9th April 2005, 12:14 PM
The DH has its advantages and its drawbacks... sure, on the bad side it means that the pitchers don't have to hit so they can have less fear of the opposing team -- no retaliation in the batter's box. But on the other hand, it makes the game much more exciting... there are no weak spots in the batting order in a good AL team. Sure, in this era of heightened offence that might be less of an advantage, but it still is one...
Some of the stereotypes just aren't always true. Sure, a lot of AL teams play by waiting for the home runs, but not all of them... there certainly are some that play smaller ball.
I guess about stuff like double-switching, the question is if that added 'strategy' makes much of a difference... so you don't do that in the AL. So? Why does this make such a big difference to strategy? You still have to switch pitchers, based on the lineups of the other team (or the tiredness of the pitcher), and switch the position players and maybe DH... and the DH might not do a lot, but it is one more player on your team and that adds some strategy (to make up for what they don't have to do, at least partially).
Some of the stereotypes just aren't always true. Sure, a lot of AL teams play by waiting for the home runs, but not all of them... there certainly are some that play smaller ball.
I guess about stuff like double-switching, the question is if that added 'strategy' makes much of a difference... so you don't do that in the AL. So? Why does this make such a big difference to strategy? You still have to switch pitchers, based on the lineups of the other team (or the tiredness of the pitcher), and switch the position players and maybe DH... and the DH might not do a lot, but it is one more player on your team and that adds some strategy (to make up for what they don't have to do, at least partially).