National League: Yes, It Needs the Designated Hitter
The National League is at a disadvantage without the DH.
It is August 13, 1980. The National League is holding a vote to determine the fate of the designated hitter in the league. The crux of the simple majority vote comes down to Philadelphia Phillies Vice President Bill Giles. Giles,who is unsure on how to vote, also holds in his hands the vote of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who have hitched their wagon to the Phillies’s vote. Giles eventually abstains, and the pair of Pennsylvania votes might have given the National League the designated hitter. The St. Louis Cardinals, for the record, voted no. Five days later, Cardinals GM (and DH proponent) John Claiborne was fired.
Sound familiar? Now the Cardinals general manager is John Mozeliak, and he is once again bringing up the issue of the DH. This has not made everyone happy. Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune called the possibility “unnecessary and disappointing” and Michael Brendan Doughtery of the The Week claimed that bringing the DH to the NL would cause baseball to become “a curiously pastoral imitation of the National Football League“.
The designated hitter has not caused the destruction of the American League. If anything, it has brought it a marked advantage. Since the designated hitter’s introduction in 1973, the American League has consistently had the upper hand, and not just in inter-league play.
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The American League’s advantage is most obvious when taking inter-league play. The American League has won more World Series since 1973; the Junior Circuit has 23 Fall Classics compared to the National League’s 19. After the DH was introduced to the All-Star Game in 1989, the American League won the next five ASGs, and have won 20 of 26 since then. The advantage extends to the pace of play as well: according to Golden Gate Sports, the American League had four minutes more “game time” than the National League.
Then there’s the strategy rub. There’s little reason to believe that the designated hitter takes away from the strategy that might exist in the National League to any significant degree from an offensive perspective. The pitchers in the American League know what’s coming. When they’re up on the mound, they expect to face guys that can hit the ball, and plan accordingly. At the end of the day, the National League should expect this as well. Even with double switches and pinch hitters, a pitcher ends up pitching against a guy who actually can hit the ball.
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Yes, there are pitchers that can hit the ball well. But for every Zack Greinke and Madison Bumgarner, there is a Jon Lester. There is a certain novelty to pitchers batting. But its just that: a novelty. It’s a novelty that, frankly, baseball doesn’t need. Baseball is in dire need of offense, and the designated hitter would provide that and it would provide a level footing for both leagues.