Is It Time to Abolish the AL and NL?

[Jay]

It's not like pitchers don't have the ability to hit. They just don't practice it.

Besides, give me the NL's strategy/speed/intrigue over the AL's boring 4.5 hour marathon slugfests any day.

This.

Eliminate the DH and your manager is basically sitting there scratching his balls for 3+ hours. It removes a lot of strategy from the game.

[Party]

It's also obsolete seeing pitchers get injured hitting and running the bases.

Only tools that play in the Nintendo League have been injured running the bases.

::tries to fuel AL-NL rivalry::


Anyone remember Mark Redman breaking a thumb trying to bunt after making the jump?

[Mainge]

This.

Eliminate the DH and your manager is basically sitting there scratching his balls for 3+ hours. It removes a lot of strategy from the game.

Nah. Managers make calls after every pitch, be it defensive, pitch selection, location or whatever.

[Swifty]

I still don't get the "make out the lineup card and scratch your nuts" argument.

Many baseball people have said Felipe Alou was one of the 4 or 5 best managers of all time not because he was a rah-rah go get it for the gipper type but because he knew almost exactly when his pitcher was out of gas and rarely let innings get badly out of hand. That's a manager's job, doesn't matter the league, you know your pitcher and you pull him before he allows the game to blow up.

Besides, up until the 5th or 6th inning you're not pinch hitting for your pitcher and every time he comes up common sense prevails: no one on, he's swinging, two outs, he's swinging, otherwise, he's pretty much bunting.

[kylekash]

Nah. Managers make calls after every pitch, be it defensive, pitch selection, location or whatever.

I'd like to think the catcher is calling the majority of the pitches and locations. The manager may call for pick-off attempts/pitchouts/etc. but I doubt a manager is calling every pitch of every game... it isn't highschool.

Most major league catchers are capable of calling a game from behind the plate. That's why when pitchers throw no-hitters and complete games they usually give credit to their catcher.

[Swifty]

Pitching coaches and managers call more of the game than you'd realize.

As an aside, that's the one thing I love about my seats, being able to see into the home dugout really makes the game for me.

[Mainge]

I'd like to think the catcher is calling the majority of the pitches and locations. The manager may call for pick-off attempts/pitchouts/etc. but I doubt a manager is calling every pitch of every game... it isn't highschool.

Most major league catchers are capable of calling a game from behind the plate. That's why when pitchers throw no-hitters and complete games they usually give credit to their catcher.

No doubt the catchers call the majority of the pitches but there are times when a manager/pitching coach make a call. Even the high school my brother attends lets the catcher call the majority of the pitches.

When I said they make a call after every pitch, I didn't mean that they call every pitch. Most of it is defensive positioning, hold plays, etc.

[Swifty]

Unless it's a "personal catcher" situation or a "pitching coach behind the plate" a la Ausmus, Varitek, Pudge, etc. the staff is calling about half the game from the dugout and the entire game when a player's on base.

The only time a catcher is getting carte blanche now is if it's the bottom 3rd of the order.

PS: What Mainge said

[kylekash]

Oh... I didn't know that. I figured the catcher called most of the stuff.. thanks for the clarity. I always figured thats why catcher's usually end being managers, because they are used to making all those situational decisions.

[Namaste]

Bringing the DH to the NL would be a sad day for baseball.