It’s time for the National League to get out of the dark ages and wake up!
Wake up to the fact that chicks dig the long ball, players dig cash and audiences dig high scores.
There is an inherent beauty in a 1-0 game, but a lot more people will tune in and pay attention to to a 8-5 victory. As much as I love the perfect game, my attention will be held more to a slugfest than it will a perfect game. When I watch a game, I am often on my laptop doing a variety of things. (I’m quite the multitasker). Being hard-of-hearing, I cannot understand the audio (I can hear it; just can’t understand it) unless I am paying attention to the closed-captioning. This often means that I will look at the game every time the pitch occurs (or close to it) and other than that, pay attention to the laptop.
When there is a slugfest going on, I tend to pay far more attention. I give all my attention to the game once the perfect game/no-hitter hits the sixth inning but before that if the score is 0-0, I won’t be able to tell you what happened. If the score is 6-4 by the sixth inning, I’m going to be able to tell you all the big plays. It’s natural. It doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate baseball. It just means that the more people hit the ball, the more people pay attention.
A perfect game is beautiful only in the closing innings. It’s fun watching someone miss bats at the end, not the beginning. There’s a reason the late innings are the ones with all the drama and attention, not the first innings. And this is why the National League needs to wake up.
Why does the National League insist on being sticks in the mud and having an automatic out in the ninth spot of every lineup? It depresses offense. It depresses attention. As the President of MVN, I have had a long history in recruiting blogs to come write for MVN. MVN started out as a baseball-centric site before expanding. I’ll tell you this: it has been far, far easier to recruit American League blogs because there are more people watching them. I’d venture at least part of the reason is because the games are more interesting because there is more offense.
It’s time for the National League to adopt the designated hitter.
I used to be extremely for the argument of keeping both leagues separate. Why? It was cool.
That’s it. The whole reasoning, nothing more.
This past World Series has shown me how silly this argument is. The Red Sox were negatively affected by playing in Coors Field while the Rockies were positively affected by playing at Fenway Park. The World Series benefits the National League.
Players would embrace the DH being part of the National League because it would allow pitchers not to bat (reducing injury and more time sitting on the pine — who doesn’t want that!?) and more hitters making money. It would improve offense, it would improve scores and it would improve the wallet of that ninth man in the National League.
Jack Cust and David Ortiz are no longer limited to just 14 teams to play for. The National League purists are going to resist this article. Why? Human beings like consistency. Human beings are intrinsically resistant to change. Can someone really tell me with a straight fact that they would prefer a bunt or swinging strikeout that tweaks a hamstring over a homerun or at least the prospect of a homerun?
I ask you: what is the point for pitchers to bat — other than a ridiculous grasp on history?
What about Micah Owings, you ask. Owings, a starting pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks went 8-8 in 157.2 IP with a 4.30 ERA. The 25 year old also hit .333/.349/.683 with four homeruns in 60 at-bats. The answer is simple. If you have no better prospects, DH him. As a matter of fact, rumor has it that the Diamondbacks plan to give Owings a few at-bats as their first-baseman.
Just because you get rid of the pitcher’s spot in the lineup doesn’t mean you have to get rid of the hitter. If the hitter is truly that good, he can get at-bats. If Owings gets traded to the American League later this year (he won’t), I would hope that the AL team would consider giving him pinch-hit at-bats or some reps in left-field or first base.
But the thing is… Micah Owings is the exception, not the rule. You’re going to keep an antiquated tradition just for Micah Owings?
History is important in baseball, but history changes.
It’s time for history to change. It’s time for the NL to adopt the DH.
