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Path: utzoo!dciem!jeff
From: jeff@dciem.UUCP (Jeff Richardson)
Newsgroups: net.sport.baseball
Subject: Whither the DH
Message-ID: <1198@dciem.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 8-Nov-84 11:46:03 EST
Article-I.D.: dciem.1198
Posted: Thu Nov  8 11:46:03 1984
Date-Received: Thu, 8-Nov-84 13:22:57 EST
Organization: D.C.I.E.M., Toronto, Canada
Lines: 41

I've just heard that Peter Uberroth (sp?), baseball's new commisioner,
is going to ask us, the fans, whether to keep the AL's designated hitter
rule.  I'd like to know what you netters, both AL and NL fans, think of
his idea.

I like the idea of asking fans to decide what they would like to see,
but there's one important problem in this case.  Most AL teams have
one, and in some cases even two players who are there strictly as DH's
and incapable of playing any other position at the major league level.
Because of the DH rule, AL teams have made acquiring or developing these
players a very high priority, and their short and long range player
development and acquisition philosophies would be completely different
if there was no DH rule.  Eliminating the rule suddenly (I'm not sure
if that's what Uberroth plans if the fans vote against the DH) would put
several years of work down the drain and teams would be forced to scramble
to pick up different types of players.  It's okay to let the fans
decide whether to keep the DH provided, if the fans vote to get
rid of it, the current rule stays in effect for at least three more
years so that the team managements can adjust for the change before it
takes place.

I'd also like to know if there are any other leagues that use the DH
rule.  I am violently opposed to having a DH rule in little league,
because young pitchers should be taught to hit because they won't always
be playing in leagues that have DH's and a lot of them may not even be
pitchers all their baseball lives.  Similarly, young hitters should not be
encouraged to give up fielding.  At the little league level, the pitcher
is often one of the best hitters on the team anyway.  The same argument
could be applied to minor pro leagues, because the more versatile a
player is, the more chances he has to make it to the majors, regardless
of which league the team that owns his rights is in.  The only possible
exception would be the American League teams' AAA farm clubs, because
the AL teams may want to develop their pitchers without burdening them
with having to hit too, or they may want to develop a player as a DH
whose fielding isn't good enough to play at the AAA level.  However,
I believe each AAA league has both AL and NL sponsored teams, so as
long as there are NL sponsored teams in the league, there should be no DH.
-- 
Jeff Richardson, DCIEM, Toronto  (416) 635-2073
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