AussieBoyFan:Actually starting to really enjoy watching games... amazes me because I never thought I could get into Baseball... learning more every day.
Can anyone tell why the American League has DH's and the National doesnt?
(hope I got it round the right way or its gonna look like Ive learnt nothing)
Edit: If Im going to ask questions I may as well get my moneys worth.. lol
What is Adam Dunn considered?..an ok player.. a good player? I only ask coz I have a 1 of 1 card of his and I want to know if its worth anything.
Aussie, here's some interesting info on the DH rule. I'm not sure about Adam Dunn, since I really haven't been paying attention lately.
Background and history
The rationale for the designated hitter rule is that, with a few exceptions — most notably Babe Ruth, who began his career as a pitcher with the Boston Red Sox
— pitchers are usually weak hitters who ordinarily perform once every
four or five games. The designated hitter idea was first floated by Philadelphia Athletics manager Connie Mack in 1906.[9] In the late 1920's, National League president John Heydler
made a number of attempts to introduce a 10th man designated hitter as
a way to speed up the game, and almost convinced National League clubs
to agree to try it during spring training in 1929.[9] However, momentum to implement the DH did not pick up until the pitching dominance of the late 1960’s. In 1968, Denny McLain won 31 games and Bob Gibson had a 1.12 ERA, while Carl Yastrzemski led the American League
in hitting with a .301 average. After the season, the rules were
changed to lower the mound from 15 to 10 inches and change the upper
limit of the strike zone from the top of a batter's shoulders to his
armpits. In addition, in 1969 spring training, both the American League
and National League agreed to try the designated pinch hitter (DPH),
but they did not agree on the implementation. Most NL teams chose not
to participate. On March 6, 1969, two games utilized the new DPH rule
for the very first time. Two newly formed expansion teams, the Montreal Expos and the Kansas City Royals would participate in one such game, and the New York Yankees and Washington Senators
in the other. On March 26, 1969, Major League Baseball nixed the idea
for the time being. Like other experimental baseball rule changes of
the 1960's and 70's, the DH was embraced by Oakland A's owner Charlie O. Finley.
On January 11, 1973, Finley and the other American League owners voted
8-4 to approve the designated hitter for a three-year trial run.[9]
On April 6, 1973, Ron Blomberg
of the New York Yankees became the first designated hitter in Major
League Baseball history, facing Boston Red Sox right-handed pitcher Luis Tiant in his first plate appearance. "Boomer" Blomberg was walked.
Naturally, the result of the first season of the DH was that the
American League posted a higher batting average than the National
League, something which has remained consistent to this day.
The designated hitter offers American League managers two options in
setting their teams' lineups: they can either rotate the role among
players (for example, using a left-handed hitting DH against a
right-handed pitcher and vice-versa) or they can employ a full-time
designated hitter. It also allows them to give a player a partial day
off. The adoption of the designated hitter rule has virtually
eliminated the use of the double switch in the American League.
At first, the DH rule was not applied to the World Series. In 1976,
it was decided the rule would apply to all games, regardless of venue,
but only in even-numbered years. This practice lasted until 1985. The next year, the rule was adapted to its current format of only applying in games played in the American League team's stadium.
Similarly, there was initially no DH in the All-Star Game.
Beginning in 1989, the rule was applied only to games played in
American League stadiums. When this occurs, fans are allowed to select
an AL player to start at that position, while the NL's manager decides
that league's starting DH. When regular season interleague play was introduced in 1997, the rule was, and continues to be, applied in the same fashion. On June 12, 1997, San Francisco Giants outfielder Glenallen Hill became the first National League player to be the DH in a regular-season game against the American League's Texas Rangers at The Ballpark in Arlington, when they met in interleague play. When the Milwaukee Brewers moved from the AL to the NL in 1998,
the Brewers no longer used the DH on a regular basis; thus, as also
usually happens when a minor-league pitcher joins an NL team, their
pitchers needed to take batting practice.
Occasionally National League teams utilize the designated hitter
during spring training games, usually when a player is recovering from
an injury.
In recent years, full-time DHs have become less common, and the
position has been used to give players a partial off-day, allowing them
to bat but rest while the other team is batting. Only a handful of
players compile over 400 at-bats as a DH each year.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Designated_hitter#Background_and_history