One of my better qualities, personally and professionally, is that I can admit when I’m wrong. Expanding the designated hitter to the National League is one recent example. I’m not the type of sports takesman for whom every hill is one to die upon. I won’t defend my point of view to the very end. My mind can be changed, especially in the face of rational arguments and data. The universal DH was a wise development, and I was wrong to oppose it at the time. Why did I change my mind? Keep reading here to find out.
Realizing and then accepting this reality was not easy for me as a diehard Philadelphia Phillies fan. No true Phillies fan can forget how it felt to see Matt Stairs make his legendary 8th inning pinch hit home run against the Dodgers to catapult us to victory in game 4 the 2008 NLCS. Stairs’ slugging paved the way for our first World Series appearance since 1993 and second ever World Series championship. Nonetheless, such massive game-changing contributions rarely happen in reality. I’m not simply talking about the cliche baseball proverb where we regularly vote into the Hall of Fame men who fail 70% of the time.
But let’s be real about who typically was actually grabbing a bat and walking into the batter’s box in these situations. Most pinch hitters are not at the talent level of Whit Merrifield, who this season would be on the starting 9 of about half the teams in MLB. Most pinch hitters, most bench players, most utility guys, and most defensive replacements are reliably nearly automatic outs.
As a trained economist, I know that specialization is good in many contexts, and baseball is no exception. Specialization in baseball is better for hitters, pitchers, and fans. Everyone know the DH in the AL, and now the universal DH, has extended many noteworthy careers. The DH likewise facilitates the specialization of pure hitters who can’t play defense worth a lick, like Kyle Schwarber.
Furthermore, precisely zero other professional leagues, of any major sports, play under vastly different rules between their two conferences. Can you imagine if the NBA Western Conference had no 3-point line? What if the NFL allowed the AFC games to award a 1st down after gaining only 9 yards, while the NFC still required 10 yards for a 1st down? The results would be equal parts laughable and infuriating. In hindsight, using the DH exclusively in the American League was ridiculously absurd.
Finally, the universal DH improves the quality of the game because it saves time for the action that truly entertains fans of baseball. This is especially true when the universal DH is paired with other recent rule changes like the 3 batter minimum for pitchers and the ghost runner in extra innings.
Both philosophically and practically, this question, this debate, comes down to the double switch vs. offensive production. On the one hand, with the double switch we have a sophisticated chess match between managers. On the other hand, with the universal DH we correctly emphasize the skill and performance of the actual players on the field. With the universal DH, we have a level playing field in the perpetual battle of pitcher vs. batter.
Ultimately, the best reason why I changed my mind in favor of the designated hitter in the National League is this. Because all of sports ought to follow this central organizing principle, when one moment will make the difference between defeat or victory, a sports team should use the best available players who give the team the highest chance of success. Michael Jordan played the Flu Game for this reason. Christian Laettner took The Shot for this reason. Mariano Rivera, on the pitching side, was the greatest closer of all time for this reason. In baseball, for this reason, those appropriate hitters are the regular members of the lineup of the starting 9 in the batting order.
Count me now on the right side of history. Count me now on the side of offensive production. Most importantly, count me now consistently on the side of the old sports adage, that when the game is on the line, you put the ball (and in our case the bat) in the hands of your best players. Count me now enthusiastically in favor of the universal designated hitter.
