With the announcement that Bud Selig will step down as commissioner in 2012 comes hope for eradication of the designated hitter. False hope, in all likelihood, but things of this nature are fun to dream on. With that, allow me to offer up a proposal to baseball neotraditionalists everywhere.
* No DH will be employed in its traditional conception, American or National League.
** That said, the rules must be homogenized. Convincing arguments have been made (particularly by the good folks at Baseball Prospectus) that the DH not only has engendered a talent disparity between the leagues but, correspondingly, a payroll disparity as well. Quality bats are expensive, and as a direct repercussion of necessity-driven payroll augmentation American League lineups are more potent. This dramatic difference between leagues/conferences is a phenomenon that is exclusive to baseball, and it is completely ridiculous. As such, the following proposal applies to AL and NL alike.
*** Once per game, each team will be allowed to deploy a designated hitter to bat for the starting pitcher. This would not require the pitcher be removed from the contest, nor would it remove the designated hitter from being eligible to enter the game as a pinch-hitter or defensive substitute later in the game. Such an action would only be allowed for the starting pitcher, as to not significantly reduce strategy classically associated with N.L. bullpen management. Long live the double switch!
No more.
As a coda, Commissioner Bombykol will--if elected--be adopting the (slightly modified) Bill James proposal limiting throws over to first to one per batter, and four per inning. Any further pick-off attempts will result in an unconditional "ball" being added to the count. Additionally, time between innings will be reduced to 60 seconds, and only one mid-inning pitching change will be allowed per game. Further, this pitching change will only be allowed if the current pitcher (a) started the game, or (b) has allowed a run, or three baserunners to reach base during his outing.
Sacrifice bunts will no longer be an official statistic, and will be scored as simple put-outs. This makes more sense than the current convention, as significant statistical evidence has demonstrated that sacrifice bunts confer no advantage (except to the defense/pitcher). Also, N.O.B.s will be eliminated for all home teams, the Toronto Blue Jays will be forced to re-adopt their old insignia and color scheme, slotting will be eliminated in favor of a draftee salary scale, Ned Colletti will be forced to donate $1,000 to charity for every HR hit by Carlos Santana for the remainder of his Cleveland tenure, the Oakland Coliseum will be demolished and Milton Bradley will be barred from the competitive play.
So let it be written. So let it be done.
