Let’s hope baseball’s DH plan in the National League is a one-off
● ‘Designated hitter’ proposal goes against the sport’s tradition
Baseball is back. The words that for so long looked like they’d never be said, due to the ongoing battle between millionaires and billionaires, can finally be uttered.
Pre-season will begin on Wednesday when players report for “Spring” training, and there is no time to waste before the immortal words “Play Ball” can be shouted on 23 July.
Back in March, the league management suspended the season with the looming pandemic taking its grip on the globe. But now there is real hope that the campaign, considerably shortened, will resume and in less than three weeks there will be competitive baseball once again.
Baseball is, more so than any other team sport, a marathon which typically takes places between the last week of March and the last week of October, with each team playing 162 regular-season games.
This year there will be a 60-game regular season reportedly starting with current World Series champions Washington Nationals taking on the New York Yankees, before the play-offs begin on 29 September.
Never has an opening day been needed this much, and never has baseball been in such a precarious position – as I wrote about in my column of 2 June, a salary dispute has been rumbling and the sport has appeared on the wane.
One of the most significant decisions that has been made is not to go with a “bubble city” for the teams as the NBA, NHL and MLS have chosen to. This could present issues given that different states have different quarantine rules, not to mention the fact that Toronto is in a different country.
The shortened season officially started on Friday as Major League Baseball lifted the trade restrictions, although so far no trades have been made.
Teams will also start the campaign with an expanded roster of 30 players, up from 25, although an increase to 26 was already planned. The 30 will be reduced incrementally over the first month of the season, first to 28 and then to the newly agreed 26.
As well as the active roster, teams will be allowed to travel with three “taxi squad” players, in case any injuries or diagnosis are received while they are away from home.
On the diamond there are two significant changes: the enforced Designated Hitter, and in any extra innings teams will start with a runner on second base.
Baseball doesn’t have a system in place for a draw. In a fixture between the Mets and Cardinals in 2010, the winner was decided in the 20th inning after nearly seven hours of play. The hope is that by starting with a runner in a scoring position, any extra innings will be shortened with just one hit potentially bringing the player home.
The other rule change is to enforce the Designated Hitter on National League teams, who have always stuck with the traditional rules of the game where a pitcher takes at-bats.
The Designated Hitter, or DH in its shortened form, was introduced to the American League in 1973 after a vote by teams. The rule means a team can select a ninth batter and that the pitcher, often the weakest hitter on a team due to the specialised nature of their position, doesn’t step up to the plate.
Since its induction the American League teams have posted higher batting averages and attendances, although the National League never followed the move despite a vote in 1980.
Baseball purists are against the DH – they feel that in its best format baseball is nine against nine, with the pitcher being an essential part of both the defensive and offensive side of the ball.
I fear that MLB will use this anomaly of a season to slide the rule in the back door. The idea that it increases offensive output is undisputed, but the games that draw the most attention aren’t the high-scoring ones but potential perfect games from pitchers.
Major League commissioner Rob Manfred has fought the introduction of technology, battled with teams using it to cheat as he states he wants to stick to the traditional values of baseball. Well, Rob, if that is genuinely the case it’s time to step up and show us with a promise that the DH won’t be in place in the National League next season.
“Baseball purists are against the DH – they feel that in its best format baseball is nine against nine, with the pitcher being an essential part of both the defensive and offensive side of the ball”