How do you feel about the designated hitter?

[Kevin Seitzer]

Given that it seems to be a popular topic lately, I'm curious what people here think.

I recognize the poll categories may not match everyone perfectly. Pick the closest option if you can.

[Hornsby]

It's the only way to go in this day and age...heard on the XM this morning that the National League is the ONLY league in the world that still doesn't have the DH. If that is true, the time has come for the universal DH.

While it's amusing to watch Bartolo Colon flail away, it's essentially a free out for pitchers 9 times out of 10.

[joncarlos]

Only 1 of the 2 leagues in Japan uses the DH. Or at least they used to. I can't remember the specifics.

Also, in the minors (maybe just at AAA?), if 2 NL teams are playing each other, then they don't use the DH.

[Gregg]

I like it the way it is.

I would not want to see DH come to the NL. I do not particularly want it eliminated from the AL If push came to shove and it had to be the same across both leagues then no DH.

[Sharky]

Mike, assorted comments on this topic:
1) The absence of the DH adds an element of strategy / roster management that is fun and interesting.
2) Interleague play (and other factors) have dramatically reduced the historic rivalry between leagues. I believe this is unfortunate and represents a missed opportunity for MLB. Particularly in this era in which players move from one team to the next quickly, anything that instills in fans a sense of "ownership" or pride (call it tribalism if you must) is a positive. We should grow and enhance that, not destroy it.
and
3) Total thread hijack, but since you have the ear of baseball potentates (he said, voice full of hope) --- these issues pale in comparison to baseball's archaic blackout rules and foolhardy contract with Fox for Saturday afternoons. We are literally killing off future generations of fans by not allowing parents to easily watch games on TV with their kids on a Saturday afternoon. Can't tell you how many times there has been no game here (rainout, scheduling, etc.) and yet there is no game that's watchable on TV on ANY channel despite paying for "Extra Innings" or equivalent. There is NO amount of money for MLB that should make it profitable/desirable to NOT broadcast games. Would welcome your thoughts on this.

[Kevin Seitzer]

Total thread hijack, but since you have the ear of baseball potentates (he said, voice full of hope) --- these issues pale in comparison to baseball's archaic blackout rules and foolhardy contract with Fox for Saturday afternoons. We are literally killing off future generations of fans by not allowing parents to easily watch games on TV with their kids on a Saturday afternoon. Can't tell you how many times there has been no game here (rainout, scheduling, etc.) and yet there is no game that's watchable on TV on ANY channel despite paying for "Extra Innings" or equivalent. There is NO amount of money for MLB that should make it profitable/desirable to NOT broadcast games. Would welcome your thoughts on this.

I understand and sympathize with your thoughts. However, I have about as close to zero influence with the commissioner's office as is possible, probably less than you since you are actually a paying customer, and I represent a cost center. There are things on which I might have some influence, but this is not remotely one of them.

[Erik]

Option #5 is closest to my opinion.

I don't mind the DH, nor do I mind pitchers hitting. However, I do think it is unfair that one league has the DH and the other does not. Having the DH gives teams much more flexibility in roster constriction and in terms of the kinds of contracts it can offer older hitters. The way MLB is structured now, with free agency the way it is and interleague play as extensive as it is, it seems silly that only half the teams can take advantage of this. Therefore, I would like to see the NL adopt the DH OR the AL eliminate the DH. I don't care which one. Presumably it would have to be the former because I don't think the MLBPA would ever allow the latter to happen.

[revo]

I'm a fan of the DH. I understand from a "purist's" POV that a lot of strategy would be removed. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Big whoop. Strategies change in every sport, deal with it.

I like it for many reasons:
- who wants to see a .150 hitter bat?
- who wants to see a .150 hitter bat eighth?
- it adds offense
- it extends careers of stars
- it created careers for players who may not have been able to have one otherwise
- it would end the argument of DHs not getting Hall support

Bring it on! I agree with Max Scherzer, the time has come.

[Fresno Bob]

If I could wave my magic wand, I'd abolish the DH and bump the roster limit up to 26 so that teams could have deeper benches

[TranaGreg]

I'm the AL guy who doesn't like the DH.

I grew up with the expansion Blue Jays, but even before that I was a fan of the Oakland A's - my first memories of watching a ball game on tv with my dad were of Carney Lansford diving at third to steal hits from the evil Big Red Machine (why, who knows). So I definitely fall into the "grew up with the AL" category.

And since I played it so much when I was young I consider myself somewhat of a purist. And to me that means that a ball player - everyone - plays defense and offense. The idea that a pitcher doesn't have to abide by the same rules smacks of elitism ... they are special, they have skills that are more important than what any other defensive position requires. And even though this is obviously true, I still dislike the notion that they should be treated special.

The strategy that goes along with pitchers having to hit - double switches, tougher choices on when to lift a pitcher vs leave him in - is a wonderful benefit; but for me it really all comes down to this - once everyone is on the diamond, everyone is part of the team, and nobody is above anyone else. It's core to what a team sport should be.

But I know I'm not living in the real world, the world where these same people get signed to contracts approaching a quarter of a billion dollars. But I don't want to. I want my baseball to be as close to the ideal as possible. You know, how it reminds us of all that once was good and that could be again.

[mgwiz22]

I grew up a fan of the Yankees and then both the Yankees and the Mets. I am now a fan of neither of them. I don't like the DH as I feel a major league player should have to play both offense and defense.

[Sour Masher]

I didn't grow up a baseball fan at all, as I had no father figure to teach me the game, but I got forced into fantasy baseball in the 9th grade by friends in 1992, and came to love the game. Since I developed my appreciation for the game independent of a loyalty to a specific team or league, I think it has helped me appreciate both sides of this argument.

On the one hand, I love how NL baseball is played. As most proponents of having pitchers hit have outlined above, I think it adds another dimension of strategy to that game that I appreciate. For me as just a generic fan of watching baseball, guided mostly by wanting to watch games that my players are playing in, I enjoy watching the NL style more.

That said, pitching is so different from hitting, and since pitching is so important, pitchers do not need to be able to hit at all to be successful in the majors. That leads to some truly awful hitting pitchers. While I love seeing an average or better pitcher hack away at the plate to contribute in some way to winning the game, some pitchers are just so awful it is really just a waste of time for them to be at the plate. So, I can see why there would be a clear split of skills, and why the DH makes sense. This is primarily why I am not passionately opposed to the DH. Although, I agree with others that having the DH in one of two leagues not only creates different games, it creates unfairness when teams from those leagues play each other. So, since inter-league play has become a thing, my view is that the fair thing to do would be to either have a DH in both leagues or neither league.

Another factor that makes me lean no DH for either league is the tough decisions that end up being made about the HOF. This is a small factor for me, because I have no problem with players being HOFers if they are the best at whatever they do within the rules of the game. So, if the rules say some players just pitch and field once every 5 days, or just close, the best of them are HOFers. If some hitters just hit but don't field, the best of the should be HOFers, even if, by the nature of them not fielding, their overall impact on the game is less than a "complete" fielding/hitting player. But the way most seem to approach it now, they want to compare a guy like Edgar Martinez to 1bman for some reason, and they ding him, because he didn't add value as a defender (not that 1bman like Frank Thomas did either).

As an amusing aside, I've taken my wife to more than a dozen minor and major league games over the years, and it took her about 6 games to realize that the hitters were the same players as the fielders. She assumed it was like football, where the whole line up was made of specialists--one group of hitters and one group of fielders. I made fun of her for it, but she said she thought they were such separate skill sets, it just made sense to her. So, to her, the entire team of fielders should have DHs .

[The Dane]

I grew up being a fan of the Angels and Dodgers, because no one told me I couldn't. Now, I've relocated, so I follow the Giants and the As.

My opinion of the DH has softened a little bit in recent years. I do like seeing the maneuvering teams have to do when they play the in a stadium of the other league. This is fun. So, I guess I would leave it as is, but if the DH was to disappear, I wouldn't be bummed at all.

[GwynnInTheHall]

I am not here nor there about the DH I like NL baseball where the pitchers hit, but if they adopted the DH I wouldn't throw a fit. Baseball, as much as I appreciate it's history, needs to move into the new Millennium.

On the blackout note. Living in Vegas I am blacked out of all Padre, Dodger, Giant, Diamondback, A's and Angels. That means as a Padre fan I miss 125 games this season unless you get Cox cable you can only see randomly televised away games from the other side of the country. Free market my ass.

Edit: I can't get ANY Padre games on MLBTV as they consider away game in market as well. This sucks.

[Pauly]

* I totally love seeing pitchers botch bunt attempts.
* I absolutely adore seeing pitchers hitting out of the 8 hole
* I really love when one of my team's pitchers tears an achilles running to first base

I really really really prefer the DH!