One More Argument About the DH

JWG:  Mets have bases loaded, 1 out for Delgado…Sounds like a double play/strike out/pop out waiting to happen.

AML: Sorry, but he sucks!

JWG: Did I call that or what?  And then Easley popped out.  Honestly, he just shouldn't bat against lefties ever.  He is hitting .188 against them this year.  So I guess he shouldn't' be hitting, period.

AML: No designated fielder in the National Leauge?

JWG: Ha, no.  Hate the DH.

AML: How come?

JWG: I just like pitchers hitting, I think it adds a more interesting element to the game.

AML: The DH makes the game infinitely more exciting.

JWG: I don't consider a guy who is so bad at baseball and can't play the field trying to hit a home run every time that exciting.

AML: Fans like hitting.

JWG: Not me.  I'm a Met fan, we've gotten used to minimal offense.

AML: I think it's much better to have the DH.  It even keeps some guys in the game who otherwise would have been done.  No way Frank Thomas makes it to 500 homeruns without the DH.  Same for Thome.

JWG: Sure, doesn't mean that's a good thing.

AML: It kept George Brett's career going, Edgar Martinez too.  All were fantastic hitters.

JWG: I think being able to play both sides of the game is pretty important.

AML: You are telling me that Damion Easley is more valuable than someone who can hit 30 hrs?  Or that you would rather see Fausto Carmona hit than Travis Hafner?

JWG: Yes, I would.

AML: I mean that is just insane.

JWG: Which is why I appreciate a good hitting pitcher.

AML: How many good hitting pitchers are there, 5 out of 300?

JWG: I'd say maybe 10.

AML: There is now ay you could name 10, not a chance.  You would just be making up names after 5.

JWG: How are we defining good?

AML: You came up with it.  I think it should be defined the same as a good hitting position player, should be equal.  So don't give me the "he's a great bunter" because if he were a position player, you'd expect more than that to consider him a "good hitter."

JWG: Livan Hernandez, Micah Owings, Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Kerry Wood, Carlos Zambrano, Tim Hudson.  That's eight.  Dennis Cook was great, but he's no longer in baseball.

AML: What is your criteria?

JWG: They handle the bat well.  And I've seen them all hit before.  Santana is apparently a very good hitter.

AML: By the way, Smoltz is a career .161 hitter and has not hit over .200 since 1999.  I cannot accept him as a good hitter.

JWG: Since 1999, that's a silly statement.

AML: Wood is .171, under .200 every year except for two.

JWG: When you get 50 at bats a season, it's a lot different.

AML: I mean, if you are a "good hitter" shouldn't you get more than 10 hits in 50 tries?  Jason Giambi "handles the bat well," does that make him a good hitter?

JWG: He absolutely does not.

AML: How about Jason Kendall, does he?

JWG: Yes.

AML: Is he a "good hitter?"

JWG: He was, he's old now, I don't think he is still a good hitter or handles the bat well.  I meant in the past tense.  Last I checked, Giambi was not a DH.

AML: Glavine is a career .187 hitter.  Is he a "good hitter" because he throws down four solid bunts a year?  Tim Hudson: .160.  I need a better definition if you are going to use these guys.

JWG: .200 for a pitcher is like hitting .310 for a regular hitter.

AML: SO why not just use a "regular hitter?"

JWG: Only if they played the field also.

AML: Why would you rather have someone who bats .200 when you can have one who bats .300?

JWG: Why should you give a guy a free pass from hitting? It's like having the designated fielder for the pitcher in little league.

AML: Why have an almost guaranteed out?

JWG: We are never going to settle this.

AML: Never.

JWG: The DH ruins the game of baseball.

AML: It helps save baseball.

JWG: It takes away the basic principle of 9 against 9 and makes it 9 ½ against 9 ½.

AML: As your favorite "good hitter" says "chicks dig the long ball" and I don't see pitchers knocking them out left and right.  Plus, as long as it's the same number on both sides, who cares?  Also, it's really 9 vs. 9 if the pitcher and DH are each half a player.

JWG: So then you'd be fine if basketball was 5 on 5, and every time they went on offense another guy just came in because he was a good shooter, and the other guy stayed on the other end because he played defense?

AML: You mean like Mutumbo?  Or Eddy Curry on the other end?

JWG: Yes, but with someone actually just coming in.

AML: Clearly that doesn't work in basketball, it's not comparable at all.

JWG: Oh well.