As of Thursday morning, there’s no Major League Baseball deal to return in 2020. But there are reports that part of the league’s offer to players to help with returning to play is this: universal DH for 2020 and 2021.
That possibly means we’re heading towards the designated hitter forever. Although I initially side with baseball purists with some love for the intricacies of the National League, I’m immediately swayed by one thing: more dingers.
More home runs are better for everyone involved. And more hitters mean more home runs.
Taters are better than double switches, than well-executed sac bunts and even better than the occasional pitcher hitting one out. Bartolo Colon’s home run was easily one of the greatest moments in baseball over the past 10 years — don’t @ me, you know I’m right — but that was a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence that wouldn’t be as awesome with another pitcher involved.
As we’ve detailed so many times, the sport of baseball is in trouble. Other leagues have surpassed it in popularity and younger fans gravitate toward them. If the game wants any chance of survival in the future, it’s going to need every innovation to keep itself alive and thriving.
The home run is the best play in baseball. More home runs can’t hurt. The fact that 2019 saw the most homers hit in MLB history wasn’t a negative thing. Although the purists are right that the differences between the style of play in the National and American Leagues are part of what make the game great, it doesn’t matter. This is for the good of the future of the game.
So let it go. Embrace the designated hitter. Love the designated hitter. Because it can only help the entire sport.
