Why Don't Pitchers Bat In The AL?

I don't know near as much about baseball as the sports guys.

The sports editor can rattle off players' names like they are his relatives.

One of the sports guys, Jason Knavel, actually has his own power rankings (I don't even know what power rankings are).

The other sports guy, Jeff Holsinger, is pretty much a walking baseball encyclopedia.

Then there's the wire editor here. His name is Bob Lamirand. He can name every baseball player since the dawn of time.

(Well, OK, maybe not every one, but just let me say you don't want to get in a baseball trivia contest with him.)

But despite all this vast knowledge, there are some pretty fatal flaws with these sports guys in my estimation.

Only one of them - Knavel - has it together when it comes to big league baseball.

That's because he likes a team from the National League - the Atlanta Braves.

Those other three sports guys like teams from that other league. You know, the one where not everybody swings a bat.

Jones likes the Yankees. The Yankees have a rich baseball heritage, but who in their right mind would want to go to a game in New York? Besides, everybody knows the term "obnoxious Yankee fan" is redundant. (I must make a minor concession to Jones. He likes the Yankees, but doesn't like the DH rule.)

Holsinger likes the Baltimore Orioles. I guess I can almost respect that because of Cal Ripken. He's classy. But Baltimore? Where is Baltimore, anyway? Is Maryland a state?

Lamirand likes the Boston Red Sox. Lots of history there. Lots of tradition. I can respect that a little.

But you would think a major league franchise could come up with enough money to buy sufficient real estate for a stadium. What's up with that stupid, big green wall?

The Wawasee Warriors have a nicer place to play baseball.

The Braves. They're OK. I really like their politically incorrect nickname.

Fact is, I like any team in the National League. My favorite one is the Cardinals. But you know, I can't name more than a few players on the team anymore.

They trade too much.

I used to like the Cardinals because they were a small market team that played with a lot of heart and skill and didn't pay megabucks for players.

That's all different now.

The Blues used to be the same way. They changed, too.

But I digress.

Also in the newsroom we have Norm Hagg, who likes the White Sox - the team with the psychotic owner.

Dan Spalding likes the Brewers. But I hear they may soon become an NL team, so I'll withhold judgment.

Anyway, here we have all these sports buffs and experts around the newsroom and 83 percent of them like AL teams.

I can't stand AL teams. It really bugs me that pitchers don't bat in the AL.

Many times the sports guys - except Knavel, who's on my side - have tried to convince me that there is nothing wrong with the designated hitter rule.

I am unconvinced.

Baseball is a game of offense and defense. Everybody plays offense. Everybody plays defense.

The AL sports guys say things like, "Oh, yeah, that's real productive. Putting a guy at the plate who you know will strike out."

Au contraire. How many times have you seen an NL pitcher help his cause with an RBI single or a homer?

That's something you'll never see in the AL.

They also argue that it really doesn't make that much difference in the game.

I take exception to that, too.

What about that 2-1 game in late innings? You're the manager. Your pitcher gave up 1 in the first, but has set them down in order since.

Now there are two out and two on and your smokin' pitcher is up to bat.

Do you pinch hit hoping to pad the lead and then bring in a new pitcher?

Or do you let the pitcher bat and hope he'll continue to shut the other team down?

Point is, there is a decision to be made. It could change everything. It adds drama, intrigue.

No such decisions in that other league.

Frankly, I think the AL should just secede from the big leagues and form its own baseball universe.

A place where baseball is like football - a separate defense and offense. Then they could have a 11 designated hitters.

That way, fielders could concentrate on fielding, pitchers could concentrate on pitching and hitters could concentrate on hitting.

Wouldn't matter whether your shortstop could hit or not. Wouldn't matter whether your cleanup hitter could catch a ball or not.

So as I watch portions of the World Series, I'm pulling hard for the upstart Florida Marlins (even though they are one of those teams that pays megabucks for players). The NL team. The real team.

But don't be too dismayed, AL fans. I told you at the outset I didn't know much about baseball.