I’m a child of the late-80s/early-90s. Therefore I’ve never known a time before designated hitters, except on ESPN Classic and tedious Ken Burns documentaries.
I’ve tried to watch National League games, but for the most part they put me to sleep. Low soccer scores. People who can’t hit at the plate. NL fans say the National League is like chess and the American League is like checkers. AL fans say the American League is like baseball and the National League is like some weird British sport like cricket. Or maybe that’s just me..
Don’t get me wrong, I see the positives. NL managers have to be more wily, they can’t just sit there and let the players play. They have to pinch-hit and double switch when appropriate. The AL managers can just figure out who’s the crappiest defensive player, slap him in at DH and sit back with some chaw.
But face it, National League. Pitchers can’t hit. Sure, you get your occasional Mike Hamptons, Carlos Zambranos and Micah Owings; but those exceptions to the rule are few and far between. And even they aren’t putting up serious power numbers and getting on base like a normal solid hitter. Pitchers are made for pitching and hitters are made for hitting. And Don Zimmer’s made for sitting.
There’s only really been one pitcher (kid from Baltimore) who could really swing with the big boys. He eventually gave up pitching to hit full time. Then he ate a bunch of hot dogs and died. Oh, and Dan Shaughnessy thinks he cursed my favorite team; but that’s a load of hooey.
Connie Mack tried to get the rule changed back in the 1900s. Jon Heydler, the National League President in the 1920s, tried to get a tenth man in the lineup as a sort of DH. Then pitchers started kickin’ serious butt (I’m lookin’ at you, Gibson) in the late sixties and a few years later the American League finally gave in. So, Cardinals fans, the DH is basically your fault.
In 1973, the DH was made official and the game hasn’t been the same since. Whether that’s a good or a bad thing depends on what team you root for. You’re especially ‘For’ if you’ve been a Mariners fan in the nineties or a Red Sox fan in the ‘aughts.
Article comments
1 - Matthew T. Sussman
"It’s like making Tom Brady go out and cover on punts."
Before this article, I was against the DH. Now I'm against the DH and advocating this.
2 - ebooker
If my DH only had two HRs, I'd be against the DH too.
/checks stats
Crap..
3 - Tony
One thing I had to correct was calling Ruth the only good hitting pitcher. Just off of the top of my head Cy Seymour was an outstanding hitting pitcher that eventually became an outfield as was Smokey Joe Wood (who became an outfielder after blowing out his arm). This was very common up until the 30s.
That being said, the NL NEEDS to adopt the DH.
Most pitchers can't hit which invalidates two spots in a lineup (the 8th and 9th spots).
The defense is worse because good hitting players like Edwin Encarnacion are playing the field only because of their bats.
The offense is worse because older players who can still hit but definitely can't even pretend to play the field flock to the American League.
I'll give up the double switch to solve those problems.
4 - Brian_Kist
Kid by the name of Ankiel who was a pretty good pitcher for a while.
Since you are making football analogies, why don't they just have a defensive team and an offensive team for baseball?
Everything that makes baseball different from football is also the reason I love the sport. Players should play offense and defense.