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I've been an American League fan all my life, but I've always sort of sneered at the DH and looked wistfully over at all that pinching and double-switching going on in the NL. I've thought that the DH basically dumbed the game down to drive up offense and please the casual fans.
Playing OOTP has actually given me a new appreciation for the DH—my fictional league has gone fifty years without it (in both subleagues) and I'm starting to itch for them to implement it. Over a long, long stretch of time, you just see so many careers go down the drain when guys who can still hit just can't take the field anymore. You've got ex-catchers and ex-corner outfielders fighting with ex-third basemen for the first base slot. It's sad, and is pitchers hitting really worth it? You get great moments occasionally, but you also get lots of farcical ones, especially in extra-inning games.
It's awesome to see somebody like Jose Fernandez get a big hit once in a blue moon, but I'd rather see guys like Victor Martinez and David Ortiz do it every day.
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