Over the last three years, I've had the opportunity to hear some of the arguments for and against the Designated Hitter. As you can clearly see by the topic of this web page, I am clearly against the DH ... Some have foolishly called my campaign a "Campaign of Hate" for those playing the position and those who love the position. That is not the truth to my feelings on the Designated Hitter.

As it states on the opening page for Abolish the Designated Hitter from Major League Baseball, Major League Baseball is in the middle of consolidating the American and the National Leagues. With this happening, one cross-league difference would need to be cleared up before all is settled. The National and American League offices are gone, the Umpires are no longer restricted to one league at a time, but there is one final sticking point on finishing the consolidation, that matter is the DH. This is not a campaign to snub out Edgar Martinez as a baseball player. This is not a campaign driven to get rid of Jose Canseco, Harold Baines and other talented batters who do not play the field. This happens to be a campaign to bring an end a useless position and help deflate the box score that I see climbing higher and higher each season. A position that is simply benefiting the Players Association, and fans of pinball machine baseball or the juiced ball scenario.  

Player's careers are extended by the DH and that is one thing that makes the Players Association very happy. 500 Home Runs for Eddie Murray would not have been achieved if he had not played DH to end his career. That feels as if the event were cheapened. Do you believe Eddie Murray is a prolific (dare I say Legendary) first baseman to go with Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Mark McGwire, Willie Mays and the like, as being a player that was so good that he hit over 500 HR's in his career? Certainly not. Eddie was a great ball player, but I do not think letting him reach the coveted 500 HR mark by DH-ing was proving he was great at what he did. It was just an event to which his name can be credited. "Eddie Murray, 1st Baseman, 500 Home Runs" Eddie was a great hitter, great in the clubhouse, poor when it came to media relations... He was not a prolific home run hitter, however.  

If a player is good, he doesn't need the DH to reach the apex of 500 home runs in his career (or 3000 hits or other statistical milestones). Play the field, do your job, do it well and then you get your chance to bat. The DH cheapens this. A guy earning his chance to bat doesn't happen. He is handed a bat and told to hit the ball, run the bases and sit down until his next turn to bat... Requiring so little skill that Pete Rose could have been playing as a DH well into the 1990's instead of coaching the Reds.

Then there is the argument that the National League is the only league in baseball - professional or otherwise - that doesn't use the Designated Hitter. This is true, but let me ask you this - are the guys in the other leagues (non-MLB) being paid ridiculous sums of money to get a chance to play? No. They are playing out of passion. Out of desire. Out of a love for Baseball and a desire to compete. Major League baseball is a business, a cold, sad fact that is commonly known today It's not little Billy getting a chance to play with his buddies in a Little League game... Its Jose Canseco taking home several million dollars a year for smacking the ball (or striking out), making some comments to reporters, and going home. 

The item that distinguishes the National League and the American League is the fact that strategy is taken away in the AL by the DH. Numerous times I have had DH advocates tell me, "You're wrong"... But when player's themselves say it? How wrong can I be? "I think the National League is a better league," stated Fred McGriff of the Chicago Cubs in a March 10th, 2000 article by Joe Henderson in the Tampa Tribune (while he played for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays), "The managers have to manage over there (NL). Over here (AL) you just make out the lineup and let'em play. Over there, you have to pinch-hit, double switch, that type of thing."

Strategy, Fred? Remember folks, this guy has played for teams in both leagues for a long, long time (Blue Jays, Padres, Braves, etc).

One other age old argument that DH supporters use is "Who wants to watch a pitcher bat? Who wants to watch someone make a futile effort at the plate that doesn't amount too much at all?" The entire sticking point about the Designated Hitter. The case is this - If a pitcher bats, then strategy gets used due to rules that were instilled in baseball long before the Designated Hitter was even a thought. If a pitcher gets to sit and another guy gets to bat for the pitcher position, baseball no longer becomes a thinking man's game. Managers do not manage, they send people up to bat and hope for the best. Can you imagine chess without trying to figure out how to get your opponents king, but instead think of how you can get the most pieces and still lose the game?  

That is my view of the Designated Hitter.