205 Drop: Top 10 MLB Bets I Wish I Could Make

Today's drop was written a brief period of time ago, just before Toronto closer (and, inevitably, a guy that I own in a roto league) Scott Downs hit the disabled list after attempting to run after batting. You know, something that pitchers do every 2-3 times a game in the National League, though admittedly, not so much on the reliever side. My opponents already own the guys who might get the save chances in Jayland, so this moves from Irritation to Frothing Irritation, both at Downs for being such a bubble baby and MLB for having different rules.

Seriously, is there anything more indicative of the failures of leadership at the top levels in MLB as the fact that the AL and NL play under different rules? I'm speaking, of course, of the Designated Hitter, which has been a point of contention for a mere 35 years now. It's also, I'd submit, damn near unique in sports. It would be like the AFC giving four points for field goals of over 50 yards, or the NBA's Western Conference making the rule five seconds in the lane, instead of three. (Note that I can't put college football in this category, since they already do something as dumb with the lack of a playoff and variable conference championship games.)

But since dumb things in MLB are celebrated rather than changed (witness things like Tal's Hill in Houston, home field in the World Series being decided by the All Star Game, and the continued employment of John Kruk), I say let's have more rules that make the game different between leagues. Why should the AL have all the fun, really? Let's make the NL go first with the rule that if you bring a pitcher into a game, he has to face a batter for at least one pitch before leaving. Just to hurt Tony LaRussa, really. Or if you don't like that one, how about the idea that a pitcher can only throw to a base to try to pick off a runner twice in an at-bat. Then, we can hear how the AL is too hidebound to innovate, or maybe we'd see stolen base numbers spike in one league, but not the other. You know, the way that home runs, ERA and more innings from the starting pitcher happens in the AL.

As I was finishing off this hype on the train this morning, my iPod triggered its telepathy mode for Commissioner Bud. Play me out, boys...