Slip of the Tongue?
 

On sports talk radio this morning, Red Sox President Larry Lucchino, discussing Roger Clemens made the following statement.

"Clemens is only ontereested in 3 teams, The Red Sox, the Yankees and the Houston Astros over in the minor...- I mean National - ... league."

Slip of the tongue, or is he just stating the facts? :cool: :D :confused:

Milwaukee is looking awfully solid if Sheets can round into his previous form.

The Mets are also good, and the Phillies...well, not sure what's going on with that team at this point.

The point was that NL lineups are weaker, primarily due to a stupid rule that REQUIRES each team to reserve a spot in its batting order for someone who has no business stepping into a MLB batters box. :cool:

Who are the WS champs? the cards (NL)
Who has the longest divisional winning run of ANY SPORT WORLDWIDE? the braves (NL)

Just cos you have 9 hitters vs 8, the batter can be used to good advantage, and some can hit damn well (by some i mean like 1 or 2)

The team with the hottest pitching wins in the playoffs. Also Detroit could of used some designated fielders last year. Then I wouldn't have had to watch he frickin tards win it all. :mad:

I know that individual teams are what counts. I'm just an anabashed fan of the DH.

I will match the New York Mets Lineup against any in the AL, even with their pitchers batting.
I do think they should go either way pitcher or dh, not one for each league.

Part of me sort of likes the fact that there's a difference in the 2 leagues, but the rational person in me says unify the rules, and DH is the right way to play the game.

Every sport's rules evolve. Nobody would ever suggest the NBA to go back to the old rules and scrap the Offensive Interference rule. Under today's rules, 1/3 of Wilt Chamberlain's field goals would become turnovers.

The NFL makes significant rule changes on a regular basis. The famous "Immaculate Reception" controversy would just be another long pass play under today's rules.

So with Baseball. The pitcher actually trying to get the batter out is a game evolution. Originally, the pitcher asked the batter where and how fast he wanted the ball delivered. As late as the turn of the 20th century, ownership considered banning the curveball as "an unfair attempt to deceive the batter."

Hitting ability is not a consideration in whether or not a pitcher makes an NL roster. No manager says, "Jones will give up a few fewer hits per game, but we need Smith's bat in the lineup every 5th game."

Simply put, the DH is an evolutionary change, recognizing the reality that the pitcher by nature is a defensive specialist*. The ONLY place in baseball above the high school level where the pitcher bats is the National League. Even NL minor league teams use the DH.

* - I understand that's not the reasoning the AL used in '69. It was a marketing decision to increase offense.