Is It REALLY That Difficult?

[Copperfields]

Every year it's the same thing. The abomination of interleague play rolls around and 14 major league managers start whining about how their teams will be at a disadvantage because their one-trick ponies can't make their usual 4 appearances per game. Then comes the bafflement about the deepest of all baseball mysteries, the beguiling "double switch".

What kind of mental midgets get employed in the DH league? Is it really that hard to comprehend? Anyone who's played a handful of games of Strat-o-Matic easily grasps this concept. Heck, presumably the majority of major league managers grew up playing and watching baseball in the pre-DH era, so the concept shouldn't be all that foreign to them.

Sorry. I don't care for interleague play to begin with, and I had to vent about this annual bellyaching from half (almost) of the MLB managers when their teams have to play an elevated form of the game a couple of weeks per season.

David

[stones]

Does anyone know the final win loss record of the AL v the NL. I think that would be fairly telling about the remarks David made.

PS, I am an NL fan, but a convert from the AL. I love the DH!!!

Just watch Ben Sheets hit sometime and you will beg for the DH! Any DH, a little leaguer or a blind softball player or a...you get my drift.

[Nick's Picts (archived)]

You know, I really hate the whinge coming from the junior circuit on this too. Every year it's the same, which seems to me to be a great excuse for scrapping interleague play.

While we're fixing Bud's "improvements" we should give the Diamondbacks to the AL so the two leagues are balanced. Then we could send a giant apology to the City of Montreal and the Expos for running the team into the ground while leaving everyone hanging. Finally we definitively tell Pete Rose to stuff it--he's not getting in during his lifetime.

After all this, we take a break and watch a day-night doubleheader at Wrigley. Brats are on me.

Sorry, not sure where that rant came from...

[Copperfields]

stones said:

Does anyone know the final win loss record of the AL v the NL. I think that would be fairly telling about the remarks David made.

I don't know what the current records are, but I know at some point (through the first few years), the AL was leading, which I guess would prove that all the AL fuss is much ado about nothing.

stones said:

Just watch Ben Sheets hit sometime and you will beg for the DH! Any DH, a little leaguer or a blind softball player or a...you get my drift.

I didn't intend this to be a thread on the Pros and Cons of the Designated Hitter Rule, but was just expressing my bemused puzzlement over the annual angst expressed by many AL managers when faced with elemental strategies.

But since you opened the door - no, I don't find Ben Sheets at bat terribly thrilling, but I do enjoy the effect his lack of batting prowess can have on game decisions. If the DH is so great, why doesn't the AL take it to its logical conclusion - separate lineups for offense and defense? Why should it be limited to pitchers only? If the idea is to spare us the certain nausea from witnessing Ben Sheet's hapless flailings, why not also save us from the futility that is Paul Bako or Rey Ordonez with a bat in his hands? These guys presumably have something to offer in the field, but are usually forced to sit because they can't hit their weight. Why not have a DH for every position? Because it will reveal what a farce the DH is, that's why.

I enjoy the mental aspect of the game and would find it terribly interesting if Ozzie had to weigh, on a daily basis, Frank Thomas' bat against Konerko's glove. Ok, bad example, but you get the idea. I LIKE that a manager has to make decisions like that.

David

[stones]

Since Kelly isn't here to defend the AL (I draw the line at the AL, I AM NOT even going to try to defend the AL Chicago team!!!), I guess I will. Talk about complex, read this:

Excert from MLB Rule Book:

6.10
Any League may elect to use the Designated Hitter Rule. (a) In the event of inter league competition between clubs of Leagues using the Designated Hitter Rule and clubs of Leagues not using the Designated Hitter Rule, the rule will be used as follows: 1. In World Series or exhibition games, the rule will be used or not used as is the practice of the home team. 2. In All Star games, the rule will only be used if both teams and both Leagues so agree. (b) The Rule provides as follows: A hitter may be designated to bat for the starting pitcher and all subsequent pitchers in any game without otherwise affecting the status of the pitcher(s) in the game. A Designated Hitter for the pitcher must be selected prior to the game and must be included in the lineup cards presented to the Umpire in Chief. The designated hitter named in the starting lineup must come to bat at least one time, unless the opposing club changes pitchers. It is not mandatory that a club designate a hitter for the pitcher, but failure to do so prior to the game precludes the use of a Designated Hitter for that game. Pinch hitters for a Designated Hitter may be used. Any substitute hitter for a Designated Hitter becomes the Designated Hitter. A replaced Designated Hitter shall not re enter the game in any capacity. The Designated Hitter may be used defensively, continuing to bat in the same position in the batting order, but the pitcher must then bat in the place of the substituted defensive player, unless more than one substitution is made, and the manager then must designate their spots in the batting order. A runner may be substituted for the Designated Hitter and the runner assumes the role of Designated Hitter. A Designated Hitter may not pinch run. A Designated Hitter is "locked" into the batting order. No multiple substitutions may be made that will alter the batting rotation of the Designated Hitter. Once the game pitcher is switched from the mound to a defensive position this move shall terminate the Designated Hitter role for the remainder of the game. Once a pinch hitter bats for any player in the batting order and then enters the game to pitch, this move shall terminate the Designated Hitter role for the remainder of the game. Once the game pitcher bats for the Designated Hitter this move shall terminate the Designated Hitter role for the remainder of the game. (The game pitcher may only pinch hit for the Designated Hitter). Once a Designated Hitter assumes a defensive position this move shall terminate the Designated Hitter role for the remainder of the game. A substitute for the Designated Hitter need not be announced until it is the Designated Hitter's turn to bat.


Just reading this rule makes me crazy! You can't tell me its easy to be a Manager in the AL with rules like this!

[stones]

I was going to post a rant about the continuing lack of respect for Bud, but I realized I just don't care that much. Without supporting this statement in great detail, I think history will look favorably on Bud's tenure as Commish.

As for Inter-league play. I like it.

As for the DH, I like it as well.

As for managers whining about having to alter thier game plan for interleague play, I agree with David, get over it. But I would point out that, managers always use that ploy to throw off the other manager. The "Oh we can't hit Johnson" routine, then they go out an beat him. Reverse Psychology! If some one holds the apparent upper hand, throw them off.

Apparently the AL managers are not too upset with interleague play since they have an overall winning record. Check out Tampa Bay for goodness sake, They would love to keep playing interleague games. They won 12 straight, most were versus NL teams! and the middle part of that streak was in NL Parks. Clearly thier inability to manage didn't effect them.

Minnesota pitchers had a batting average over .370 in interleague play. Who needs a DH when NL pitchers can't stop AL ptichers. There is nothing worse than the other teams pitcher beating you. Compound that by pitchers who only bat 5 times a season!

[Splinters]

If I were an AL manager and I was forced to sit a guy that is probably no worse than the fourth best hitter on my team, I would also be complaining.

As for the DH, has anyone seem a study on the league-wide statistics of AVG, OBP, SLG, etc, for pitchers on a year to year basis? I've never looked at the numbers, but I would venture a guess that when the game was first being played, pitchers were much better hitters (compared to league average) than they are today. If this is in fact true, I would attribute the decline in hitting over the years to specialization, especially for pitchers. Assuming that this is all true, you could make a strong argument for the DH being a progressive correction for the lack of hitting from pitchers.

[stones]

And...I not sure that I have ever heard of an NL manager complaining about getting to use his best bench player in more than a platoon or PH role, instead of having his pitcher bat. Unless you talking Mike Hampton or Kerry Wood!

Oh yeah, the Brewers bring a new twist to the DH, at least half of the time last season during inter-league play at AL Parks, they used Brooks "The Tool Shed" Kieschnick as their DH. If he wasn't out helping his wife have a baby during the first week of inter-league play this year, he would have likely played DH one or twice!

It was almost as if they were saying to the AL "we'll play you on your turf, but by our rules! We don't need no stinking DH! We're so good we'll use a marginal middle relief pitcher to beat you” Well...almost any way.

[Copperfields]

Splinters said:

I've never looked at the numbers, but I would venture a guess that when the game was first being played, pitchers were much better hitters (compared to league average) than they are today. If this is in fact true, I would attribute the decline in hitting over the years to specialization, especially for pitchers. Assuming that this is all true, you could make a strong argument for the DH being a progressive correction for the lack of hitting from pitchers.

Interesting thought, Teddy. However, using the same assumption (pitchers are worse hitters in the DH era than they were pre-DH), I'd come to a different conclusion - that the decline in pitchers' hitting ability is a result of the DH.

The Designated Hitter has now been adapted throughout the minor leagues (and in college?), so pitchers now come to the majors focusing solely on pitching. If they take BP at all, it's largely to practice bunting. After spending 3-4 years in the minors without facing any "live" pitching, then getting only 2-3 AB every five games if they happen to be in the NL, is it any wonder pitchers look clueless at the plate?

I'd think the specialization is more a result of the DH than a progressive cause of it.

I haven't seen the types of numbers you wonder about, but here's an interesting study of pitchers' hitting through the years: talkingbaseball.blogspot.com/2004/05/purist-approach-to-dh-on-sunday.html
Given the random and limited nature of the study, I'd be hesitant to draw any conclusions from it at all. But the theory it's setting out to test is interesting.

David