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Baseball Fans Endorse New Designated Hitter Rule The Harris Survey For Release: Thursday, May 31, 1973 BASEBALL FANS ENDORSE NEW' DES IGIVATED HITTER RULE BY LOUIS HARRIS By 50-31 percent, baseball fans give their endorsement to the new designated hitter rule being tried out in the American League for the first time this season. Easily the most appealing part of the DH innova- tion is that it allows "older or slower players who can still hit to be useful to the game," a view endorsed by 74-10 percent among diamond fans. Although the aggregate batting average of designated hitters is well below the ..300 mark since the new rule went into effect, DH run production, including home runs and runs batted in, has been well above the averages compiled by pitchers still taking their turn at bat in the National League. Basically, of course, the rule allowing a proven hitter to bat for the pitcher without requiring the latter to be removed from the game was instituted to build up interest at the gate. Recently, a nationwide cross section of 1,271 sports fans was asked: "This year the Anerican League has changed its rules so that each team can put a designated hitter up to bat instead of the pitcher, but the pitcher doesn't have to leave the game. Do you approve or disapprove of the new designated hitter rule in the American League?" NEW DH RULE IN AMERICAN LEAGUE Disap- Not Approve prove Sure X X X Total Baseball Fans By Age 18-29 30-49 50 and over By Education 8th grade or less High school College By Income Under $5,000 $5,000-9.999 $10,000-14,999 $15,000 and over The DH experiment is nost popular with younger, better educated, and higher income fans, all of whom have been least attracted by baseball in recent years. Older and lower income fans are more conservative about preserving the traditional rules of the game. A series of three criticisns volunteered by some against the DH were tested by the Harris Sports Survey, and only one appears to have garnered much following: --- By 43-40 percent, baseball fans worry that the new rule could be "unfair to pitchers who are also good hitters." h'hile most pitchers are dismal hitters, baseball history has been studded with pitchers, such as Red Ruffing of the Sew York Yankees and Bob Gibson of the St. Louis Cardinals, who could hold their own with other members of the line-up with the bat. Many fans feel that under the DH rule, pitch- zrs will be reduced to pampered specialists. ---But by 51-34 percent, a majority of fans reject the complaint of some oldtimers that "they shouldn't tinker around with the rules in baseball because they will ruin the game.'' In fact, a number of fans feel that one of the troubles with baseball is that it has been reluctant to change as modern tastes and styles have taken over in other areas of sports and leisure-time activities. --- By a narrower 40-31 percent, the fans also turn down the criticism that "the designated hitter rule will mean offense will take over from defense and that is bad." Implicitly, the fans are saying that they are willing to take the risk of higher scoring games instead of more pitchers' duels which result in low- scoring contests. In fact, an eagerness to see more runs scored is the chief source of support of the DH experiment: --- By a substantial 62-24 percent, a majority of fans agree that "by allowing a real hitter up at bat instead of the pitcher, it means more runs and more action, and that's good.',. In recent years, baseball has fallen off in popularity primarily because fans feel the pace of the game is too slow and there simply is not enough action, compared with football, basketball, or hockey. Action in baseball to most fans means more hits, more running, and higher scores. Some traditionalists might take their pleasure in the fine and subtle arts of defensive play and low hit and run games, filled with managerial maneuvering, but today's fans appear to crave less subtle excitement. And that means stressing the offensive part of the game. --- However, fans also see pitchers benefiting from the new DH rule. By 65-19 percent, a solid majority also believe that "good pitchers will win more games because they won't be lifted for a pinch hitter late in a close game, and that's good." Some students of the game have viewed taking out a pitcher locked in a 2-1 duel in the seventh or eighth inning as a waste of first-line talent. Yet, when a team needed a run to tie late in the game, a manager was usually forced to yank a weak-hitting pitcher. The DH rule, most fans feel, allows baseball to have the best of both worlds: the manager can put in hitting strength and at the same the not lose his best pitching talent. All in all, judging from these results, the DH rule is off to a positive start with baseball fans them- selves. This may be a signal to the holdouts against the idea in the National League. It seems clear that the fans are ready for even more innovations that will liven up the onetime national pastime. Copyright: 1973 Chicago Tribune .
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