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Thursday, August 07, 2008
The Perfect DH rule
A while ago, someone wrote me with what he thought was a good alternative to the current DH rule: make it the home manager’s discretion. I love it!
We already have two variations of this rule currently in practice in MLB settings:
1. World Series alternate the DH based on the home park
2. Spring Training games have both managers come to an agreement as to DH/noDH
The one being proposed would be somewhat similar in that we expect half the games to have the DH rule in effect. Plus, it adds great strategy (should we force Ortiz to play the field? do we want a DH if Owings is pitching?). It has story potential ("We should have forced them to have a DH and put a better fielder at 1B!"). As I see it, no downside.
Furthermore, this should appeal to both sides. The “yes DH” crowd can easily accept this. They don’t like the pitcher batting, naturally, but giving it to the home manager’s discretion has great strategy appeal. The “no DH” crowd should be able to accept this, at least a good portion of them, since they will still see no DH around half the time (which is what they are used to).
If we accept that in the next 20 years we will never get an “all or nothing” solution, this seems more than ideal.
In the end, it sorts of maintains the status quo, but instead of the demarcation based on something as arbitrary as the league, it becomes a tool for all managers to use.
So.... let’s have at it. What pros/cons do you see here?
Note: don’t talk about why you think an all or nothing DH is better and forget all other solutions. I can point you to a thousand other discussion forums for you to make your opinion known. In this thread, I’m soliciting opinions on this particular proposal.