DH Makes it Far Worse

Getting Rid of the DH in the AL Would Calm Some Astro Fans


Upon continuing to read the vitriol the Astros forced move to the American League is causing among many of the baseball fans who really follow the game around here, I have come to the conclusion that the existence of the Designated Hitter rule in the American League is the greatest single cause of unrest.

That one factor..the difference in the rules for the two leagues..seems to raise the ire of Astro fans even more than the loss of the Cubs, Cards and other long time National League foes. Could the DH actually be eliminated, or it is even more likely it will be added to all of MLB? You can find debates both ways.

While the owners (of both leagues) would likely vote in the majority to eliminate the DH for financial reasons, the union as a unit of representation would oppose. Ironically, however, with a give back by the owners—perhaps a 26th roster spot—the majority of individual players if divested of their union unity—would likely be in favor of abolishing the DH.

Why? When one thinks it is not that hard to understand. In the game as played with the DH not only do pitchers have to face an extra major league hitter, but because that hitter is a regular in the lineup a large number of “back up” players on rosters rarely see any playing time at all. There are fewer opportunities to pinch hit, pinch run or be part of double switches and get into games. Furthermore, there are a number of pitchers who actually would like the chance to get some at bats.

There IS a compromise rule available that would allow aging hitters to still get some extra at bats but keep much of the strategic moves available in games at the same time.

It is called the DPH…or designated pinch hitter. In recent years I have read similar concepts, but I will allow that the original idea for the DPH may every well have been conceived by yours truly as far back as 1979 in Buffalo, New York.

On a talk show I hosted on WEBR radio I had as a live in studio guest, the late Joe Reichler. Reichler had been a long time New York sportswriter who later fathered the Baseball Encyclopedia and later worked out of the Commissioner of Baseball’s office. One of our topics on the show was the DH controversy. I revealed my idea for the first time then.

In 1979 the DH was only six years old, but most of the same complaints (and praise) were heard as they are now. The two leagues were governed separately with their own Presidents, umpires and rule interpretations. The American League had been falling in attendance for years. In part due to slowness in integration in the AL, the NL had more of the great players. In addition the Yankees were way down. So were the gates.

So the AL decided to go with the Designated Hitter in 1973. Ironically, it was a concept originally proposed by the NL forty years earlier when the AL was winning the attendance battle thanks in large part to the slugging of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx. It was not adopted until the AL resurrected and OKd the rule for 1973.

One wonders why the AL didn’t simply eliminate the nine man batting order and go with an eight man order? Well, the answer was they wanted to be able to keep some “name” player hitters in the game even after their ability to play good defense had passed.

Remember, the attendance was falling. Letting players like Tommy Davis, Orlando Cepeda, Frank Robinson, Hal McRae, Tony Oliva and others stick around to hit when they couldn’t do much else was a plus..or so backers of the rule thought.

OK, so what about this DPH as proposed to Joe Riechler? I still have the follow up letter I sent him in New York in 1979 and his reply. He said he liked the general concept but doubted MLB would undertake any changes at that time. So what was this DPH thing?

In a nutshell is allows for a hitter to be used twice in a nine inning period and a pitcher to be pinch it for once without being removed. It did call for having the pitcher in the batting order.

In essence a manager has to decide whether he used his “free” PH for his starting pitcher early or late. Does he use a DPH in the third inning with a runner on first with one out..or does he hold off in case a more significant scoring opportunity comes later? And if he uses his DPH then he has only one more use of the same bat in the first nine innings. He may have to use someone else later if he wants to save that particular hitter again.

The DPH can only be used in the same spot in the order. He can’t hit for the pitcher out of the 9th slot in the 4th and then for the pitcher in the 6th slot following a double switch earlier. He can only hit in the slot he has his first at bat in.

The use of the DPH is not the same as “real” baseball as played in the NL, but it allows for extra hitters to get some extra at bats and keeps some strategy in the game. It is simply a compromise. It is also not likely ever to see the light of day.

 What would I personally prefer? The elimination of the DH is my choice, but I don’t see it coming. I have a way to get it done, though. It would be “grandfathered” out as was the spitball pitcher years ago. Those players whose career was primarily as the DH the season before it is voted out would be allowed to continue in that role until they retired. In any game in which those players were in the lineup the DH would be used by both teams until those Big Papi’s and others careers were finished. It is pretty simple.

Although it took a long time before the last legal spitballer, Burleigh Grimes, retired in 1934,(he played more than a dozen years after the spitball was abolished) the grandfathering worked. It would work with the end of the DH, too. Unfortunately, like the DPH concept, I see no chance of it happening.