The End is Near!!!!

[Chuck Jackson]

HOLY CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


The NL won the All-Star Game. What's next? Bloke voting for a Liberal?

Chuck"not holding his breath for the latter, but HAPPY for the former"Jackson

[TMurphy]

The NL was bound to win one sooner or later.

That's ok....the Yankees will have to win the world series in 54-5 games this time, to honor Mr. Steinbrenner and Bob Sheppard.

[Dylan King]

The National League should win the All Star game every year, and any other game that is played against an American League team. The "designated hitter" breaks the very first rule of baseball, and should therefore lead to a forfeit.

From the MLB.com official rule-book...

1.01 Baseball is a game between two teams of nine players each, under direction of a
manager, played on an enclosed field in accordance with these rules, under jurisdiction of
one or more umpires.

[Chuck Jackson]

The National League should win the All Star game every year, and any other game that is played against an American League team. The "designated hitter" breaks the very first rule of baseball, and should therefore lead to a forfeit.

Now, that's some preaching I can get on board with!!! Why anyone would watch Minor(AL) League Baseball when the National league plays the game AS IT WAS AND IS MEANT TO BE PLAYED is beyond me. The AL is NOT baseball.

Chuck"Dodgers and Braves"Jackson

[tofu]

The National League should win the All Star game every year, and any other game that is played against an American League team. The "designated hitter" breaks the very first rule of baseball, and should therefore lead to a forfeit.

From the MLB.com official rule-book...

1.01 Baseball is a game between two teams of nine players each, under direction of a
manager, played on an enclosed field in accordance with these rules, under jurisdiction of
one or more umpires.

Well if you are going to have a strict interpretation than every game would be a forfeit because every team has 25 players so you could interpret your quote of the rules to mean that every game is a forfeit. Going a little further in the quote and the game is to be played on an "enclosed field" which presents the CUBS with a bigger problem than they already have since all their home games are in venerable old Wrigley Field an open air field. And it is a game of 9 players as the designated hitter is merely a permanent batting substitution for the pitcher. The game has always had changes both subtle and major from the very beginning with some being better than others.

Now, that's some preaching I can get on board with!!! Why anyone would watch Minor(AL) League Baseball when the National league plays the game AS IT WAS AND IS MEANT TO BE PLAYED is beyond me. The AL is NOT baseball.

Chuck"Dodgers and Braves"Jackson

And yet even when they play with "National League rules" the NL still needed 13 years to win an All Star Game! Heck calling the NL a minor league is an insult to the minor leagues! Perhaps a better term would be bush league

White Sox Rule with Ozzie Ball!

[TMurphy]

Dylan, nice try, but when NL teams plays in AL ballparks, THEY ALSO USE THE DH. And when interleague games are played in NL parks??? NO ONE uses a DH.

Personally, I like the DH. There's no dead spot at the bottom of the lineup, and some teams put a leadoff-type hitter in the 9 spot, to give the lineup a good turn over and create RBI opportunities for the actual lead-off guy. The Yankees do this a lot, with Brett Gardner hitting 9th, and Jeter leading off. You don't usually get that in the NL, because most pitchers are automatic outs.

[elimia]

I personally despise the DH. It was designed to instill more interest in the casual to less-than-casual baseball fan in a game. Goodness forbid we have to watch a 1-0 game. Now THAT is real baseball. The DH is the equivalent to the "left handed specialist" and my favorite, "the closer". Nothing more than union gimmicks. They are little more than the equivalent of the guy in any other union who pushes the broom and only the broom. Union garbage designed to overvalue a one-trick pony player (the guy who can only hit, or the guy who can only pitch the ninth).

At this point though, they should go ahead and make it the same in both leagues. But being that the union runs the game now, that would mean the DH in both leagues.

Posted by a Pirates fan.

[iiipopes]

My personal feeling is that the DH takes out a great deal of strategy out of a late-inning close game.

[TMurphy]

My personal feeling is that the DH takes out a great deal of strategy out of a late-inning close game.

Actually, I remember reading an article a few yard ago where the writer had asked Joe Torre about that. Torre said that, contrary to common wisdom, the DH actually makes strategy and decision making a little harder for the manager. His reasoning was, in the NL, the decision of when to change your pitcher is often made for you by the situation (down by a run, guys on base, 7th inning, time to pinch hit). In the AL, the manager is pretty much always making a judgement call. Leave a guy in too long, and the end result is a disaster.

Regarding the DH being a spot for "one trick players," many AL teams use the DH spot as a way to give players a 1/2 day off, and help keep the club healthy. The Yankees do it all the time. Closers....they're a special breed. Think whatever you want, but without Mariano Rivera, the Yankees don't win those five championships.