Banning The DH
Though this seems like a distant memory, there actually was a time when the powers in charge of Major League Baseball seriously considered banning the Designated Hitter.
There were movements that would crop up every few years to get rid of the deporable concept of having a man hit who didn’t need to play the field. Sadly, the movement never really gained steam, though it apparently did come close to success in late 1990.
This was when Fay Vincent was Commissioner, back when things in Major League Baseball seemed a little bit more calm and sane. And there are articles like this one to prove that it really did happen:
There was quite a bit of irony here, of course. Lou Pinella, who was managing the Cincinnati Reds in 1990, happened to be the first American League player to receive the Designated Hitter spot in the lineup for a World Series game. That happened back in 1976, which really wasn’t that long ago in 1990.
Though Vincent’s push wound up for naught in the end, the movement did gather quite a bit of attention, even in places relatively far from big cities:
Though 1990 might not seem like a long time ago for many of my readers, the truth is that it was over 35 years ago. And, since it’s been so long, it’s refreshing to look back and see what the average Joe on the street thought of the whole thing:
So what do you think? Was it right to make the DH universal? Should it have been scrapped all along? Or are you somewhere in the middle?
We all love watching pitchers bat. I remember a game in 1971 Orioles at Brewers and Dave McNally hit a three run bomb 💣. He was so suprised I think it took him 10 minutes to circle the bases 🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗
I dislike the universal DH because I liked that the league's felt district. But I dislike the constant interleague play even more. Get rid of that and baseball will be better off.