DH creates unfair home field advantage

Imagine if the NFL’s NFC placekickers had to punt on fourth down, while AFC teams carried punters on their rosters. Or if David Stern’s Western Conference squads were allowed to sub on the fly, allowing the Spurs to insert Bruce Bowen for Robert Horry only on the defensive end of the court.

That’s essentially the way Major League Baseball is set up. Bud Selig’s sport is completely unsymmetrical. And it makes no sense.

The American League implemented the designated hitter position in 1973 for one reason: To sell tickets. More home runs, further balls hit, and simply more offensive firepower in general appeals to the new-age fans; the same fans who scream like bloody hell every time Johnny Damon hits a moon shot 225 feet to the right fielder after being jammed by a 2-2 fastball.

For years I’ve been an advocate of baseball unification. National League ball is better ball. Managing an NL club actually takes strategy. Sacrifices, hit-and-runs, suicide squeezes, and double switches have all been virtually eliminated from AL play because of the DH.

And I think that stinks.

As much as I enjoy rooting for a lineup consisting of Mike Lowell, Kevin Youkilis, and David Ortiz, I still think the pitchers should hit.

Until yesterday.

Last night I watched the Red Sox-Phillies game on ESPN. The game was played in Philly, meaning pitchers hit; no DH. Boston starter Bartolo Colon came up twice with runners in scoring position early, facing Philly ace Cole Hamels, a southpaw with arguably the nastiest changeup in the game.

Watching Colon try to make contact with any of Hamels’s pitches – changeups and fastballs alike – was like watching George Muresan try and do the limbo. It just wasn’t gonna happen.

Colon gets an A for effort though, as each time he swung with all his might, knocking his helmet off from the force all the while making El Guapo look like Lance Armstrong.

Needless to say, it was frustrating to witness, as Colon stranded runners with two outs on two separate occasions before the middle of the fourth inning. Had it been the sixth or later, the obvious move would be for Terry Francona to pinch hit for the Dominican doughnut, but Tito’s hands were tied, as going to the bullpen in the fourth during the opening game of a series simply makes no sense.

That left me in quite the mental quandary. Coming from a wood bat high school league, I love the NL, small ball strategy. But after watching the Sox’s round righty embarrass himself at the plate last night, I had no idea what to think anymore.

But, regardless of my disliking of the DH, one thing is for sure: The rules need to be unified; this “separate but equal” mentality is a little bit outdated.

American League general managers structure their teams knowing that a DH will be in their respective lineups. The opposite is true for NL GMs. That said, the home team in interleague play has a distinct advantage because AL pitchers can’t hit and NL DHs are typically guys used primarily as pinch hitters, accumulating just a few at-bats per week.

Don’t get me wrong, I think interleague play is one A among many Ds and Fs, sticking out like Sam Cassell on an Abercrombie billboard on Selig’s report card. But in order for it to be completely fair and balanced (like Fox News?), either AL pitchers need to grab a bat, or NL hurlers need to stop hitting the cages.

Although I favor the former, I don’t really care which one happens, just as long as this irregularity is dealt with properly. And timely.