TO DH OR NOT TO DH........................

[Orange and Brown]

DOWN WITH THE DH!!!!!

[The_Legend_of_Northwest]

The DH is the 2nd worst thing in baseball. Right behind PED's.

[seofan_via_dublin]

The DH is a horrible abomination, that allows people who should ride off into the sunset another couple of cheap years.

If a pitchers can't hit, then he should learn how or figure out how to properly bunt.

Get it the heck out of baseball, along with Selig!

[seofan_via_dublin]

The DH is the rule that allows people like you to see Adam Dunn as a valuable player.

He couldn't field the ball to save his life, and he struk out too much. The Reds did themselves a favor
by getting rid of him, too bad the waited so long.

[Orange and Brown]

If you can't play the filed then don't play! There is really no good excuse as to why pitchers can't hit..and I teach 9Y.O.'s how to bunt all the time! Practice Practice Practice!

[Orange and Brown]

I understand your point O&B, and agree with you in theory. But are you saying you dont want a Foster, Parker, or even a 40-100-100-100 man in y our lineup if they are a defensive liability?

i'm saying that baseball isn't about just hitting!! So yea I guess I'm saying that if George Foster can't play D then he can't play everyday on my team.


Great teams with with great D and solid pitching. If you can't do either of those things, see ya!

[boogerred]

Having the designated hitter has some upsides to it.

1. Pitchers dont have to bat or run the bases and can spend more practice time working on pitching and fielding. (I know they spend very little time hitting, but they do spend some)

2. Although it does not happen often, a pitcher does not have to worry about getting hurt hitting or running the bases.

3. It changes the way a manager runs the game. Double switches dont have to occur and pinch-hitting for the pitcher's spot in the batting order is not a necessity in the late innings of the game.

4. It allows players who are not so great at fielding to contribute to their teams.

5. It allows players who are getting older to continue playing.

6. Fans go to games to see offense; having the DH puts another bat in the lineup. I dont believe I have ever heard a fan say "I am not going to a game because they are using a DH".

I really do not see much of a downside to having the DH. I think the NL should switch over to it.

[seofan_via_dublin]

You have spent way too much time obsessing over your trading cards GAHS,
sure I can look at the back of a card and think that Adam Dunn was a great talent and a
commodity for the team.

OR

I could actually watch those games, and see that the Reds are better off without him.

I don't care what you're trading card says, if you leave and the team gets better, then get the heck out!

[Orange and Brown]

BTW, Dunn's defiiencies in the OF just may be a thing of the past. I'm sure you know that he no longer plays the OF for the Nationals, but has made the move to 1B.

http://jorgesaysno.blogspot.com/2010/02 ... fense.html

HAVE YOU SEEN HIM PLAY FIRST BASE?


He can't scoop, He can't lay out very far! He is in the league cause he can hit 40 home runs. He is gonna strike out 1,000 times and he will hit .240, but by golly he can hit a ball into outer space.

[Orange and Brown]

OK...OK....In the interest of fairness, I took the time to see who the Reds have replaced him with (offensively). Of the top of my head, I thought perhaps it MIGHT take a combination of players to add up to 40-100-100-100. Here are the three players who are arguably the face of the franchise, and their average production for the Reds per year. I will list HR-R-RBI-BB and then in parenthesis (STRIKEOUTS) since so many seem to resent how often Dunn struck out for the Reds:

Joey Votto: 25-75-84-65-(104)
Jay Bruce : 21-40-55-35-(92)
Brandon Phillips:22-82-86-37-(91)

It takes Phillips and Bruce combined to get the same production Dunn alone put up. You can hate on Dunn all you want, and he isnt the only OF in the NL who will never win a Gold Glove, but if you want a 5-6 hole hitter, THERE IS NONE BETTER IN BASEBALL!

O&B: Whether Dunn will ever be even adequate as a 1B is yet to be seen. This is his first year at the position. Personally I would love to see him traded to the AL and come back and bite the Reds in the arse in the World Series (if I live long enough to see the Reds in the World Series again (only 1 since 1976).

If the NL had the DH and therefore still had Dunn, can you imagine an offense where the middle of the order had Phillips, Bruce, Votto, Rolen, and Dunn?

For the last time, why are Votto's, Phillips, and Bruce's combined 286 strikeouts per season acceptable, but Dunn's 150-180 or so NOT?

Also Phillips is a career .266 hitter, and Bruce a .246 and this is acceptable, even though their production in every other category is less than Dunn's with the exception of K's!

PS: These stats did not come as a result of my obsession with baseball cards, but from the Reds website.

Dunn strikes out 150-180 times a year
Votto, Phillips, and Bruce COMBINE for 286 that averages about 95 per player. Dunn strikes out 50 to 80 times more than those guys!
Dunn has spent some time at first base during his time in the bigs and the minors and he stinks.. Trust me.

I'm not going to argue with you about Adam Dunn! Some people are DH people and some aren't! I'm not and never will be!
I respect your position on it though! If we start throwing stats at each other we will go on for months! and neither of us will have changed there minds!

[seofan_via_dublin]

My problem with Adam Dun is not nessesarily with him, but with the level that you want to put him.

You quote the stats, that's fine. But let's take a closer look at his numbers and compare them with
those that you seemingly put him with.

You've stated that Adam Dunn is a .250 hitter, that's fine. But when we look closer, when he doesn't hit a home run
he is hitting .179 for his career. On the other hand, if would look at strike out average like we do batting average,
then he would have a .324 K average. He has 25% more strikeouts that total hits for his career.

Now, you've mentioned George Foster several times, so let's take a look at him.
Take away his home run hits, and he batted .224. Big difference between .179 and .224.
Also, his strike out average would have been .202, not anywhere near Dunn's .324.
And as opposed to Dunn's 25% more K's than hits, Foster had 27% more hits than K's.

These two do not belong in the same sentence.

The one glaring point that seals the deal for me on Dunn and the DH is this.
If Dunn is such a great hitter and an asset, and could make such an impact as a DH,
then why aren't American League teams knocking down Washington's door to get him and add
his bat as their DH?

[seofan_via_dublin]

Ok

I still don't like the DH at all.

[Jughe@d]

The DH is the 3rd worst thing in baseball. Right behind PED's.

...and All-Star games determining home field advantage in the World Series.

[The_Legend_of_Northwest]

The DH is the 3rd worst thing in baseball. Right behind PED's.

...and All-Star games determining home field advantage in the World Series.

How could I have forgotten about that idiotic idea.