April 6, 1973, 50 years ago: A new baseball season begins. In the American League, but not in the National League, a new phenomenon makes its regular-season debut: The designated hitter.
The idea of a player who would be in a game only to bat for the pitcher -- a position whose practitioners had traditionally spent so much time focusing on their craft that they allowed themselves to become terrible hitters -- was first brought up in 1906, by the manager of the Philadelphia Athletics, Connie Mack. His idea went nowhere. In 1929, it was John Heydler, with retroactive irony the President of the National League, who came close to convincing his team owners to try it during Spring Training.
The idea lay dormant until 1968, "The Year of the Pitcher." Batting statistics were so weak that year that attendance fell. Both major leagues figured that increased hitting meant increased attendance, so, for some Spring Training games in 1969, they experimented with what was then called a "designated pinch hitter," or DPH. It was an option, and most AL teams were willing to try it -- but most NL teams were not.
Four minor leagues, including the Class AAA International League, started using it in 1969. With its success, the AL tried it again during Spring Training in 1971. Again, the NL didn't. On January 11, 1973, the AL team owners voted 8-4 to approve it for 3 years, on a trial basis.
The season began on April 6, and, the way things worked out, by a few minutes, the 1st player to be a DH in a regular-season game was Ron Blomberg of the New York Yankees. They opened the season on the road, against their arch-rivals, the Boston Red Sox, at Fenway Park.
A 24-year-old Jewish native of Atlanta, wearing Number 12, and normally a 1st baseman, he came to bat against Luis Tiant in the top of the 1st inning, with the bases loaded and 2 out: Matty Alou had doubled, and Bobby Murcer and Graig Nettles had drawn walks. Blomberg also drew a walk, forcing Alou home. So, while it wasn't an official at-bat, he was awarded a run batted in, and the Yankees took a 1-0 lead.
Matty's brother, Felipe Alou, batted next, and doubled home Murcer and Nettles. (The 3rd Alou brother to make the major leagues, Jesús Alou, never played for the Yankees.) That gave the Yankees a 3-0 lead. But that would be the peak of the game for them. In the bottom of the 1st, Carl Yastrzemski hit a home run off Mel Stottlemyre. In the 2nd, Carlton Fisk hit a home run, and a Nettles error led to a 5-3 Boston lead. Although Nettles would become one of the greatest fielding 3rd basemen of all time, he was off to a difficult start with the Yankees.
In the top of the 3rd, Nettles hit a home run, and Blomberg beat out an infield single. But the Yankee rally stalled. The Sox scored 3 more runs in the bottom of the inning. Fisk hit another home run, a grand slam off Lindy McDaniel, in the bottom of the 4th. Blomberg lined out to 2nd to end the top of the 5th, and flew out to left in the top of the 8th, to end the day 1-for-3 with an RBI.
Orlando Cepeda, the former star 1st baseman for the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals, had been suffering from a bad knee for a few years, and the DH gave him the chance to hit without having to play the field. He had been the 1st player signed specifically to take the function. In spite of his team's win, he did not do well that day, going 0-for-6.
When the damage was done, and the final out was in the books, it was Red Sox 15, Yankees 5. A nice Opening Day for New England; for the New York Tri-State Area, not so much.
Here's how the other original DHs, and their teams, did that day:
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 10-0 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Terry Crowley of the Orioles went 2-for-4. Ollie Brown of the Brewers went 0-for-3. Brooks Robinson, by this point regarded as the greatest 3rd baseman of all time, hit 2 home runs.
* The California Angels beat the Kansas City Royals, 3-2 at Anaheim Stadium. (It's now named Angel Stadium of Anaheim.) For the Royals, Ed Kirkpatrick went 1-for-3. For the Angels, Tommy McCraw went 1-for-4.
However, when Frank Robinson was injured, McCraw was shifted to his position in left field. As a result, the Angels became the 1st team to forfeit the DH, and have their pitcher bat anyway. Nolan Ryan thus became the 1st pitcher who could have had to bat in a game despite having had a DH, although his spot in the order did not come up. He went on to have one of the greatest seasons any pitcher has ever had.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Oakland Athletics, 8-3 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. For the Twins, Tony Oliva went 2-for-4, including the 1st home run by a DH, off Jim "Catfish" Hunter, and 3 RBIs. For the A's, Bill North became the 1st DH to bat leadoff, and went 2-for-5.
*
Ron Blomberg would be the Yankees' main DH for the 1973 and '74 seasons. But injuries ruined his career: He played in only 34 games in 1975, just 1 in 1976, and none in 1977. He enjoyed a brief revival in 1978 with the Chicago White Sox, but that was it. He finished his career with a lifetime batting average of .293.
He continues to identify as a Yankee, and usually returns for Old-Timers' Day. I once saw him hit a home run in an Old-Timers' Game.
On April 7, 1973, the DH debuts continued. The Cleveland Indians beat the Detroit Tigers, 2-1 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Gates Brown of the Tigers and John Ellis of the Indians both went 0-for-4. (Gates was no relation to Ollie Brown, but Ollie was the brother of Pro Football Hall-of-Famer Willie Brown.)
And the Chicago White Sox beat the Texas Rangers, 3-1 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Dick Allen hit a home run for the ChiSox, but he was not their DH. Mike Andrews -- perhaps foreshadowing his difficulties in that season's World Series -- was, and he went 1-for-3. For the Rangers, Rico Carty went 1-for-4.
Ron Blomberg, Orlando Cepeda, Terry Crowley, Tommy McCraw, Tony Oliva, Bill North, Mike Andrews and Rico Carty entered the 2023 season still alive. Ed Kirkpatrick died in 2010, Gates Brown in 2013, Ollie Brown in 2015, and John Ellis in 2022.
Ron Blomberg, throwing out the ceremonial first ball
at the new Yankee Stadium, April 4, 2023
Cepeda was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, but as a 1st baseman. Elected with their main "position" being DH have been Paul Molitor, Edgar Martinez, and, most dubiously of all, the steroid cheat David Ortiz.
*
On the ridiculous "strategy" argument: "Managing in the American League is much more difficult for that reason. In the National League, my situation is dictated for me. If I'm behind in the game, I've got to pinch-hit. I've got to take my pitcher out. In the American League, you have to zero in. You have to know exactly when to take them out of there. In the National League, that's done for you." -- Jim Leyland, current manager of the Detroit Tigers. One of only 4 managers to win Pennants in both leagues.
Not to mention that, prior to 1990 or so, when managers messed things up by making umpteen pitching changes in a game (I call it the Great LaRussification), the DH thus allowed more pitchers to pitch complete games, thus saving your bullpen.
On the "pitchers can throw at guys without fear" argument: "The DH took away the fear of retribution by a pitcher who knowingly threw at a hitter, and allowed the umpire to control the game, instead of the 'unwritten rule' in baseball that left it up to the players to decide when action should be taken." -- Frank Quilici, player-manager for the Twins when the DH came in.
Also, plenty of pitchers were headhunters in the pre-DH days, including Bob Gibson, Don Drysdale, Early Wynn, Allie Reynolds and Sal Maglie. The thought of getting plunked themselves didn't stop them. Come to think of it, Gibson, Drysdale and Wynn were, by pitchers' standards, decent hitters.
And Pedro Martinez hit guys on purpose with the Dodgers and Expos, and now that he's back with the Mets -- when he pitches at all, that is -- he remains the same punk he has always been.
Even Roger Clemens, in his first game at Shea after the Piazza broken-bat incident, stood in there like a man and let Shawn Estes try to throw at him -- and miss -- and hit a double, though he went on to lose the game.
Let's not forget that there's no reason a pitcher whose teammate got hit has to wait for the other team's pitcher to come up. Say Josh Beckett of the Red Sox hits Derek Jeter of the Yankees on purpose. (I know, you've really gotta use your imagination here.) Does this mean the Yankee pitcher has to wait for Beckett to come to the plate -- which will never happen as long as he stays in the AL? Of course not. "You hit my captain, I hit yours." Take that, Jason Varitek. Or, "You hit my marquee player, I hit yours." Take that, David Ortiz. And if the Sox get angry about it, bring it the hell on, and we'll see who's man enough and who's just Manny.
On the "not a complete player" argument: "Any DH can field any position better than any pitcher can hit." -- Steve Lyons. The former outfielder and Fox Sports baseball analyst may have been nicknamed "Psycho," but he's right.
On the "old guys" and "injured guys" argument: Only a fool would rather see a pitcher batting .125 come to the plate instead of a 38-year-old injured fat man batting .225. Anybody who wants to see a pitcher come to the plate is accepting worse than mediocrity: He's accepting inadequacy. And anybody who will accept inadequacy has no credibility.
Every time I see a big-league pitcher come to the plate and strike out, I think, "Hey, (team owner's name)! Pay me a million bucks a year, and I'll play every 5 days and bat .125!"
On the "nine players on a team, not ten" argument: This one is really stupid. It's actually 25 players on a team.
To use the "nine players" argument, that means that not only will you only be able to play the same nine players every day, but can you imagine every pitcher going the entire game? He can't be relieved, since "A baseball team has only nine players!"
And what about the next day? "Batting 8th, the shortstop, Number 35, Mike Mussina, Number 35. And batting 9th, the pitcher, Number 2, Derek Jeter, Number 2." Tomorrow, A-Rod pitches. The next day, Jason Giambi. It's only 9 players, remember?
On the "purity" argument: What about artificial turf? The NL started it with the Astrodome in 1965. From 1982 to '92, and again in '98 and the first half of '99, the AL had 4 out of 14 parks with artificial turf, their all-time peak. From 1971 to '78 -- including the AL's 1st 6 years with the DH -- the NL had the plastic stuff in 7 of 12 parks. More than half.
True, the NL was the first to eliminate the plastic stuff completely, when the Montreal Expos became the Washington Nationals; while the AL, following the opening of the new Minnesota park in 2010, will still have it in the retractable-roof stadium of Toronto and the permanent roof stadium of Tampa Bay (assuming the Rays aren't moved). But the AL isn't the league whose fans were screaming "Purity!" The NL was, and was more than half-plastic in the peak years of DH-hatred.
But, hey, if you really want to have baseball the way it was meant to be played, why stop with junking the DH?
Let's have "real baseball." No artificial turf. No domes. No lights. No electric scoreboards. No foreign-born players. No non-white players. No major league teams south of the Potomac and Ohio Rivers, none west of the Mississippi River except for St. Louis. A distance of just 50 feet from the pitcher's mound to home plate. And only underhand pitching.
In fact, let's bring back the reserve clause. No, let's go back further than that: Let's have only amateur baseball. No pay. And when a player gets hurt, no X-rays. No antibiotics. No whirlpools. No anesthetic. Let's use pre-Civil War medicine. After all, we want baseball to remain pure, don't we?
As the great New York sportscaster Warner Wolf would say, "Come on, give me a break!"
Of course, nobody would want all that. This doesn't quite go all the way back to prehistoric times, but figuring out that changing the above -- including the adoption of the DH -- is so easy, a caveman could do it.
Why, even a Met fan... Well, maybe not. Met fans defy the theory of evolution, anyway.
The DH is good. The DH is right. The DH works. The arguments against it do not. Welcome to the 21st Century. Baseball is a great game, perhaps now more than ever.
Even Roger Clemens, in his first game at Shea after the Piazza broken-bat incident, stood in there like a man and let Shawn Estes try to throw at him -- and miss -- and hit a double, though he went on to lose the game.
Let's not forget that there's no reason a pitcher whose teammate got hit has to wait for the other team's pitcher to come up. Say Josh Beckett of the Red Sox hits Derek Jeter of the Yankees on purpose. (I know, you've really gotta use your imagination here.) Does this mean the Yankee pitcher has to wait for Beckett to come to the plate -- which will never happen as long as he stays in the AL? Of course not. "You hit my captain, I hit yours." Take that, Jason Varitek. Or, "You hit my marquee player, I hit yours." Take that, David Ortiz. And if the Sox get angry about it, bring it the hell on, and we'll see who's man enough and who's just Manny.
On the "not a complete player" argument: "Any DH can field any position better than any pitcher can hit." -- Steve Lyons. The former outfielder and Fox Sports baseball analyst may have been nicknamed "Psycho," but he's right.
On the "old guys" and "injured guys" argument: Only a fool would rather see a pitcher batting .125 come to the plate instead of a 38-year-old injured fat man batting .225. Anybody who wants to see a pitcher come to the plate is accepting worse than mediocrity: He's accepting inadequacy. And anybody who will accept inadequacy has no credibility.
Every time I see a big-league pitcher come to the plate and strike out, I think, "Hey, (team owner's name)! Pay me a million bucks a year, and I'll play every 5 days and bat .125!"
On the "nine players on a team, not ten" argument: This one is really stupid. It's actually 25 players on a team.
To use the "nine players" argument, that means that not only will you only be able to play the same nine players every day, but can you imagine every pitcher going the entire game? He can't be relieved, since "A baseball team has only nine players!"
And what about the next day? "Batting 8th, the shortstop, Number 35, Mike Mussina, Number 35. And batting 9th, the pitcher, Number 2, Derek Jeter, Number 2." Tomorrow, A-Rod pitches. The next day, Jason Giambi. It's only 9 players, remember?
On the "purity" argument: What about artificial turf? The NL started it with the Astrodome in 1965. From 1982 to '92, and again in '98 and the first half of '99, the AL had 4 out of 14 parks with artificial turf, their all-time peak. From 1971 to '78 -- including the AL's 1st 6 years with the DH -- the NL had the plastic stuff in 7 of 12 parks. More than half.
True, the NL was the first to eliminate the plastic stuff completely, when the Montreal Expos became the Washington Nationals; while the AL, following the opening of the new Minnesota park in 2010, will still have it in the retractable-roof stadium of Toronto and the permanent roof stadium of Tampa Bay (assuming the Rays aren't moved). But the AL isn't the league whose fans were screaming "Purity!" The NL was, and was more than half-plastic in the peak years of DH-hatred.
But, hey, if you really want to have baseball the way it was meant to be played, why stop with junking the DH?
Let's have "real baseball." No artificial turf. No domes. No lights. No electric scoreboards. No foreign-born players. No non-white players. No major league teams south of the Potomac and Ohio Rivers, none west of the Mississippi River except for St. Louis. A distance of just 50 feet from the pitcher's mound to home plate. And only underhand pitching.
In fact, let's bring back the reserve clause. No, let's go back further than that: Let's have only amateur baseball. No pay. And when a player gets hurt, no X-rays. No antibiotics. No whirlpools. No anesthetic. Let's use pre-Civil War medicine. After all, we want baseball to remain pure, don't we?
As the great New York sportscaster Warner Wolf would say, "Come on, give me a break!"
Of course, nobody would want all that. This doesn't quite go all the way back to prehistoric times, but figuring out that changing the above -- including the adoption of the DH -- is so easy, a caveman could do it.
Why, even a Met fan... Well, maybe not. Met fans defy the theory of evolution, anyway.
The DH is good. The DH is right. The DH works. The arguments against it do not. Welcome to the 21st Century. Baseball is a great game, perhaps now more than ever.
In 2022, Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred mandated a "universal DH." Now, the National League uses it, too. And, just like when the American League adopted it in 1973, the world didn't come to an end.
In 1973, the AL as a whole had a higher batting average than the NL. That was the case every single season, from 1973 to 2021, including 2020 when, due to COVID instituting travel restrictions and a temporary emergency realignment, both Leagues had to use the DH.
The 2022 season was the 1st with both Leagues using the DH, leaving the Central League in Japan as the last top-flight league, anywhere in the world, not using it. All those people complaining that the DH is "not real baseball" -- well, that argument went out the window 7 years before the DH came, in 1966, when artificial turf was first used. In 2022, for the 1st time in the DH Era, the NL had a higher overall batting average than the AL -- barely: .243 to .242.
But I still hate artificial turf. And domes. And Interleague Play. But I still support the DH, and, aside from updating the names used in this post, I see no reason to change anything I said here.
