craig01 wrote:
With the DH some strategy is lost, but to me, more importantly.....some of the game's character is lost too.
But, since I am a baseball purist, I know full well that my opinion lies in a dwindling minority.
"Character" is very much in the same vein as "tradition."
I lean strongly towrd the purist side myself.
There is a substantive argument that says that we who come at it from that side would be smart to consider options that, though they may incorporate a DH, in some legitimate way re-establish the strategic part of the game that the AL game has lost.
Also, I think it's worth recognizing that professional football and basketball have both made some significant changes (league-wide) over my lifetime and perhaps yours, but that those changes, today, are seen as
improvements, even to most purists... e.g., no more ties and the two-point conversion in football... the shot clock and the three-point shot in basketball... the lesson being, while tradition is important, there
is such a thing as an "improvement."
In baseball's case, the DH was an attempt to resolve the perceived problem that the game did not feature sufficient offense to keep people interested. For a large number, that was, indeed, the case, though we continue to see that for a larger number, that wasn't and isn't the case (i.e., according to a USA Today poll, about 30% desire the game with the DH, but 40% desire it without it... and... the popularity of the non-DH game (NL) as measured by per-capita-attendance continues to exceed the with-DH game (AL)).
So, the DH has worked, but it hasn't. In almost any other forum for any other issue, it is our nature to seek a compromise that works well, appealing to the fundamental desires the stakeholders seek. That would mean, generally, tweaking the rule so that its imperfections are effectively mitigated... tweaking being a relative term, of course.
If you have not already done so, I encourage readers to go look at the continuum of options raised on the Unify Baseball site, where we've put on the proverbial table quite a few possibiliies.