Earlier this year, it seemed as if wheels were in motion to implement the designated hitter into the National League. Obviously not for this upcoming MLB Season, but sometime in the very near future. St. Louis Cardinals GM John Mozeliak made it sound as if it was at the team’s annual fanfest, “I do feel like there were times I could look all of you in the face and say it’s a non-starter, it’s not being discussed at the owner level or GM. But over the past year it has. I’m not suggesting you’re going to see a change but I definitely think the momentum (has changed).”
Even MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred seemed to be on board at the Owners Meetings in January, “Twenty years ago, when you talked to National League owners about the DH, you’d think you were talking some sort of heretical comment. But we have a newer group. There has been turnover, and I think our owners in general have demonstrated a willingness to change the game in ways that we think would be good for the fans, always respecting the history and traditions of the sport.”
Last summer MLBPA Executive Director Tony Clark (himself a former DH) expressed his concerns about the National League not having the DH, “That was a concern when we started to talk about evening out the divisions and how that would manifest itself over the course of interleague play. The idea that you would be in September with a possible division [title] on the line with one team who was not used to having a DH, or a team that was used to having a DH not having it, and how that could affect the overall outcome. As you might expect we are very concerned about the integrity of the game, and having scenarios or situations play out like that that could affect inevitably how a division ends, is not a place you want to find yourself.”
But just as quickly as momentum seemed to build for the DH in the National League, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred pumped the brakes on it a few weeks later, “I swear to God, I never said anything in the press conference that was in support of the DH. All I said was that 20 years ago what would have seemed heretical—any topic—is more possible as ownership becomes more forward-thinking. What I did not do—and this is probably my fault—is say that when it comes to the DH, I’m a status quo guy. What I can honestly tell you is that at those meetings, there was not one word spoken about the DH. It only came up as a question at the press conference.”
The DH has been a part of the American League since 1973 and most all leagues, minor, collegiate & high school use the extra hitter. But for the most part, National League fans, with the most hardcore being the loudest are vehemently against the Designated Hitter. “It’s not real baseball”, “the pitcher is in the field, the pitcher should also hit”, “I like the strategy of the National League”; these are some of the many protestations one hears from National League fans against the DH.
I am a National League fan. I have been a lifelong fan of the Cincinnati Reds. But I feel it’s time, time to make things uniform in both leagues. I am not necessarily a fan of the DH, just more against each league playing under different rules. With the exception of Bartolo Colon, do we really enjoy watching pitchers hit?
Younger fans are what every professional sports league craves. More offense in Major League Baseball definitely would be a plus in attracting the coveted 25-54 age demographic.
It is time. It is time to put the DH in the National League.
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