# the Designated Hitter

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-designated-hitter/195073>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [August 14, 2003, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-designated-hitter/195073 "2003-08-14T03:24:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Alan\_Owes\_Bess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c37758/32.png) [@Alan\_Owes\_Bess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Owes_Bess)\
**Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-designated-hitter/195073/21 "2003-08-14T14:08:12Z")

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Is the DH like the 12th man?

I think it’s quite humiliating to force them to take out the drinks for morning and afternoon tea, even if they do use a motorised golf cart, these days.

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**Author:** ![dasgupta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@dasgupta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasgupta)\
**Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-designated-hitter/195073/22 "2003-08-14T14:30:40Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Cheesesteak \*  
> \*\*I don’t buy the ‘added strategy’ thing. I think of it more as being forced to deal with having one really crappy hitter on your team and scrambling to not foul up your pitching in the process.
> 
> In other sports, how often do they have whole groups of people performing tasks on the field where they are just no darn good at it? Pitchers batting just seem like fish out of water to me (I usually watch AL games). \*\*

Couldn’t one argue that the DH is just no darn good at throwing the ball?

Besides, playing baseball is about a few basic skills: throwing, running, catching and hitting. In the American League, you’ve got two players on each team that don’t use those most basic of skills.

Of course, the DH has its good side. It (theoretically) gives the NL an advantage, having that much more experience with the strategy around when to pull the pitcher or bat for him. 😉

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**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\
**Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-designated-hitter/195073/23 "2003-08-14T14:35:28Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Cheesesteak \*  
> \*\*I don’t buy the ‘added strategy’ thing. I think of it more as being forced to deal with having one really crappy hitter on your team and scrambling to not foul up your pitching in the process.  
> \*\*

[ul]😛 [sup] **Sure sounds like strategy to me.** [/sup][/ul]

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**Author:** ![PatrickM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7feea3/32.png) [@PatrickM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickM)\
**Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-designated-hitter/195073/24 "2003-08-14T15:38:36Z")

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I’ve grown fond of the DH. It seems to me that in NL games too much alleged strategy revolves around the .115 hitting pitcher. In the NL in the first 5 innings when a runner gets on ahead of the pitcher, the pitcher always bunts. Where’s the strategy in that? After the 6th inning, when a team is behind and the pitcher comes up, he gets pinch-hit for. In the AL, the manager must determine if the pitcher still has his stuff and warrants staying in the game even if behind, in contrast to the NL, where the pinch-hitter for the pitcher and pitching change is essentially automatic.

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