, we have a black president and nobody falls for

xenophobia or demagoguery in a presidential candidate..oh wait...

Long overdue to eliminate pitchers from batting.

[OFFNY]

I wonder what Madison Baumgarner will think if they bring the DH into the NL? Mad Bum is a pitcher who can hit. I don't think he'll be very happy.

The DH is actually optional.

If Baumgarner can convince his manager to let him bat for himself, he can. But if he does, I think that the team forfeits the use of the DH for the entire game ...... so if Bumgarner hits for himself but gets knocked out of the box early in the game, the team has to continue to let the pitcher bat for himself in the lineup for the remainder of the game.

I actually remember when Catfish Hunter batted for himself in a game against the Orioles in 1976.

It was an unorthodox move.

And not to be outdone, Earl Weaver (in a behavior that was even more unorthodox than Billy Martin having his pitcher hit for himself in the first place) actually argued against it!

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BAL/BAL197609050.shtml

My brother Mark (Yankee fan) said an encouraging, "Hey" when he saw that Hunter actually made contact, albeit on a groundball out.

The game was televised on WPIX-11 up here. I was 10 and-a-half years old.

[Crazysilver03]

I wonder what Madison Baumgarner will think if they bring the DH into the NL? Mad Bum is a pitcher who can hit. I don't think he'll be very happy.

As OFFNY Points put, DH is optional, so MB could ask to hit. And based on interleague results, might be better than who they usually trot out to DH.

[Superbee83]

The DH is actually optional.

If Baumgarner can convince his manager to let him bat for himself, he can. But if he does, I think that the team forfeits the use of the DH for the entire game ...... so if Bumgarner hits for himself but gets knocked out of the box early in the game, the team has to continue to let the pitcher bat for himself in the lineup for the remainder of the game.

I actually remember when Catfish Hunter batted for himself in a game against the Orioles in 1976.

It was an unorthodox move.

And not to be outdone, Earl Weaver (in a behavior that was even more unorthodox than Billy Martin having his pitcher hit for himself in the first place) actually argued against it!

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BAL/BAL197609050.shtml

My brother Mark (Yankee fan) said an encouraging, "Hey" when he saw that Hunter actually made contact, albeit on a groundball out.

The game was televised on WPIX-11 up here. I was 10 and-a-half years old.

Cool stuff, and excellent point about the DH being optional.

Having the NL adopt the DH is long overdue IMO.

The DH is in use in not just the AL but all other levels of baseball. ( Minors, NCAA, High School)

Further, I really don't understand how this issue was not addressed properly when interleague play went into affect.

American League teams have had to play at a disadvantage for years when visiting NL parks as a result of the restriction.

[DrungoHazewood]

I know some people think it's kind of cool and "vintage" to still have the pitchers hitting (and I can agree with that to a certain extent), but I'm generally in favor of having the DH in both leagues.

- The first serious discussion of implementing the DH happened in 1890, so the idea predates the 60' pitching distance, the mound, and foul strikes.

- I'm in favor of "Home manager's choice" where the home team's manager declares whether or not the DH will be in use some set time before first pitch. Lots of strategy there.

- Madison Bumgarner has a .521 career OPS. If he were a good-fielding shortstop he'd be in AA.

- Pitcher's performance at bat is a nice measuring stick for league quality, since pitchers are selected solely for their pitching ability. So we'd lose that if we go all-DH. If you graph pitchers' hitting over time it's a nice, steady decline as the quality of play has increased. No matter how much they practice pitchers, taken as a group, are never going to be even A-ball quality as hitters. Not unless we expand to 100+ MLB teams, quickly.

- I have bit of trepidation over the next 60-odd years of my life, where I'd have to hear NL purists cry five times a day over the loss of pitchers hitting. Just that makes me want to leave well enough alone.

[OsEatAlEast]

Cool stuff, and excellent point about the DH being optional.

Having the NL adopt the DH is long overdue IMO.

The DH is in use in not just the AL but all other levels of baseball. ( Minors, NCAA, High School)

Further, I really don't understand how this issue was not addressed properly when interleague play went into affect.

American League teams have had to play at a disadvantage for years when visiting NL parks as a result of the restriction.

AL has beat the NL in interleague wins something like 12 straight seasons. So I don't know how much of an advantage the NL actually does have with it.

[Superbee83]

AL has beat the NL in interleague wins something like 12 straight seasons. So I don't know how much of an advantage the NL actually does have with it.

Apparently, the AL has been able to overcome the disadvantage of not using the DH at NL parks for a decade or so.

However, IMO the AL is at a disadvantage when they are the visiting team because thy are essentially playing short a hitter.