[butsam]

Hello fellow baseball fans!

I would like to hear arguments in favor of (and against) the DH. Do you think it favors either the NL (no DH) or the AL (with DH) in interleague and World Series play? Do you agree with the rule from a philosophical perspective? Why or why not?

--- My Answers ---

I personally do not like the DH rule. I think it takes some strategy out of the game, and I like the idea of all players having an offensive and defensive role. That said, I do understand it can extend player careers in some cases (if they are among the best hitters), gives you a way to bring in players that are emerging stars, and it does lead to games that have more offense.

I am pretty convinced the rule favors the AL. For a small number of games, keeping a power hitter that can't also play a position isn't nearly as valuable for a NL team. On the other hand, AL teams should keep such a person in the line-up, as a majority of their games will be played with that extra person required.

Finally, if I could tweak the DH rule at all (because realistically I know it's going to stay in the AL...and hopefully will stay out of the NL), I would tweak it as follows: The *visiting* team's DH rules are used in the regular season, but in the playoffs the home team's DH rules are used. Minor tweak, net result is neutral (you play as many interleague away games as interleague home games), but the fans get to see the game played both ways.