The Bastardization of Baseball

HammerDown said:
I used to love seeing pitchers who could hit doing things like fouling tons of balls off, forcing the opposing pitcher to raise their pitch count late in a game. There's sooo much strategy to having the pitcher batting in the 9-hole.
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I was more amazed at the double switch substitute.
 
Wanting to take strategy out of the game is for casual fans who only like to see balls fly over their heads.

The DH just means that pitchers aren't baseball players.

Fuck it.
 
PackJason said:
Wanting to take strategy out of the game is for casual fans who only like to see balls fly over their heads.

The DH just means that pitchers aren't baseball players.

Fuck it.
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This.

And somehow AL fans are perfectly okay with that!
 
HammerDown said:
Fans either love it or hate it and it seems to be almost completely dependent on whether your favorite team is in the AL or NL. I'd estimate that of the time I've watched baseball games since a child, 99% of it was NL, unless it was the playoffs and an NL team just wasn't playing.
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My team was in the AL when I started watching MLB. It never really hooked me during that time, though; it was a casual fandom. When the Brewers moved to the NL, baseball became much more interesting to me because it added so many extra layers of strategy to the game. If the DH stays in the NL, I'm likely going to lose a good deal of the passion and intrigue of MLB that has built in me over the past 20+ years.
 
I've only ever followed an AL team. But like golf, I never really understood it until I had to do it. Golf is boring until you play and see what is involved, same with MLB coaching. Maybe once a season an injury to a catcher may happen that puts the DH spot at risk for one game. Every night in the NL there is some sort of planning and strategy to protect your pitchers and make sure you have the bench players to finish the game.
 
Fish said:
One problem is I believe college has dh.

Minors have dh.

The young pitchers come up with no clue how to swing a bat. Yeah they're great athletes but this is the major leagues.
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You can make such arguments ad infinitum. Aluminum bats, nonstandard park sizes, natural vs. artificial turf, night games, etc.
 
same fags who love the dh hate sudden death football....fact!
 
fordman84 said:
probably also like the california tie breaker rule too.
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Hitman Hart said:
how does it speed up the game? increased offense makes for longer games
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More strategy = more pitching changes = longer games. It's probably true, but isn't the best argument for implementing universal DH.
 
Mofo said:
More strategy = more pitching changes = longer games. It's probably true, but isn't the best argument for implementing universal DH.
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The three batter minimum rule is also taking a lot of strategy out but could counteract a lot of that longer games for pitching changes. Playoffs a few years ago was unwatchable with "strategy".
 
fordman84 said:
I was more amazed at the double switch substitute.
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Yeah, I love that.

Something else I used to love. Whitey Herzog would put lefty Ken Dayley in right field and righty Todd Worrell on the mound. Then switch them depending on which side of the plate the hitter stood on. That was glorious.
 
Fish said:
Yeah, I love that.

Something else I used to love. Whitey Herzog would put lefty Ken Dayley in right field and righty Todd Worrell on the mound. Then switch them depending on which side of the plate the hitter stood on. That was glorious.
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I have never understood why a team doesn't do that more often. There are pitchers who are great athletes and could hold a COF spot for an inning. The Angels have the perfect guy, when healthy, to do this but I can't remember them doing it.
 
fordman84 said:
The three batter minimum rule is also taking a lot of strategy out but could counteract a lot of that longer games for pitching changes. Playoffs a few years ago was unwatchable with "strategy".
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Both good points.

I still think retaining the pitcher as a full player is an element of strategy that shouldn't be removed though. If the pitcher is an easy out or expected to bunt, then it affects how early or late BOTH teams want to go into their bullpen. I don't think it's elitist to say that "small ball" is more interesting than what we've seen the last few years of every pitcher trying for a SO, and every hitter swinging for the fences. I would rather have a league of Rickey Hendersons and Greg Madduxes, instead of Pete Incaviglias and Patrick Corbins.
 
Mofo said:
Both good points.

I still think retaining the pitcher as a full player is an element of strategy that shouldn't be removed though. If the pitcher is an easy out or expected to bunt, then it affects how early or late BOTH teams want to go into their bullpen. I don't think it's elitist to say that "small ball" is more interesting than what we've seen the last few years of every pitcher trying for a SO, and every hitter swinging for the fences. I would rather have a league of Rickey Hendersons and Greg Madduxes, instead of Pete Incaviglias and Patrick Corbins.
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I'm a fan of small ball, I was talking more about the strategy of putting in a pitcher then a pinch hitter is sent up so switching a pitcher, then 8 mound visits with the catcher, 1 with the pitching coach, one with the HC, then finally a batter gets an AB.
 
Also, @moxie tue biggest bastardization of baseball happened when they stopped base runners from plowing over the catcher because of Buster Posey’s glass leg bones
 
Illustrious Potentate said:
Also, @moxie tue biggest bastardization of baseball happened when they stopped base runners from plowing over the catcher because of Buster Posey’s glass leg bones
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The base runner can still destroy the catcher if he's blocking the plate, can't he?

I thought it was that the runner can't leave the base path to destroy the catcher.
 
HammerDown said:
...and removes a whole layer of basic baseball strategy.

I'd start watching baseball again if the MLB would go back to pure National League baseball.
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Weren't you a Padre's fan?
 
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