1 What Is Another Name For Designated Hitter Awards edit. The DH must be selected prior to the game, and that selected hitter must come to bat at least one time -- unless the opposing team changes pitchers prior to that point. Occasionally National League teams opt to use the designated hitter, usually when a player is recovering from injury. The decline of pitcher Chien-Ming Wang due to an interleague game injury has been cited in support of the designated hitter. 75 Many coaches use a designated hitter in place of the weakest hitter in the lineup, if they use one at all. In Major League Baseball, during interleague play, the DH rule is applied to a game based on the rules of the home team s league. 6 For 1976, it was decided the DH rule would apply to all games in a World Series, regardless of venue, but only in even-numbered years. 38 Accordingly, the DH rule was not adopted by the National League for 2017. Advocates of the designated hitter 59 60 point to the fact that it has extended many careers, and, in a few cases, created long, productive careers for players who are weak fielders or have a history of injuries, such as Cecil Fielder and David Ortiz. 40 At least one of the proposals released during negotiations between MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association MLBPA to attempt to reach an agreement regarding the season structure included a universal DH for 2021 as well, but the lack of such an agreement means the rule currently applies only for 2020. The designated hitter idea was raised by Philadelphia Athletics manager Connie Mack in 1906, 3 though he was not the first to propose it. 53 Ortiz and Molitor played games at first base in their World Series MVP seasons, leaving Hideki Matsui in 2009 54 55 as the only World Series MVP to never play the field that season. If a team does not begin a game with a DH, the pitcher or a pinch hitter must bat for the entire game. 56 In 2019, Edgar Martínez and Harold Baines were inducted into the Hall of Fame. The designated hitter rule also changes managerial strategy in late innings. On June 12, 1997, San Francisco Giants outfielder Glenallen Hill became the first National League player to DH in a regular-season game, when the Giants met the American League s Texas Rangers at The Ballpark in Arlington in interleague play. Among Hall of Famers, Paul Molitor and Jim Rice were, until 2014, the only inductees to even have played at least 25 of their games at DH. Boomer Blomberg was walked on five pitches with the bases loaded in the first inning. if he is removed as the pitcher, he may remain as the designated hitter and vice versa. Outside of Major League Baseball edit. If the designated hitter is moved to pitcher, any subsequent pitcher or pinch-hitter thereof would bat should that spot in the batting order come up again except for a further multiple substitution. A designated hitter reduces the need for late-inning pinch hitters. Debate edit. There is debate within MLB to unify the rules of the two leagues, with either the American League returning to its pre-1973 rules and having the pitcher hit, like the National League, or the National League adopting the DH. In amateur baseball, many pitchers are also good hitters and will often play another position or even DH when not pitching. However, momentum to implement the DH did not pick up un- til the pitching dominance of the late 1960s. Since then MLB is now considering adding the DH to the National League as soon as 2022. At the Double-A and Triple-A level, when both teams are National League affiliates, the designated hitter rule is not available, but otherwise it is in effect. Unlike other positions, the DH is locked into the batting order. 3 Since then, almost all amateur, collegiate, and professional leagues have adopted the rule or some variant 4 with the notable exception of MLB s National League and Nippon Professional Baseball s Central League. 34 Only a handful of players compile over 400 at-bats as a DH each year. In that case, American League will only lose the DH if Ohtani, or players replaced him at DH, were to play a position in the field other than pitcher. Japan s Pacific League adopted the designated hitter in 1975 74 and the Cuban National Series adopted the DH in 1977. Likewise, if a pinch-hitter bats for a non-pitcher, and then remains in the game as the pitcher, the team would forfeit the use of the DH for the remainder of the game, and the player who was DH would become a position player or exit the game. In June 2010, the Philadelphia Phillies scheduled 2010 series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre was moved to Philadelphia, because of security concerns for the G-20 Summit. Some feel that it is not fair to ask an AL team to play without their DH when their roster has not been set up to do so, or on the other hand, to ask an NL team to use a DH when they may not have an appropriate player. 37 However, he later backtracked on this statement to say that he does not see unification coming any time soon. If a pinch hitter bats for, or a pinch runner runs for, the DH, that pinch-hitter or pinch-runner becomes the DH. The practice of playing each game by the rules of the designated home team s league began in the 1986 World Series. 22 23 The American League allowed its use in spring training in 1971. Beginning in 1989, the rule was applied only to games played in American League stadiums. Critics often argue that use of the designated hitter introduces an asymmetry to the game by separating players into classes, creating offensive and defensive specialization more akin to American football. 20 After the season, the rules were changed to reduce the mound height from 15 to 10 inches 38 to 25 cm and lower the upper limit of the strike zone from the top of a batter s shoulders to his armpits. Like other experimental baseball rule changes of the 1960s and 1970s, the DH was embraced by Oakland A s owner Charlie O. The DH was not used in the World Series from 1973-75, then was used by both World Series teams during even-numbered years from 76-85. The designated hitter rule allows teams to use another player to bat in place of the pitcher. 31 Prior to the meeting, Harding Peterson, general manager for the Pittsburgh Pirates, was told to side with the Phillies however they voted. It s possible the NL could revert to its traditional rules in 2021. Amateur baseball edit. 13 14 15 The Blue Jays wore their home white uniforms and batted last as the home team, and the designated hitter was used. In Little League Baseball, the DH is not used. Designated hitter. 50 51 52 Ortiz was also the first designated hitter to win the ALCS MVP in 2004. The designated hitter rule was adopted by the AL in 1973. A team that chooses not to select a DH prior to a game is barred from using a DH for the rest of that game. In high school baseball in South Korea, the rule has been adopted since 2004. In the late 1920s, National League president John Heydler made a number of attempts to introduce a 10th-man designated hitter as a way to speed up the game, and almost convinced National League clubs to agree to try it during spring training in 1929. In January 2016, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred indicated that consideration was given to the National League adopting the DH for the 2017 season, when a new collective bargaining agreement would take effect. In response to increases in American League attendance because of the designated hitter, 30 the National League held a yes no vote on August 13, 1980, to determine whether or not the league would adopt the designated hitter. A player who enters the game in place of the DH -- either as a pinch-hitter or a pinch-runner -- becomes the DH in his team s lineup thereafter. 5 When teams from different leagues play against each other in the Japan Series or interleague games, the DH rule is adopted if the Pacific League s team hosts the game, similar to that of MLB, in that the rules of the home team apply. Major League Baseball rule edit. However, a four-year trial in which the International League and four other minor leagues started using 2 the DH for their games began that year. If the game is played in an American League park, the designated hitter may be used; in a National League park, the pitcher must bat or else be replaced with a pinch-hitter. In college baseball, NCAA rules 76 state that the designated hitter must hit for the pitcher, but in many instances the pitcher is also a good hitter, and the coach may elect to let the pitcher bat in the lineup. It also allows them to give a healthy everyday player a partial day off, or to give an injured player the opportunity to bat without exposing him to re-injury while playing in the field. 6 Cincinnati Reds first baseman Dan Driessen became the first National League player to act as a DH in any capacity regular season or postseason when he was listed as the DH in the first game he was the DH in all four Series games that year.