At Least You're Not Luis Castillo Today

Even Brad Stuart called Castillo up and was like, “Dude…”

See, in the NL a pticher will bat. They usually bat 9th. In the AL we have what is called a designated hitter (DH). This means that players sole purpose in that game is to take ABs. They do not play the field (defense) during the game. Gary Sheffield plays on the New York Mets. They are based out of New York City, New York. This is the most populated urban center in the United States of America. The Mets play in the National League (NL). Because of this, there is typically no deisgnated hitters. All players involved in the game must play on defense as well. When Gary Sheffield plays for the Mets, he plays on defense.

There is also a time of the year when all teams in the MLB (Major League Baseball) play ‘Interleague games’. AL rules and NL rules are determined by whichever team is the host team. The New York Yankees are currently hosting the New York Mets. This is commonly referred to as the ‘Subway Series’. Because of this, the games are played under AL rules in which a designated hitter is inserted into the lineup. These rules allow the New York Metropolitans to insert Gary Sheffield into this aforementioned DH position as he is a defensive liability. It is notable that they went this route the first opportunity they were given, as they would much rather place a younger, more athletic player into the left field (LF) position. Once teams have concluded interleague play, the Metropolitans will once again be required to place Gary Sheffield in the field (on defense).

Now, if he HASN’T been playing the field quite a bit up until now…that, my friends, is called “cheating”…as NL rules do not allow a player to play as a designated hitter as previously mentioned. We can also call this “stating the obvious”.