Hester got a finger tip on it.
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Thanks for the baseball explanation, guys! 
I still think they should give the game to Chicago. Should of been a point given hitting the upright, and another point for same ball hitting crossbar. That’s gotta be hard to do.
Besides that, I had a fiver on the game…
Next, let us discuss the infield fly rule…what? 
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And after that, we’ll discuss the blasphemy that is the Designated Hitter.
For a moment I read “designated Hitler” there and thought “WHAT???”
After Alabama got beat by Clemson last night during the National College Championship game, an announcer mentioned that Saban hasn’t lost by that many points since he was coach of the Miami Dolphins.
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
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Well, maybe he can find a new career as a kicker for Chicago…
I have no clue what that means.
…even though I looked it up 20 seconds ago.
They use too many words in the explanation that I don’t know either. 
Welcome to Baseball.
Most definitely! …and that the American League is essentially heretical in its very nature for using it, and why the National League is the true, pure and unblemished league.
For @Aginor …to relate to your history, think of the schism in the church in the 16th century…only worse. 
Also for @Aginor, the heresy that is the designated hitter is thus…A designated hitter (or DH) is a player that has no field position but bats in place of the pitcher when his team is at bat…so all he does is hit the ball…he doesn’t even need to have a glove. Heresy through and through.
That said, it is important to differentiate the DH with a “pinch hitter” (PH), a player that is substituted into the line up, for anther player (often a pitcher, many of whom are weak batters), as a “tactical move” to get a base hit. The player the PH substituted for is out of the game. When the team using the PH next takes the field (defense) the PH either takes the position of the substituted player, takes another position (with other defensive substitutions so all positions are filled) or is himself substituted for another player.
In all cases, a player(s) substituted are out of the rest of the game for good.
Now, there is also a way to replace a runner already on base with a pinch runner…basically the same rules as a PH…maybe another time…
…and at the half of the 7th inning, we all stand up and sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”…which makes perfect sense when you think about it. 
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And while we’re at it…
Amen.
Ok…
Ahem… but… isn’t that DH rule basically adding another tactical layer? Basically you can build a team around a great pitcher and then if it would be his turn to bat he is swapped out if I understand correctly, so you can have two specialists (a mega batter that cannot do a lot else and a mega pitcher that cannot do a lot otherwise) and the rest of the team are allrounders.
Sounds fairly sensible to me to be honest…
Oh dear… I just made myself a heretic didn’t I?
You have to excuse me, I really don’t know a lot about baseball.
…but now that you talk about it… I do like complex rules systems so Baseball might be worth watching I guess…
…but where do I start?
Ok this probably puts me in a bad light as well, but…
Do you know what are also two good reasons to watch football television programs IMO:
Erin Andrews and Kay Adams.
There. I said it. You may now judge me.
No judging, they’re both very talented journalists, and Erin Andrews is a great interviewer. I’ve only watched a little Good Morning Football, but I’ve been impressed with how Kay Adams does her thing.
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@Navynuke99, if you get the stake, I’ll gather a bunch of sticks and get a torch. 
The DH rule is a “cop out” because, as I mentioned, many, if not most pitchers are poor batters. So that is part of the game. For me, if you have a good pitcher and want to keep him in the game, then he has to take his turn at bat.
A great pitcher is certainly an asset, but not something you can really build a team around. A Major League Baseball season is 162 games. Currently, the average number of pitches per game is 146, for an average 23,652 pitches per season (not including warm up). That is way too many for one human to throw. In fact, on average (and depending on the score of the game) a starting pitcher is removed at about 100 pitches. There are in fact pitchers that ave made their careers as “Closers”, pitching the final couple of innings of a game.
Tug McGraw, Philadelphia Phillies was one such pitcher–a hero of mine. In the 1980 World Series he pitched as a closer in all 5 games. The Phillies won the series. Tug McGraw pitched the last pitch for a strikeout that finished the game, and the series.
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I used to work for a French company. Couple of big shots came over and after work we took them to go watch the Durham Bulls (single A at that time) play.
Try explaining a “balk” to someone who knows nothing about baseball
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Our class at the Armed Forces Staff College included a Swiss Colonel. As a class outing, we went to see the Tidewater Tides (AAA) play. I share your frustration at trying to explain the game, but we persisted.
Being a minor league game, there were some extra shenanigans. At the beginning of the 5th inning, they had a cute little girl (about 10 yrs) run around and sweep off the bases.
At the time, someone was explaining to the Swiss officer, how a forced out works, and ended with, “…and then a little girl comes out and sweeps the all bases.” The baffled look on the Swiss guy’s face was priceless.
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