DH or NO DH?

[Raybel]

I'm planning on starting a season on MLB 10 once I finally get the ultimate roster from SCEA with all the teams up to date and all of the Rookies players on the game. I will be managing the Phillies in the NL and Twins in the AL, but I want to be like Bud Selig like and put my own rule to the game :wink:, my first idea is to balance both leagues with either putting DH in the NL or taking it from the AL, now I want to know your idea of which one should be better for baseball.... DH or no DH?

[Bruin26]

Re: DH or NO DH?

I voted DH for both leagues. I am an A's fan so tend to prefer the DH, but do like that we see different strategy in both leagues in real life, but if one league had to do what the other is doing I would prefer the DH stay.

Whenever I think of doing a franchise not with the A's I love more of the stadiums in the NL, but prefer the DH, but neve rhave wanted to use the DH in the NL, yet it is partly wehat keeps me from using an NL team. Well that and I love to play with the A's even if I hate the stadium. Considering using one of the classic ones this year but have yet to decide. Not starting until Knights rosters are out anyway.

I would like to see this game add a generic stadium maker or really on top of that the ability to move a team somewhere. Would love to make the San Jose A's and put them in a nice new park!

I hope you enjoy your new franchise!

[ImTellinTim]

Re: DH or NO DH?

I understand the added strategy of having the pitchers bat, and will be killed by "baseball purist guy" for this, but I say DH in both leagues. It will never happen, but as a fan, I just don't like watching the picthers bat. Sometimes it just lets the pitching team off the hook. Now, I know a few of them are good hitters, but if they are and you don't have a better option on the bench, you can always forfeit the DH position if you want...

Fire away, defenders of sanctity :wink:

[ty5oke]

Re: DH or NO DH?

Voted No DH. It allows for more strategy and also a bigger emphasis on your bench players.

[Bruin26]

Re: DH or NO DH?

Voted No DH. It allows for more strategy and also a bigger emphasis on your bench players.

I agree with that especially when playing a video game of baseball like this. However I am with ImTellinTim in that I tend to hate watching pitchers hit. It can be so boring and really just takes a lot of steam out of rallies. I understand the purists though. It tends to seem like those that are fans of an AL team like it and those of an NL team don't.

[Jdurg]

Re: DH or NO DH?

Voted No DH. It allows for more strategy and also a bigger emphasis on your bench players.

Actually, the presence of a DH doesn't give more strategy. It just gives a different type of strategy. In the American League, the manager has to decide before each game which of their players they will use as the DH that day, and which ones will go in the field. If your good hitter is a catcher, you really can't DH him because then he wouldn't be able to go in the field later in the game without the manager then losing his DH. So do you DH your good hitting catcher to give him a half day off, or do you bench him and give him a full day off barring any injury to the backup catcher?

Also, the manager has to watch his pitchers a lot more closely than in the NL. In the NL, if your pitcher is pitching an okay game and the bottom of the 7th inning comes and he is due to bat, the lineup pretty much dictates when to take out your pitcher. In the AL, it's the actual performance of the pitcher that dictates when he is to be removed from the game. Take a look at Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS. If that were in the NL and Pedro was due up in the bottom of any of the innings before his meltdown, then Grady Little probably would have taken him out of the game since the lineup forced him to. Instead, Little had to try to decide for himself if it was time for Pedro to come out and to all Red Sox fans out there, he made the wrong choice.

So while the strategies certainly aren't the same, the presence of the DH doesn't really take away any strategies. It just changes what those strategies are. I think there are pluses and minuses in both leagues, and to be frank, I like that it's different. If it wasn't, then we wouldn't have all these threads to debate the merits of it in.

[bobeureally27]

Re: DH or NO DH?

I voted No DH. I'm not a big fan of the DH, but I play with the Red Sox (HUGE Red Sox fan through all the heartbreak). I like to keep the rules the same as they are in real life, otherwise I, too, would have no DH in either league. It does add to strategy - more sacraficing, more stolen bases. The DH has only been around for less than 40 years. This game was more strategy than anything else before the inception of the DH.

[ty5oke]

Re: DH or NO DH?

Actually, the presence of a DH doesn't give more strategy. It just gives a different type of strategy. In the American League, the manager has to decide before each game which of their players they will use as the DH that day, and which ones will go in the field. If your good hitter is a catcher, you really can't DH him because then he wouldn't be able to go in the field later in the game without the manager then losing his DH. So do you DH your good hitting catcher to give him a half day off, or do you bench him and give him a full day off barring any injury to the backup catcher?

Also, the manager has to watch his pitchers a lot more closely than in the NL. In the NL, if your pitcher is pitching an okay game and the bottom of the 7th inning comes and he is due to bat, the lineup pretty much dictates when to take out your pitcher. In the AL, it's the actual performance of the pitcher that dictates when he is to be removed from the game. Take a look at Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS. If that were in the NL and Pedro was due up in the bottom of any of the innings before his meltdown, then Grady Little probably would have taken him out of the game since the lineup forced him to. Instead, Little had to try to decide for himself if it was time for Pedro to come out and to all Red Sox fans out there, he made the wrong choice.

So while the strategies certainly aren't the same, the presence of the DH doesn't really take away any strategies. It just changes what those strategies are. I think there are pluses and minuses in both leagues, and to be frank, I like that it's different. If it wasn't, then we wouldn't have all these threads to debate the merits of it in.

Good point, never really thought of it in that way. On the flip side, the NL manager has to figure when the right time to pinch hit for his pitcher is. Sometime you may need to take him out before he needs to be when you need to score some runs late. Then the bullpen is put to use before it should and it can unravel there.

The AL doesn't have to worry to much about pinch hitting for that DH.

[Jdurg]

Re: DH or NO DH?

Good point, never really thought of it in that way. On the flip side, the NL manager has to figure when the right time to pinch hit for his pitcher is. Sometime you may need to take him out before he needs to be when you need to score some runs late. Then the bullpen is put to use before it should and it can unravel there.

The AL doesn't have to worry to much about pinch hitting for that DH.

Yup. That's why I always feel that the NL doesn't really have more strategy involved than in the AL, but it has a different strategy involved and at different points in the game. Overall, both games involve a great deal of strategy, especially if in the AL the manager has a good power hitter and a good speedy hitter on the bench. Who do you put in as DH?

[drolouis]

Re: DH or NO DH?

I was born in St.Louis, grew up loving Ozzie Smith and the Cardinals so my loyalty lies with the national league. I have no choice but to choose no DH.

[Infinite202]

Re: DH or NO DH?

I understand the added strategy of having the pitchers bat, and will be killed by "baseball purist guy" for this, but I say DH in both leagues. It will never happen, but as a fan, I just don't like watching the picthers bat. Sometimes it just lets the pitching team off the hook. Now, I know a few of them are good hitters, but if they are and you don't have a better option on the bench, you can always forfeit the DH position if you want...

Fire away, defenders of sanctity :wink:

I concur

[zephyr13]

Re: DH or NO DH?

I am a purist... the DH sucks big time. It removes ALL strategy from the game and it makes the bench basically worthless.

[Raybel]

Re: DH or NO DH?

good debate guys i never though i was going to get so many replys.

In mi opinion even tho im a Phillies i will like to go with the DH, I mean I love offensive baseball, and if DH means I will have another power hitter on my team well I will go for it. The only downside is that a lot of teams in the NL don't have a guy on the bench that can really DH, some do like Rockies with Giambi, Phillies with Ross Gload, but other don't have a single guy that can step to that slugger role of DH, I know some DH are not slugger but I will not like to see a Nationals DH with a Willie Harris lol

[douggoud]

Re: DH or NO DH?

i chose DH (AL person here, lol) really because i like to sign the old players and have them DH, i dont know why, but i like the vintage baseball players (not exactly vintage, but you know what i mean) but yeah, besides, the pitcher doesnt need to hit lol

[Redsox3110]

Re: DH or NO DH?

good debate guys i never though i was going to get so many replys.

In mi opinion even tho im a Phillies i will like to go with the DH, I mean I love offensive baseball, and if DH means I will have another power hitter on my team well I will go for it. The only downside is that a lot of teams in the NL don't have a guy on the bench that can really DH, some do like Rockies with Giambi, Phillies with Ross Gload, but other don't have a single guy that can step to that slugger role of DH, I know some DH are not slugger but I will not like to see a Nationals DH with a Willie Harris lol

well forgive me for not knowing who Willie Harris is, but I think that even if he is a bench player for the Nats. (which is a very good indication that he sucks), you have to figure he'd be a better bater than 90% of the pitchers out there... to me having a pitcher bat is giving away at least 2 out of the 3 times he(the spot) is guaranteed to bat in a game.

The DH spot gives players who have had defensive dificulties but still swing the bat good a chance to still play. for example I think the Nats would prefer to have Dunn DH-ing and have a better defender on the field.