To DH Or Not To DH?: That Is The National League Question.

If the National League had the Designated Hitter, this guy might still be wearing the uniform pictured above.

Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia and

shgmom56 under CC BY-SA 2.0 License

One of the new topics up for debate as the the 2015 Major League Baseball season rolls along into its second is the potential addition of the Designated Hitter rule in the National League.

Old school baseball fan purists will argue that the addition of the DH to possibly both leagues will take away from the overall strategy of the game.  New school baseball fans will most likely consider all avenues of improvement to make America's national pasttime a better game overall going forward and that includes looking at adding the DH to the senior circuit.

I've had many a conversation with my Dad on this issue.  Let's just say his view toward it is the get off my lawn cranky old neighbor whereas I'm more open minded about seeing the DH in both leagues.

Perhaps my biggest selling point on adding the DH to the National League is for selfish reasons. That is I just think it is just plain boring to watch pitchers hit nowadays.

Consider the following as an example.  Your favorite is up batting and has a rally going with a pretty good chance of scoring multiple runs in said inning.  Things are going so well that your team now has the bases loaded with the pitcher's spot coming up.  To make the situation even better (or worse, depending on your perspective), there are no outs.  Now the way thing currently stand, your team will probably use a pinch hitter off the bench in this situation.  All I can say is good luck to that guy on the bench who probably is not good enough already to be penciled into the starting lineup.  Either of these situations would be less than ideal for me as a fan.  I wouldn't want to have to depend on that day's starting pitcher to come up with a big hit or put my faith in a bench guy who may only get a couple at bats a week.  That is not a successful recipe for offensive consistency in a lineup if you ask me.  Pitchers already have enough to worry about when facing a big league lineup loaded with hopefully quality Major League hitters.  They don't need any added distractions on top of that.

Here's another question to consider on the subject?  Have you ever thought to yourself why is it that the big name superstars like Miguel Cabrera and Albert Pujols sign with American League ballclubs when they hit free agency and cash in on the mega deals of their careers that has them set for life financially?  If you guessed the security blanket of the Designated Hitter spot as they get older, here's your gold star!

By adding the DH to both leagues for future seasons, all 30 Major League ballclubs would have an equal opportunity at going after the big superstars instead of the usual 15 that the junior circuit has to offer.  If that was the case, Albert would most likely still be a member of the St. Louis Cardinals.  As for Miguel Cabrera, he probably still wouldn't be a member of the Miami Marlins but that's another story for another day.

In any case, the DH Debate isn't going away anytime soon.  Here's my final prediction: the DH is coming to the National League and baseball will be better for it in the long run.

Tim Musick
Copyright 2015
All Rights Reserved  

Capturing The Excitement Of The Stanley Cup Playoffs

Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia and

Alexey Chernyadyev under CC BY 3.0 License

Well to say it's been an adrenaline rush watching this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs would be a huge understatement.  And the funny thing is I didn't really start getting into hockey until the Los Angeles Kings made their run to 2 Stanley Cup victories over the last few years.

So go ahead and call me a bandwagon fan if you must.  That still doesn't diminish my excitement as the playoff march rolls on.  There's just something dramatic about the potential of every play leading to a scoring chance or missed opportunity.  It's even more exciting with the added element of sudden death overtime!  Oh and then there's the extra chippiness that comes with scrums and altercations that develops between the players, coaches and officials and I love it!

Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia and

Resolute under CC BY-SA 3.0 License

That's the way it should be over the course of any best-of-7 playoff series in any sport.  Trophies aren't handed out for taking it easy on your opponent.  On the contrary, greatness is ultimately rewarded by pushing your foes to their breaking point.  So as the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs march on, here's to hoping that the excitement doesn't stop.  Oh and for my money, I'm rooting for the Blackhawks and Rangers this year with the Rangers coming out on top.

Tim Musick
Copyright 2015
All Rights Reserved  

Derrick Rose: The Cautionary Injury Tale

Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia and

Keith Allison from Owings Mills, USA under CC BY-SA 2.0 License

 

Will the real Derrick Rose please stand up?  The Chicago Bulls point guard's injury history brings this question to the forefront of my mind as well as fans of the Bulls and the NBA.  As we all may know, Rose suffered yet another knee injury at the end of February.

If my memory is correct, this is the third knee injury he's suffered in his career.  Hopefully by the time you see this writing, he will have undergone a successful rehabilitation program and is doing all he can do in leading the Bulls on what could be a deep playoff run.

On the other side of the coin, fans are instinctively going to be asking themselves what's going to happen if this same scenario happens again and praying for the best. Part of the good news this time around is The Bulls were in pretty good shape as the season wound down.  It could be that with all the time Derrick Rose has missed over the years, the organization has done pretty well adjusting to competing without their marquee superstar on a regular basis.  There is no question though that the Bulls are a better team when Rose is in uniform and on the basketball court.

While I'm not a Bulls fan myself, I can certainly picture what it would be like if my Angels played a significant amount of their games in a given season without Mike Trout.  Let's just say the results would not be pretty.  So here's to good future health to Derrick Rose and hope that the injury bug doesn't hit your favorite sports team anytime soon.

 

Tim Musick
Copyright 2015
All Rights Reserved