MANIC BASEBALL

ABOLISH THE DESIGNATED HITTER

It's time to abolish the DH, also known as the designated hitter.

The designated hitter is a baseball player who does nothing but bat. This person does not have to field at all. Usually, designated hitters are one of two types: Powerful hitters that can't field, or aging stars that are popular and once were able to field.

The rule had been suggested for many years. Connie Mack (who was a a manager for almost 50 years) suggested the rule way back in 1906. In 1928, the NL owners approved the rule, but the AL owners did not, so it was nixed. In 1973, the AL decided to put the DH in for a three-year experiment. They had three reasons for this. They wanted more offense, they wanted to give aging sluggers a few more years to shine, and they wanted to increase attendance.

Yes, from 1972 to 1973, there was more offense, and more attendance in the AL. Two million more people went to the ballparks, and batting averages jumped 20 points upward from .239 to .259. The average number of runs per game went from 3.47 to 4.28.

The DH rule did pump more offense in the game like they wanted it to, but there are many reasons to abolish this rule.

It gives the NL two distinct advantages over the AL. Since the NL doesn't have a designated hitter rule, their teams can trade their strong-hitter players with poor defensive abilities to AL teams who could use such a player in the designated hitter spot.

In interleague play, added in 1997, when the NL teams play at the AL teams parks, they have an advantage, because their pitcher doesn't have to bat, and they can use a hitter instead. The AL teams have a disadvantage at the NL parks, because their pitchers have very little experience as batters, and they lose use of a strong hitter that they are used to having in their lineup.

The Hall of Fame takes a hit as well. Now there are these "stars" that have spent most of their years as designated hitters. Do they really belong in the HOF if they can't field?

Imagine that you are in high school, and are horrible at English and history so your school doesn't make you take any English or history classes. You get all As for your whole high school career. Do you really deserve to be class valedictorian?

Careers generally can be stretched out further. Aging power hitters that can't quite get to as many balls in the field but can still hit are allowed to keep playing in the AL.

Let's say the home run record is broken because someone stretches their career out a few more years by being a DH. Can that record really be taken seriously? Yes, Henry "Hank" Aaron was around with the DH rule, and yes, he did play the final two years of his career as a designated hitter. But he he only hit 22 home runs in those two seasons and he still would have held the record had he stopped two years earlier with 733 home runs.

And as a closing argument, it destroys the strategy of the game, which is rather enjoyable to watch. When pitchers come to bat with runners on base and less than two outs more often then not they are asked to hit a sacrifice bunt. Hitting a sacrifice bunt is where the batter bunts the ball as to get himself out and to move the runners already on the basepaths up one base. While pitchers may not be good hitters, many of them are expert sacrifice bunters.

The DH may make the game more exciting for some, but it hurts the integrity of the hall of fame, offensive records, and strategies. If you can't field, you should be a frequently-used pinch hitter or a batting coach.

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