Should there be awards for each (baseball) league? Or just one?

Maybe the DH led to artificial, juiced-up sluggers.

 

Yeah. The DH means more offense, more home runs, more fireworks. I actually enjoyed watching managers make situation substitutions, pinch-hit for the pitcher, double switches, etc. None of that happens very often with the DH.

 

Bonds, Sosa and McGwire (primarily) were all NL guys.

 

Thanks for the news flash.

My point was broader picture.

 

Why all the hate for the DH? I'd much rather watch a skilled hitter than someone you can basically count as an out every time you go through the lineup. Sure, there are the Micah Owings and Mike Hamptons of the world who can pitch and hit, but I still figure they're exceptions to the rule.

On the flip side, a perfectly placed sacrifice bunt is still one of the most beautiful plays in the game. I'd imagine they'd be few and far between in a DH-only MLB.

 

Every league other than the National League uses the DH. They use it in high school, college, the minors and the American League. Some youth leagues use it, just to get another player in the lineup. It's stupid that the National League is the lone holdout.

But as a fan of a National League team (the Braves), my biggest issue with the NL not having the DH is that it means my team has virtually no shot to sign or keep a major free-agent power hitter. The Braves have no chance to re-sign Brian McCann, because some AL team is going to offer him more money and years, knowing they can DH him two or three times a week to rest his legs and make sure he's got a better chance of being an offensive force at the end of his contract.

Look at the trend lately. Pretty much every major free agent hitter in recent years has signed with an AL team: Pujols, Fielder, Hamilton, Teixeira, Crawford, Beltre (and yes, I know some of those were horrible contracts the moment they were signed). Jayson Werth and Alfonso Soriano are among the few exceptions.

And it's not just the free agents. How many veterans stick around and contribute to playoff teams because they can still hit but can no longer play defense regularly? I'd love for my team to able to have a Dave Winfield, Paul Molitor, Frank Thomas, Edgar Martinez, David Ortiz or Jim Thome for 4 or 5 at-bats a game.

The AL is never going to dump the DH. No way the union cuts 15 high-salary jobs. So the NL might as well get with it.

 

I actually kind of wish the NFL and NBA had awards for each conference.

 

There should be awards for every fucking division. That way they can be turned into TV spectaculars and the players can man hug each other and show off their blonde wives' purchased tits and it will all be good.

 

Fixed for clarity

 

Nfl use to name all conference teams in the 1970s. I assume that was a leftover from afl nfl days.

 

Someone made a good point in an earlier post: What do you do with a player who gets traded between leagues after having an excellent year for 4 months in one league? Do you just throw those results out?

It just seems the distinction between leagues is so minimal now.

I guess I'd rather see the NL adopt the DH rule than see the AL dump it.

 

It's less than it once was for certain, but c'mon, intra-league games are still far more prevalent on the schedule.