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Richard Porter
Professor Onwuzuruoha
English 1010
August 7
th
, 2014
A Brief History of the Designated Hitter and how it Effects Modern Baseball
Since the addition of the designated hitter to the American League in 1973, the position
has been mired in rhetoric and controversy. The National League plays without the designated
hitter. Fans, coaches, owners, players, the players unions, reporters, etc. all have their position on
the designated hitter and are very entrenched in that opinion.. Every time an interleague game, a
game where the National League plays against the American League, is impacted in some way
by the designated hitter, you will see ten articles published reigniting the almost forty year debate
that has continued since its inception. Whats all the fuss about? To stand with the designated
hitter, simply put, is to stand with bigger offense and less skill in defense in the modern game of
baseball. To be against the designated hitter is to savor the traditional defensive game with more
intricacy and a more strategic skilled game. To a person who doesnt know a lot about baseball,
the pursuit of understanding begins with knowledge of the position itself.
The designated hitter is a position created to allow a team to have a player bat for the
pitcher (Official Rules). Simple as that. Pitchers are sought after for their ability to throw
ninety mile an hour fastballs and strike out batters, not swing a bat. Power hitters in the game of
baseball are usually not placed in skill positions around the field, as they are brought on to score
runs and get on base from an offensive standpoint. These two ideas are very contradictory. One
idea is very entrenched in an offensive strategy to the game, while the other is firmly a defensive
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concern to the game of baseball. This simple contradiction is exactly where the two sides of the
designated hitter debate toe the line. Every day the team representative walks out onto the field
and takes the days batting order and lineup out to the umpire crew. This order consists of nine
players and the sequence in which they will take their turn batting. The first man to bat is the
lead off, the fourth man to bat is call the cleanup, and the pitcher usually bats last. The other
spots are filled based on a players ability to hit, with the strongest batters in the first four spots
and the weaker hitters going in the last five spots. With the addition of the designated hitter in
the lineup, you would have them hit in the top four batters, and remove the pitcher all together.
This seems like a small, almost insignificant change, but the strategy of the days game will be
changed forever because of it.
It is important to know another rule in baseball to fully understand the implications of the
designated hitter position, the pinch hitter. A pinch hitter is a player who takes the turn of
another batter in the order. When a pinch hitter is used, the original player is out of the game.
They cannot be used in another position or another spot in the batting order (Official Rules).
When a pinch hitter is used, it is primarily to bolster the offense and weaken the defense. In the
next half of an inning, the player who was removed cant return to their position on the field and
has to be replaced, usually by shifting the players on the field to insert the new batter into a
position they can play. This pinch hitter can also be applied to a pitcher. This strategy is very
important into the latter parts of a game as a pitcher in modern baseball is bound to pitch counts
and performance restrictions. More and more teams wont let their heavy investments into their
starting pitchers be compromised by letting them throw much over one hundred pitches in a
game. Depending on how well or poorly a pitcher performs, one hundred pitches could be
anywhere from a four to nine inning performance. So lets say the starting pitcher goes five
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innings and is at eighty pitches in his pitch count. This inning the seventh, eighth, and ninth,
place batters are due to hit for your team. The ninth spot is where the pitcher would hit. The
seventh and eighth batter get on base and now you have to make a choice about what to do with
the pitcher. His day is almost at an end anyway at eighty pitches. Is it better to warm up a new
pitcher now, replace the pitcher with a pinch hitter now to try and get some runs, and let the new
pitcher take over in the next inning? These decisions are removed from the game with the pinch
hitter in place. A pitching change would happen, and since the designated hitter is already hitting
for the pitcher, no batting order changes would occur. This is one example of the strategic
changes that are absent in the American League due to the designated hitter position.
To further understand the debate one must understand the history behind the addition of
the designated hitter. Permanent pinch hitting for a pitcher was introduced as far back as 1906
when an article Why the Pitcher Ought to Bat was reprinted in the Feb 3, 1906 edition of
Sporting Life. (Unknown Author 1906) The article credits Connie Mack, the owner of the
Philadelphia Athletics, with the idea of pitchers hitting as a farce, and in the best interests of the
game, let someone else hit for the pitcher. The article goes on to argue the other side saying, the
cardinal rule of a baseball player having to bat and play in the field would be breeched with this
idea. The article then suggests the true way to fix this issue is to teach the pitchers to hit better.
In this article, the debate was born. The debate continued on through the next 67 years. Many
leagues and teams tried out a form of the designated hitter in one way or another during that time
until the situation came to a head in 1973. With slumping ticket sales and a pitcher dominated
game, the owners of the American League teams voted 8-4 in favor of adding the designated
hitter in an effort to add more exciting offense to the game and drive people into the park to see
it. While over the time the designated hitter has been used, the batting averages of the American
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League have been higher, however it cannot be conclusively stated it is a result of the designated
hitter. In 1968, in response to the pitching dominance of the mid to late 60s, the pitchers mound
was lowered from fifteen inches to ten inches, and the strike zone greatly reduced to give all
hitters a better chance to compete. These changes were only in place for 5 years before the
designated hitter was implemented. With such little time to observe the differences, it is hard to
state the direct cause and effect the designated hitter has had. There was a time, in 1980, when
the National League voted to include the designated hitter in the course of play, but that measure
was defeated five votes to four. Two teams abstained from voting on the measure. The National
League would have the designated hitter today if not for an ill-timed fishing trip by the owner of
the Philadelphia Phillies. The owner, Rudy Carpenter, wanted the designated hitter in the
National League and instructed the vice president of the Phillies, Bill Giles, to go to the meeting
in his place and vote for the rule change. When Giles got to the meeting, a last second change to
the rule that would not allow the use of the designated hitter for at least a year was added before
the vote took place. This change was significant enough at the time to make Giles want further
clarification from Carpenter on what to do. In a time without cell phones and internet, a fishing
trip cut you off from the rest of the world. Unplugged was exactly that in 1980, unplugged.
Carpenter could not be reached before the vote was taken so the Phillies representative abstained
from the vote. While this was all well and good, another team was sent to the meeting with
instructions to vote exactly as the Phillies did. The Pittsburgh Pirates were bitter and hated rivals
of the Phillies and their decision was going to be based solely on the Phillies vote. The Pirates
wanted to maintain whatever competitive playing field the Phillies wanted to keep even in the
rivalry. When the Phillies abstained, so did the Pirates. The measure was defeated five to four
with two abstaining votes. The National League has not held a vote since on the matter. With the
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involvement of the unions in rule changes and bargaining agreements in the last twenty years, a
straight up or down vote couldnt take place anymore. Thats how close baseball came to this
rule being a memory instead of the debate it still is today, all thanks to an ill-timed fishing trip
(Moulton 2011).
So here it is, 2014 and the disagreement still continues as it has for more than a hundred
years. With an understanding of the rule and a little history to get to know its tradition, we arrive
at the modern arguments as to why the designated hitter should stay or go. The people in favor of
keeping the designated hitter want a more exciting offensive baseball game. Fans just want to see
home runs is a mantra heard around baseball reinforced by the most powerful numbers in the
history of the sport to back it up. After the player strike in the 1994-1995 season, baseball was at
an all-time low in terms of popularity. This continued on for several years until, in 1998, Mark
McGuire, of the St.Louis Cardinals, and Sammy Sosa, of the Chicago Cubs, took off on a record
setting chase for the single season home run record (Leonhardt 2005). Every night, fans across
all Major League Baseball were glued to their TVs as each man got closer and closer to Roger
Maris single season home run record of 61. Maris record had stood since 1961, and every fan
waited game after game to see it happen again, all thanks to power hitting. Thats the idea, power
hitting. The main argument is people want to watch the long ball. With a power hitter in the
designated hitter spot, fans get just that. The players find benefit to the position as well, because
it can help them extend their careers. When they would normally retire because their fielding
skills decline due to age, their bats still swing well and can be useful to teams who only need
them to hit. The teams of the American League like it because it makes the game a little simpler
for them. One of your players is feeling tired? Let him be the designated hitter this game to get a
break from being in the field. We need a player to drive in runs? Lets make a trade for a hitter
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regardless of his fielding skills. These reasons are all understandable from the perspective of the
American League teams and their fans, but have turned the game into an easy mode version of
the deep strategy used without the designated hitter.
The counter arguments are just as logical. While it is held to be a more traditional view,
the absence of the designated hitter can provide fans with a much more intricate game to enjoy.
People who love this aspect of the game feel home runs are taking the place of a well-timed base
hit or a bunt to advance a runner. The true measure of a team sport should be how a team plays
together. If you have a man on first base and your best hitter is at the plate with nobody out, do
you have him swing for the fence like the designated hitter would or do you have him lay down a
sacrifice bunt to advance the runner to second base and put him in the best position to score a
run? There is a runner on second base and the number eight batter is up. You know the pitcher is
up next and there are two outs. Do you intentionally walk the number eight guy to pitch to the
number nine guy, knowing he isnt a good hitter to try and get out of the inning? Decisions like
this are absent in most American League parks these days as they value hitting over strategy.
Another point to consider is some of these pitchers want to hit. Madison Bumgartner, a pitcher
for the San Francisco Giants, has hit two grand slam home runs this season. Some of these
pitchers dont hit one home run in their careers, as they are not allowed to hit, and this guy has
hit two home runs with the bases loaded in one season. The more strategic version of baseball
looks more like a chess game for the fans who like to sit in the stands and keep score in their
programs. These fans are more concerned about every pitch thrown and how that sets up the next
pitch in the a much more intricate experience than what fans who just want to watch home runs
experience.
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Will this debate ever end? Until one league gives in, it wont. There will always be a
purist fan and there will always be a fan looking for a more exciting game. As changes in the
leagues and team continue, there will be new challenges that push the debate back into the public
awareness. Beginning in 2013, though, there will be another factor to be considered. Once the
(Houston) Astros move to the AL (American League), leaving 15 teams in each league,
Interleague Play will no longer be confined to midseason blocks. Out of mathematical necessity,
there will have to be at least one Interleague series from the beginning of the schedule until the
end (Hagen 2012). As teams from each league compete against each other, the rule change back
and forth will force this debate to finality sooner than later. Whichever way the league decides to
go, one thing is certain. There will be a much divided fan base upset one way or the other. If the
designated hitter wins out, the complexity and intricacy of a National League game will be lost
forever.









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Works Cited
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Hagen, Paul. "DH Debate Could Heat up as Schedule Changes." Major League Baseball. 21
Mar. 2012. Web. 06 Aug. 2014.
<http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120320&content_id=27435474&vkey=
news_mlb&c_id=mlb>.
Moulton, David. "David Moulton: How a Fishing Trip and the Phillies Kept the DH out of the
National League." Naples Daily News. 2 Apr. 2011. Web. 06 Aug. 2014.
<http://www.naplesnews.com/sports/columnists/david-moulton-how-fishing-trip-and-
phillies-kept-d>.
Leonhardt, David. "Myth of Men Who Saved Baseball." New York Times. New York Times, 30
Mar. 2005. Web. 07 Aug. 2014.
<http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2005%2F03%2F29%2Fsports%2F29iht-
fans.html>.
Sherman, Joel. "It's Time for the National League to Adopt the DH." New York Post Its Time for
the National League to Adopt The DH Comments. New York Post, 25 Oct. 2013. Web.
06 Aug. 2014. <http://nypost.com/2013/10/25/its-time-for-the-national-league-to-
adopt-the-dh/>
"Why the Pitcher Ought to Bat." Sporting Life (1906). Web.
<http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/SportingLife/1906/VOL_46_NO_21/SL462100
4.pdf>.