WSJ: The Decline of the National League

Particularly when that extra hitter is most likely among the Top 14 hitters in the world and probably among the highest paid players on their respective AL teams.

Couple that with the relief an AL pitcher feels when he’s pitching strategically towards another hitting pitcher in an NL park.

Taking into account that the NL dominated the AL back in the 70’s (Pirates & Reds), I’m now wondering how the 2 leagues ever matched up competitively.

It can’t hurt to have your (usually) worst hitter replaced with your (possibly) best hitter. Plus without losing any defense.

“What happens to AL pitchers when they actually have to run?”

Forward by Hank Steinbrenner of course.

The AL/NL debate is ridiculous. Even the playing field and then talk to me. If the teams are still not “as good” as AL teams, then fine. Otherwise, I maintain that NL play is the “real” baseball and AL play is just warped. No way to compare the two.

Why does the WSJ care?

pas me my pipe and WSJ Geeves, I need to check on my favorite teams.

I thought the rule changed.

The DH is pricely why I can’t watch American League baseball…

BORING, No Strategy, No Use of Bench, Long Games and no chance to run Marmol out there 49 times in the 1st half!

The AL should witch back… but the Union will never allow that

Why can’t the DH be eliminated and have pitchers play the game the way it was originally played? The way I see it, the AL only perpetuates the very trend we have seen over the past few decades. Pitchers are becoming more and more “specialized” and less rounded players.

pitchers used to go the distance, develop their hitting skills, and didn’t know what a pitch count was. Now they pitch only a certain number of innings or throw a designated amount of pitches, sit the bench (in the AL) and basically are different than pitchers of the past.

I just don’t understand what was wrong with the way things used to be. Don’t get me wrong, I am not old enough to preach about the “good ol days” but I certainly appreciate what baseball is in this country and I think it has changed and the result (with respects to pitching at least) is the emergence of the Mark Priors and others who are phiscially and emotionally weakened.

It’s for the AL to start playing real baseball again. The DH lets managers not have to manage, and makes the game much more boring.

It’s like when people complain about how old Wrigley is. The NL IS baseball. The AL is… something else.

If you want to go that route, go ahead and have 9 offensive players who bat and 9 defensive players who pitch/field like football squads.

Yankees $209,081,579
Tigers $138,685,197
Mets $138,293,378
Red Sox $133,440,037
White Sox $121,152,667
Angels $119,216,333
Cubs $118,595,833
Dodgers $118,536,038
Mariners $117,993,982
Braves $102,424,018

Now look at the top 5 of 6 payrolls…notice anything interesting? Here’s a hint…better players generally get paid more money.

I’d say this has more to do with the AL’s dominance than whether or not someone bats for the pitcher.

Note that 8 of the 16 AL victories in the last 25 years were by Yankees (4), Red Sox (2) and Blue Jays (2), all in AL East, where I thnk we all can see the payroll wars are out of control. Add in the Orioles in ‘83 and that’s 9 of 25 (over 1/3 from one division). Any wonder the Rays are last on a consistent basis?

In the last 10 years, Yankees and Red Sox have 5 of the 7, with White Sox and Angels the other two victories…they all appear on the above list.

Besides, in the WS, each team gets to play by their rules, so any advantage that the AL has in their parks should theoretically be offset by AL pitchers batting in the NL parks.

And, yeah, it’s tradition. If you like the DH, the White Sox are waiting for your call…

...for the simple fact that Players’ Union will never allow major league baseball to eliminate a traditionally high paid slot on a 25 man roster. DH’s make a heckuva lot more money than another guy on the bench. You can bet the ranch Donald Fehr would sooner die than let Bud the Dud Selig and the owners take away the DH.

I hate the DH. If the NL ever adopts the DH I shall puke on my shoes.

What makes baseball better than other sports, IMO, is the mental aspect.

Tennis used to be that way, now its all power serves and baseline volleys.

Could be part of why tennis isn’t nearly as popular as it used to be.

may need to be better, but facing the DH does not make the pitcher better. I would argue that facing the DH makes the pitcher’s stats appear worse, higher ERA, etc, while being the same pitcher.

Your idiotic response to this did only this…point out everything I already said and then criticized me because I prefer pure baseball played the way I tbelieve it was meant to be played. You and your Steinbrenneresque retort make me laugh (in your face) that you believe because YOU like the way baseball is played in the AL, that that is how we should feel.

Get over yourself, you know very little and claim to understand more than you really do. You r Albert Pujols comment MAKES NO FREAKING SENSE!!!!! Whay is that what we are saying? The specialized argument is that it produces weaker players BASED ON THEIR POSITIONS! Nothing about Pujols is bad IMO. He is NOTa pitcher and therefore his inability to pitch does not mean he sucks. That is a dumbass statement.

The argument is this…pitchers have become so specialized that their all around quality of play has diminished because of enabling. FOR INSTANCE…a LOOGY. If my starter is struggling and there is a LH hitter coming up, we bring in our LOOGY to face one batter. SOME would argue that this means our LOOGY’s game is not necessarily well rounded since he does one thing and that is all. At the same time, our starter needs help with one LH batter? Why?

This is an opinion and your retort is absurd.

I don’t think it means what you think it does.

By your logic, golfers are athletes, even though all they do is hit little teeny balls and walk moderate distances.