why does the National League have one more team then the American league?

[MoRcHeEbA]

why don't they move Houston to the American League west or Arizona or something?

[Loose Cannon]

Well, they actually have 2 more teams. I know it's tough to count up to 16 though.

And yes, it should be evened out.

[Nervous Ferret]

due to lack of intelligence in the commisioner's office.

[Jesus Shuttlesworth]

lol I never knew that

Fuck the National League anyways..Making pitchers hit is so stupid

[MoRcHeEbA]

yeah my bad I just looked at Milwaukee being the extra team :$

[YOUR Hero]

No making pitchers hit is the proper way to play baseball. Fucking AL and the DH rule.

[The Miz]

lol I never knew that

Fuck the National League anyways..Making pitchers hit is so stupid
Why

[Jesus Shuttlesworth]

Because they all suck at it. Its just a waste of an out every time.

Pitchers make it to the MLB because they can pitch, not because they can hit. Any other position you need to be able to do both.

[Loose Cannon]

I agree with Stima. I hate when say the Yankees are playing say the the Braves , who are home, and it's like 2 on, 2 out, and the Yankees are down by 1 and up steps Kevin Brown in the 5th inning. Pisses me off.

[PureHatred]

The DH is a gimmick rule added to boost scoring. If oyu ask me, its more ridiulous to have a guy in the lineup who is almost always some aging fat-ass who can't play the field and is only god to swing the bat. The traditional rules mean that every guy in your starting line-up has to be at least passable in the field.

Not to mention that in the NL, the pitcher slot mean syou have to actually use strategy: do I pinch-hit for my pitcher to score a run when said pitcher is shutting the opposition down? I swear to god that AL managers probably make more decisions in one game than AL managers do in a month.

DH's are joke. They shouldn't even be allowed in the HOF. No, not even Edgar Martinez.

[MoRcHeEbA]

the way the Yankees are playing they might do better with Kevin Brown batting :rofl:

[Loose Cannon]

you're gonna eat those words in 3 months

[MVP]

Pitchers make it to the MLB because they can pitch, not because they can hit.
My thoughts exactly.

[Jesus Shuttlesworth]

See I'm not a "baseball purest" I would rather see somebody come to bat with a chance of actaully doing something instead of an automatic out.

[PureHatred]

Because they all suck at it. Its just a waste of an out every time.

Pitchers make it to the MLB because they can pitch, not because they can hit. Any other position you need to be able to do both.

And players make it to the majors because they can play soem defense. DH's don't do that. Like I said, I just don't think its right to have a position where you don't do anything but take 4 hacks a night. That's beer league softball.

It'd be like having a guy in hckey who doesn't move whatsoever, just hangs out near the net and waits for someone to pass apuck in his direction so he can fire-off a one-timer.

[Jesus Shuttlesworth]

No guys makes it to MLB on pure defense while batting below .100

[Loose Cannon]

Well wait a minute. A guy who plays DH doesn't neccessarily not play the field. The Yankees have Giambi at DH sometimes and he plays first at times. Ortiz(Red Sox) played 1st for the Twins for a while. So a lot of them are not bad feilders.

[Jesus Shuttlesworth]

Also you can't compare the DH rule to any other major US sports due the fact that Baseball is nothing like hockey, basketball, football etc

[YOUR Hero]

A wasted out?

You see that's how fucking stupid you can be Stima. IF you knew anything about baseball, you'd know that because of a pitcher batting it adds so much more thinking to a managers game.

Thinking really isn't a strong suit of yours tho is it...

[YOUR Hero]

*snap*

[RoXer]

If they moved a team to the AL, then there would be 15 on each side. Meaning one team would always be left out.

I thought they should have moved the Expos to Las Vegas, then Pittsburgh and Philly in the same division, to make it 5 in each division, but then there would be 15 teams :mad:

[PureHatred]

No guys makes it to MLB on pure defense while batting below .100

I didn't say pure defense, now did I? I said most major leaguers have to at least field a little.

[Jesus Shuttlesworth]

A wasted out?

You see that's how fucking stupid you can be Stima. IF you knew anything about baseball, you'd know that because of a pitcher batting it adds so much more thinking to a managers game.

Thinking really isn't a strong suit of yours tho is it...Yeah thats it

Or you can be a bad pitcher and not have to worry since you got the pitcher coming up next, or walk somebody because you got hte pitcher coming up next.

This leads to boring baseball, I would rather see guys coming up with a chance to hit rather then a guy pitching around somebody to get to the pitcher because it's a "smart move"

Pitchers in the AL have a much tougher time then the pitchers in the NL so so what if the managers in the NL have to do more work - I would rather see a pitcher do more work then some fat old guy in the dugout.

[YOUR Hero]

Baseball is more than offence offence offence. If you find managing a team boring, then you are missing out on a lot of the game's appeal. One thing I love about baseball is the thought that goes into it.

[OssMan]

Toronto is in the American League :lol: :lol: :wtf:

[BCWWF]

And yes, it should be evened out.
It is really quite obvious why one has 14 and one has 16, and no it should not be evened out.

Think about it, besides a few weeks of Interleague play, the American League only plays the American League, and the National League only plays the National league.

If each league had 15 teams, that would mean that two teams, one from each league, would be without a game on a given day.


due to lack of intelligence in the commisioner's office.
It appears the lack of intelligence is in you, because it is obviously neccessary. Unless that is, you propose that they remove the significance of the seperate leagues or unless you are in favor of having uneven teams.

[Jesus Shuttlesworth]

LOL I didn't even think of that either :o

All I'm saying is that pitchers going up to bat is pointless becuase the majority of the time its an out. Also just because there is a DH it doesn't mean the AL games have no "thought" going into them. Also last time I checked an American League team that didn't even win their division swept the best team in the National League..SO WHATEV

I would much rather see guys like Oritz, and Giambi up at bat instead of guys like Greg Maddox and Roger Clemens. What do I know though - I'm not a real baseball fan because I don't like seeing a guy with a lifetime .087 average up at bat.

[BCWWF]

The Miz is the kind of guy that prefers a pitching duel. He would rather see 9 innings of 0-0 ball with a walk off then a score of 10-9. Its just the way he is, personal differences I guess.

Where is VEL?

[RoXer]

It is really quite obvious why one has 14 and one has 16, and no it should not be evened out.

Think about it, besides a few weeks of Interleague play, the American League only plays the American League, and the National League only plays the National league.

If each league had 15 teams, that would mean that two teams, one from each league, would be without a game on a given day.

Could have sworn I said that. Or something similar.

[Jesus Shuttlesworth]

The Miz is the kind of guy that prefers a pitching duel. He would rather see 9 innings of 0-0 ball with a walk off then a score of 10-9. Its just the way he is, personal differences I guess.

Where is VEL?No don't get me wrong - I like pitchers duels too. I don't need 8-5 final scores or something to keep me intrested. I am just saying I don't like it when I see a pitcher coming up to bat due to the fact the guy has a lifetime .098 average with 4 RBIs in his entire career. Kinda kills the drama.

Its def a difference of opinion but what isn't in the sports forum? lol

[el fregadero]

Dontrelle Willis is pretty good with the stick.

[BCWWF]

Stima, I didn't mean it like you are a bad person, I just mean that I have gotton into arguments with Miz before about the same type of stuff. Like last year I said it would be nice to have the World Series be the two top teams (I said Yanks and Cards at the time) because having the underdog wildcard team win it every year was getting old (Florida, Anaheim). Anyway..and yeah I just couldn't think of a normal way to end that post so I made it gay like that.

For me personally, I don't think its that pitchers are all that bad at hitting, its that they don't work enough on it. The teams are always too worried about the pitcher getting hurt and stuff.

I've said it before and I will say it again, I like how the MLB is in the two league format, and I love how the two leagues have a major difference. It gives the World Series a lot more meaning in my opinion, so I am in favor of keeping the DH in the AL. It makes it so the leagues are strategically different, and I like it like that.

[YOUR Hero]

Where's my Royals jersey BCWWF?

[The Outlaw]

I dunno, I like pitchers hitting really. I can think of quite a few hitters that hit well.

Orel Hershiser hit like .350+ in 93. Had the second highest OBP next to Brett Butler. He was a .200 or so career hitter but went off then. Rick Rhoden was always very solid with the stick. Steve Carlton hit fairly well. Rick Mahler in the early 80s. Fernando Valenzuela was a very good hitter. Seems like he went off one year like Orel did, dont remember which year though. Tommy Glavine always hit really well when he was with the Bravos. Jose Rijo was a good hitter Im pretty sure with Cincy. Tommy Greene, Bill Swift, Dwight Gooden; all semi-good hitters.

Then now you have a lot more pitchers hitting very well. Jason Jennings is probably the best hitting pitcher I would say. He's got some other guys who want to overthrow him tho. Mike Hampton, Mark Prior, Livan Hernandez, Russ Ortiz, Jason Schmidt, Wooooooooooody Williams, Guillermo Mota, Wes Obermueller, Darren Dreifort (think he hit like...21 or 22 home runs when he was in college @ Wichita), Dolntrelle has a pop in his swing, Darren Oliver, Adam Eaton, Kerryy Wood, and Smoltzeeee always hits fairly well. I think last year big league pitchers hit 26 homers. In 91-92, pitchers hit 12.

I dunno, difference of opinion like someone already stated, but I just think the DH is :-\

[BCWWF]

Thats kind of what I said, that pitchers aren't neccessarily bad hitters, but the coaches are too worried about injuries to let them be effective.

[Adder]

Why not field the best defensive team you can, but stack the batting lineup with nothing but awesome batters. In other words, have a DH for every position.
Sounds stupid to me too. But basically that's what people that want/like the DH are saying about pitchers that bat.

BCWWF is correct about pitchers and batting. Most of these guys were tremendous atheletes and could hit, field, play multi posotions as well as pitch. Once they become pros, their value as a pitcher (most important position in baseball) outweighs their batting abilities. Since they no longer practice it, they become rusty and their average as a batter drops.

[MVP]

Why is it that every player in baseball should be have to play the field and hit? I don't see any linebackers in football playing QB, or any strikers in soccer playing goalkeeper. The DH rule makes perfect sense cause it allows a team to be stronger offensively, while the pitcher can concentrate purely on pitching. I know it's not the traditional way to play baseball, but what harm has the DH rule actually done?

[Jesus Shuttlesworth]

Why not field the best defensive team you can, but stack the batting lineup with nothing but awesome batters. In other words, have a DH for every position.
Sounds stupid to me too. But basically that's what people that want/like the DH are saying about pitchers that bat.LOL What

Pitchers don't play every day, they play about once every 5 days or so. They get rusty, they aren't good hitters, they don't make it to the majors because they can hit the ball. Outlaw listed about 12 pitchers who are known as good hitters over the span of who knows how many years. Still that list wasn't even that impressive hitting wise. Hampton probably has about 10 career homeruns IF that. All these compairsons people are listing just don't work out at because its like apples and oranges. The pitching position is like no other position in ANY sport.

[Evil Vito]

<font color=goldenrod>Yeah, I like the NL rules better because they allow for more strategy, and 9 times out of 10 force managers to use it. But honestly, I think that that they should either make both leagues' pitchers hit or both leagues use the DH, I would hope for the former because it would make for some interesting game strategies.</font>

[Ruien]

Since when is baseball about strategy though? It is about who is better, plus in the NL you are just wasting money. They pinch hit mabey 2 times a game, so you are just paying people money to come up to the plate once a game. Tell me the ALs DHers are worse than the Nls Pinch hiters, it would be a lie if you did too.

Also, if you want to say baseball is a strategy sport, or soemwhat of one. Well they use a lot of it when they play each other (AL vs NL), because they have to adapt to the new rules. This only goes for thoughs who say NL is better, because it allows more stategy.

[The Outlaw]

Hampton had 7 homeruns in one year with Colorado. He has like mid teens, maybe 20. Pretty powerful guy considering he's like 5'9 180.

Baseball isn't all about the long ball in my opinion though. :-\

[Jesus Shuttlesworth]

More often then not you KNOW The pitcher is going to get out. I don't care so much for the offense, or high scroing games or any of that. I like 1-0 games just as much as anyone else - don't read too much into what I am saying. Its just that I hate when I am watching a national league game and John Smoltz comes up to bat with 2 outs and a man on 2nd base in the 3rd inning. You KNOW nothing is going to happpen, atleast with a "shitty" hitter theres atleast a chance for something to happen. Since a shitty hitter (mind you would be batting around mid .200's) is 10x better then a pitcher up at the bat