Iconic baseball stat guru Bill James once wrote about Steve Balboni: “Born to DH.”
The lumbering slugger from the Kansas City Royals was the quintessential poster boy for the designated hitter position in the American League order — he could hit but was a liability on the field.
For most of my life, I’ve been an opponent of the DH. Why should the pitcher not get to hit? He’s a position just like the other eight on the field. What makes him so special that he sits on the bench and gets subbed for at the plate? The designated hitter takes away from the strategy of the game. There are a handful of capable-hitting pitchers. It’s fun to see them get that hit from the No. 9 spot in the order.
After years of being on this side, I’ve caved. The National League will use the DH in the 60-game regular season starting next week, and it doesn’t seem to bother me.
As the character Peter Gibbons said in the comedy Office Space — “It’s not that I’m lazy. It’s just that I don’t care.”
OK, I care a bit but not enough to ignore the colossal evidence on the other side.
The DH is used in every level of baseball from youth to high school to college to the minor leagues. It’s the National League that’s behind the times rather than the other way around.
Plus, good-hitting pitchers are harder to find than a magic marker during an SAT test.
Madison Bumgarner, one of the more capable pitchers with a bat, hit .127 last season. The year before, he hit .159. For his career, he’s a .177 hitter. Yes, it’s fun to see the big guy take some hacks. I imagine he’ll get some pinch-hitting appearances every now and then.
As time has gone on, it seems like most pitchers are just not putting in the necessary work in the batting cage. Let’s face it — a pitcher hitting well at the plate does not move the needle during arbitration hearings. No one uses the argument when signing a pitcher in free agency.
No one buys a ticket to a baseball game to see a pitcher hit.
With the “opener” being used more on staffs and starting pitchers’ innings dwindling, the strategy aspect for field managers is dwindling.
It’s my guess that the DH will eventually become universal.
Major League Baseball’s next labor fight will continue in December and the DH is probably one of the few areas the two sides can agree on. If it’s a small step toward labor peace, then I’m all for it.
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In mid-June, the California Interscholastic Federation said it likely would make a decision regarding fall sports in July. Judgment Day could be Monday and it’s not looking good.
Last week, community colleges in California agreed to move all sports to the 2021 calendar year. In the NCAA, conferences like the Pac-12 agreed to drop all nonconference football games. For schools like USC and Oregon that means no embarrassing losses to Alabama and Ohio State, respectively. (But that’s for a different column).
Bay Area News Group reported that California added another 9,088 coronavirus cases on Wednesday, raising its seven-day average to 8,864 new cases per day.
With many school districts across the state choosing more distance learning this fall, do you think schools are willing to risk students’ health for a full-contact sport like football?
There are sports like golf and tennis that could play in the fall but if students aren’t on campus, I don’t see district officials making exceptions.
The CIF is willing to try an “alternate calendar” if fall sports are not able to be played on time. That could fall into the community college model. Even then, that would mean that sports could only resume if 1. a vaccine is available by 2021 and 2. the state has brought down the curve significantly.
One of the most astute quotes from any athlete so far came from Nationals pitcher Sean Doolittle:
“Sports are the reward of a functioning society.”
So true.
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O’Donnell: The designated hitter is now inevitable so just accept it - Vallejo Times-Herald
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