When did the designated hitter in Major League Baseball start?

Answer 1

Both leagues experimented with the rule in 1969, but only the American League decided to adopt it, in 1973. The American League's thinking was that pitching was too strong, and hitting had become moribund--in 1968 Bob Gibson had an ERA of 1.12, and Carl Yastrzemski hit .301--the only batter in either league to average .300. The owners wanted to add more offense to the game, for the usual reason--they thought the fans wanted more hits and more home runs. The National League decided it was more in the spirit of the game for all players to play both in the field and at the plate, so they never adopted the DH rule. I'm more in sympathy with the NL, myself. Also, there's no real evidence that the DH really increased overall offense. Only one DH has ever won the home run title (Jim Rice) and only one DH has ever won the batting title (Edgar Martinez.)

Answer 2

To improve offense, increase scoring, and generally to make the fans more interested in the game.

The pitchers spend most of their practice time working on delivery, not hitting. So their at-bats were becoming somewhat embarassing. The American League adopted the rule, around 1973, that they could have a batter "designated" to take the place of the Pitcher. Traditionally, if someone else bats for you, you're out of the game. So, they have this "designated hitter" go up in the place of the pitcher, and he's likely more offensively inclined, and the pitcher gets to sit back and watch his team rack up the runs.

(Maybe not every day, but that's the general idea.)

Actually,it was for a # of reasons. 1)To save wear and tear on the pitchers body from swinging at pitches,and possibly getting injured while running on the bases,2)to save the pitchers stamina,3)pitchers were notoriously bad hitters,4)to keep pitchers from intentionally throwing at opposing pitchers.

Answer 3

The American League introduced the DH in 1973.

Answer 4

On April 6, 1973, Ron Blomberg of the Yankees became the first designated hitter in Major League Baseball history, against Red Sox right-hander Luis Tiant. He walked.