Nolan Arenado got traded! End of story. This article was written at the end of the season and never published.
The DH is half a position, the forfeited side of a pitcher. For pitching requires devotion, so much such that they relinquish their half inning of existence to a sort of baseball player. One who just hits. And with such a name for a position, it sure makes one think, wow this must be a good hitter! I spent much of my formative years in awe of the steroid era. Back then the American League seemed to have an advantage on offense, because there were just a lot of really good hitters around!
Pitchers not being entertaining to watch hit isn’t how I would argue for the DH. There’s one huge reason.
Google cites a study analyzing data from before and after the universal DH rule showing a significant decrease in the injury incidence rate for NL pitchers, going from 7.62 injuries per athlete game-exposures to 6.26… while also seeing the total days lost due to pitcher injuries decreasing after the rule change.
So I guess I was wrong about the DH, at least from the standpoint that there have been a lot less injuries to National League pitchers. But I am still not too excited to have the DH in the NL I must say. Now, the two leagues do not have that different style of play, which was allowed to happen for decades and decades. It still feels like a l0ss of sorts. The game has less flavor to it. But it is time to move on. If there are that many less injuries…
No need to suffer to make pitchers hit. I will still miss the NL style of play. And I wonder what will happen eventually, to the divisions and leagues we see now. Will it all transform into one Major League again? Best two teams fight it out? If you have followed my commentary on VEB since 2008, you know that I would prefer to not have a DH, it is one of the few things that I have a hill for. But, I am throwing in the towel on this one, waving the white flag of defeat. Pitchers already get hurt enough and there aren’t enough good ones.
So, since I am still bored with the DH in the NL, I thought it would be cool enough to explain why. It’s sort of a part time position, you just park someone there at times. For example, it was rather advantageous to park Shohei Ohtani at DH since 2020, he has amassed 27.5 fWAR whilst designated hitting. But he can pitch too. Marcel Ozuna has also greatly benefitted from the DH, the only other player to have over 10 fWAR DH’ing since 2020. Yordan Alvarez, Mike Judge, and Kyle Schwarber are the other designated hitters since both leagues went rogue that have greatly benefitted from the position.
I will never truly “like” having the DH in the NL, but if there are significantly less injuries, I guess I can get along without the NL being the NL. Baseball has been kind of dead to me, at least to part of me, since the National League ceased to exist as an alternative to the American League. The mutant league should have to emulate the original. But it’s a backwards world. Injuries are even less fun than designating someone for hitting (even though a lot of them probably should be designated for assignment) and letting the pitchers off the hook for offense. The argument about who would want to see a pitcher hit neglects the part where it totally changes the strategy of the game and the manager’s effect upon it.
So by writing this perhaps I have reverse jinxed the NL and maybe some day when I’m older I’ll get to see the original flavor of National League OG baseball. But if not, I finally accept my fate. I could not stop the DH. But that was the player’s doing. If it was so important to them, they’re the ones who play the game, I guess they know better.
Yeah, I’ll never like the Designated Hitter. But I suppose it makes for a more humane world. I’m all for that.
This was an opinion piece. I digress.
To begin my process, I threw all the songs I was already into from 2025 into a playlist and then added a bunch of interesting stuff from several year end lists and ratings systems like rate your music. Then I listened to all of that conglomerate 2025 playlist to narrow it down to a Best Of situation. Then I used that initial best of 2025 playlist, which had over 225 songs, to create not one but two Best Songs of 2025 playlists… one a catch all, and one for Heavy Metal (which I feel just flows together better on its own list and vice versa). The songs aren’t in any particular order or rank; so shuffle is a fine way to listen, I think of it as having your own Howl radio session! I don’t say much, but I present you with some very choice cuts…
So this is a double filtered Best of 2025 Music list here! Best of the best. My ears are always hungry for more new music. But now’s the time to settle in with these tracks from 2025, and call it another good year in music.
For these playlists, it’s not about if the song came from one of my albums of the year or an honorable mention, it just matters if the song sticks out to me after listening to it a few times at the least. And if I’ve heard it over the course of the year a lot, can I still stand it and am still moved by it like it’s new? It’s rare where I will want to hear a song more than a couple times a week, even when it’s new. I have too many albums in my collection to listen to, and a short attention span. But sometimes songs are just next level.
I’ve lost track of hours I’ve spent on this post. The DH part was almost done months ago but still took some time. Then as far as the amount of music listening and parsing songs and thinking and writing about it, I’ve lost track of the hours. Which is fun since I enjoy music and baseball a ton! Well without further adieu, here is my rushed but also much deliberated best songs of 2025 list!
In my album reviews I’ve always valued new sounds, successful experiments, originality, novelty. But also, is it emotionally moving? Is the performance musically good or at least energetic? Are the lyrics thought provoking or generic? Does it even need lyrics or vocals at all? Does the recording and production successfully do the material and message justice? Top tier production can be inappropriate for some styles of music, just as lo-fi can ruin a nuanced acoustical instrument recording, losing timbre. And low quality heavy metal recordings usually sound like dog farts. Do the x-factors involved with the band (such as album cover, merch design, message, band members’ public personas, etc) work in favor of the music release? Same areas are more important than others, but you get the idea.
I’m also not into when a song drags on too long, in most cases. There are exceptions to that rule, but my short attention span doesn’t help a lot of music I hear. It’s got to be tight, well recorded, and if they can throw in some kind of variety in styles and approaches, that can really put it over the top. In an album, but also within one song sometimes. Anyways, back to the point: if a song is longer it needs to build and transition or change in a way that brings more meaning to the song. If it’s too repetitious or the compositional and/or production editing transitions don’t work, a longer track will never be as appealing as a shorter song that gets the job done in under 4 or 5 minutes tops. Some songs are under 2 minutes and a lot happens! I also have some longform songs on the playlist, but they have to take you to a place (or places), for a while.
Howl’s Best Songs of 2025 Playlist
REGULAR VERSIONMETAL VERSIONband namesong titleband namesong titleDeerhoofThe Return of the Return of The Fire Trick StarBarren PathIn The End… The Gift Is DeathMary HalvorsonPolyhedralNeptunian MaximalismAt Dawn: Raag Bairagi (Sthayi and Antara)YowieLemon StroganoffCaustic WoundBlackoutforever*2nd Generation DreamHaunted HorsesGrey EminenceNeptunian MaximalismAt Dusk: Raag Marwa (Vilambit Laya Alaap)DefacementWorthlessLifeguardHow To Say DeisarHoly ScumTrying In HellDax RiggsGraveyard SoulSallow MothIcegorger GauntletsStratford RiseSnowsportsImperial TriumphantGomorrah NouveauxFACSA RoomShardikExistential ThreatWater From Your EyesLife SignsBarren PathThe Unsufferable WeightHoly ScumThese HillsSallow MothCauldron Brim NeurosilkEarth BallWhere I Come FromCaustic WoundTechnologist Hell FutureThe Mars VoltaEnlazen las tinieblasMartröðDraumsýnir EldsinsTortoiseElkaDefacementUnexplainableThe Mars VoltaPoseedora de mi sombraBarren PathLunar TearWater From Your EyesBorn 2Sallow MothPsionic BatteryFACSOrdinary VoicesDead and DrippingSeeping Through Ancient Transdimensional CorridorsMatmosChanging StatesImperial TriumphantRot ModerneGrailsPrimeval Lite I-IIIDefacementUnrecognisedStratford RiseMachine to WaterHaunted HorsesDweller In the AbyssNourished By TimeAutomatic LoveSallow MothRunemilk AmuletThe Mars VoltaAlba del orateHaunted HorsesTemple of BoneAmon TobinPaisley KnightsImperial TriumphantPleasuredomeCheer AccidentDie For MeCloutchaserHusqvarnaeasterlinhomeliYellow EyesBrush The Frozen HorseWater From Your EyesSpaceshipMartröðSköpuninforever*Blade Silver MetallicNeptunian MaximalismAt Dawn: Raag Bairagi (Vilambit Laya Alaap)Holy ScumFacesDead and DrippingHorrifying Glimpses Of Inconceivably Demented CityscapesNourished By TimeCrazy PeopleYellow EyesThe Scent of Black MudEarth BallHellfire RelationsBarren PathPrimordial BlackBilly WoodsSTAR87BeurreLord GriefeasterlinGaussian BlurBlut Aus NordThe OrdealThe Mars VoltaCelajeYellow EyesA Forgotten CorridorCheer AccidentMy LoveImperial TriumphantEye of MarsYowieThe Road to GumboneHaunted HorsesThe SpellLifeguardA TightwireeasterlinLetter From JulyEarth BallOutside Over ThereDax RiggsEven The Stars FallTown PortalTouching GrassTulpaPart Time MorticianOpen HeadFiends Don’t LoseDax RiggsDeceiverStereolabColour TelevisionTortoiseAxial SeamountFACSYou FutureBilly WoodsJumpscareTown PortalMammalMary HalvorsonFull of NeonPatricia BrennanCitlalliShardikOrbital DanceGrailsHarmonious LivingGrailsSilver BellsCloutchaserRoad DawgOpen HeadN.Y. ThrillsSwansRed YellowMatmosSteel TonguesNeptunian MaximalismAt Dusk: Raag Marwa (Unison Composition)Nourished By TimeTossed AwayYowieThrockmortonMary HalvorsonAbout GhostsTulpaJohnnie Walker Halliburton (an Icebreaker)Earth BallSeeing Doors UnlockOpen HeadMonotonesJohn ZornTerra Firma Terra IngonitaStratford RiseGunshowBilly WoodsBorn Aloneforever*CompetizioneOpen HeadBullseyeReverse DeathStars Blink InsideDeerhoofWho Do You Root For?Mary HalvorsonAbsinthianLifeguardLike You’ll LoseYowieMuseum FatigueFranceFace BNeptunian MaximalismArcana XX: Raag Todi (Alaap on Surbahar)
After lots of listening I arrived at 111 tracks that were really interesting and I think will provide plenty of repeat listens and maybe become old favorites in the future. 35 of those I considered to be heavy metal or very heavy rock variety. The main playlist has a lot of different genres and styles of music, ranging from jazz to electronic to punk and post-punk as well as noise rock and shoegaze. There are a few hiphop tracks and other genres as well!
Earth Ball, Mary Halvorson, Open Head, The Mars Volta, and Yowie all had the most tracks on the list with 4 songs from each album! I wasn’t expecting it to be this group of bandsOne of my favorite metal albums of the year was by Lychgate and it was only on bandcamp, so I didn’t include them in the heavy metal youtube music playlist, unfortunately12 albums had 3 songs on the best of list, making that 17 albums with 3+ top tier tracksOn the metal side, Barren Path, Haunted Horses, Imperial Triumphant, and Sallow Moth had the most top tier songs with 4 songs from eachHonorable mention to Defacement and Yellow Eyes with 3 songs from each album making the cut
To be continued next week!