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When did the DH rule begin in the American League? and Why?
i was just wondering why they decided to have a Desognated Hitter in the American League only? and when did this start?
Hey if you got facebook join my new group about this subject!!
3 Answers
- the_meadowlanderLv 41 decade agoFavorite Answer
At the time, baseball in general but the American league in particular was in a slump attendance wise. The quality of players in the AL lagged far behind the National league, esp. since the collapse of the powerhouse Yankee teams. It was thought that more hitting would attract more fans and older National league stars who couldn't play the field anymore could help with attendance in AL parks. The NL always considered themselves baseball purists and rejected the DH as not real baseball. The AL was always more open to gimmicks; see Bill Veeck.
Source(s): First DH was Ron Bloomberg, NY Yankees 1973 - 1 decade ago
The first official DH at-bat was on April 6,1973, with Ron Blomberg hitting in the DH spot for the Yankees. Not sure why only the AL uses the rule, maybe because it was officially introduced by the manager of the A's at the time, and only the American League owners voted about the rule...
- 1 decade ago
1962.
Since the pitchers couldn't hit, they came up with a rule from the AL to have people replace pitchers in batting but they wouldn't have to replace a pitcher like a pinch hitter.
