Ron Blomberg Becames First Designated Hitter (4/6/1973)

By Patrick Mondout

On April 6, 1973, Ron Blomberg of the Yankees became the first designated hitter (DH) when he went to bat in the first regular season game played under the controversial new rule.

But before we get the specifics of that game, I will provide a little background into the development of the rule. In the 1960s, pitching started to dominate hitting. It got so bad that in 1968 Carl Yastrzemski led the American League in hitting with .301 average and Bob Gibson managed a miniscule 1.12 ERA. The major leagues made changes to address the imbalance between pitching and hitting, but another issue was that pitchers were batting near an all time low.

To help combat this problem, the International League adopted the DH in 1969. They saw strikeouts from the pitcher's spot drop from 1173 to 628, batting average rise to .261 from .160, and the number of homers increase from 24 to 108. George Sisler, president of the Rochester club, reported that fans "overwhelmingly liked it." Although many purists and old-timers objected, the system was considered a success and discussions soon began about making the change in the major leagues.

The year before the change, the American league reported that eight of 12 teams lost money. Offense has always been seen by owners as a cure for a lack of fan interest. The National League, on the other hand, had all those new cookie-cutter stadiums and was not hurting for revenue. (The NL outdrew the AL by some 30 million over the previous decade!)

The National League owners flat out refused to change, but the American League eventually got baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn to agree to let it go ahead alone. On January 11, 1973, the American League approved the Designated Hitter (DH) rule on a three year trial basis. "As I see it," said Kuhn, "the effect of this rule will be to improve hitting and give us the classic balance between hitting and pitching. The National did not want the rule. I believed a change would be good for hitting, and that's why I felt a compromise was best."

Actually, the American League showed restraint in only approving the DH at the January meeting. According to AL President Joe Cronin, they considered much more serious changes to the game: "In fact, when we adopted the designed hitter rule in Chicago we also considered the idea of designated runners. But we decided it would be best to move one step at a time."

Not everyone in the AL was happy with the new rule. Tigers manager Billy Martin said, "If [Kuhn] thinks this will help baseball then he ought to go back to his law office." Angles manager Bobby Winkles curiously added "This creates a very tough problem for the manager. We'll have to make the guy batting last feel as if he doesn't have to walk to the plate with a towel over his head."

Some managers suggested the new rule would result in more complete games due to pitchers not being taken out for a pinch hitter. "Our pitchers had 62 complete games last year. If this rule had been in effect, we might have had 100 complete games. The fact that we didn't score much meant that the starter had to come out when we're being 1-0 or 2-1," said Orioles skipper Earl Weaver. (For the record, Weaver's O's recorded 67 complete games in 1973 and the American League finished with 614, or more than 100 more than in 1972.)

Bobby Winkles went so far as to say "I have to think the relief pitchers won't be used as frequently. Most clubs will go with eight pitchers." A's reliever Rollie Fingers added, "The guy that will be eliminated are the long men. Most clubs won't keep the type pitcher that was used only when the starter got knocked out early."

Future pitching coach Dave Duncan saw it differently, and with the benefit of hindsight, correctly: "I think starting pitchers will come out quicker and you'll see more of the relief pitchers. In the past, a manager whose pitcher was due up in the next inning might wait an inning before changing pitchers because he wouldn't want to immediately pinch-hit for the new pitcher. Now there's no need to tie a pitching change to a pitcher's at bat."

Pitcher's reactions were mixed. Some felt they would miss batting while others thought it would help them focus on pitching. "It robs the pitcher of his manhood," suggest Phillie Dick Selma. "I'll be able to stay strong because I won't have to run the basses. I pitch a lot of innings and the added rest is going to help," said Tiger ace Mickey Lolich. Nolan Ryan agreed but pointed out that "you're going to need the added strength because you'll be facing tougher lineups. There are no easy spots now. You'll have to bear down against all nine hitters."

There was also the question of whether or not AL pitchers would feel restraint regarding beanballs given that they would not have to come up to bat. "What does the pitcher care?" asked former Cub Ron Santo. "He doesn't have to come to the plate and take his medicine." Hank Aaron added, "That league is going to wind up with a bunch of headhunters."

Orioles pitcher Dave McNally disagreed: "If I hit somebody and they think it's deliberate, they'll come back and take a shot at our best hitter. Nobody wants to open that can of worms."

With spring training just a few months away, teams needed to decide how they were going to use the DH and what personnel changes that might make. Though he apparently didn't act on it, Red Sox director of player personnel Roland Hemond had the most interesting idea: "I thought about two things when I learned about the rule. Where's Ted Williams and how old is Mickey Mantle? In the case of Williams, it might be stretching it a bit, but Mantle isn't 40 years old as yet and I'm sure he can hit."

The Red Sox did not sign either Williams or Mantle, but they did make the first signing of a player that specifically signed to play DH. Just a week after the rule change, the Red Sox announced the signing of 35-year-old Orlando Cepeda. "I think it's going to be good for baseball. Every time the [DH] comes to the plate now people won't go to the restroom or go for a sandwich," said Cepeda. "With the new rule they'll stay in their seats."

Cepeda opened the season as Boston's DH and competed in the first regular season game under the new rules.

Blomberg Walks Into Baseball History

While the scheduling of the Boston/Yankees game on opening day pretty much ensured that either a Yankee or Red Sox DH would be the first to get an at-bat, the selection of Blomberg was a bit of a surprise as he had not played at the position throughout spring training. But when Yankees skipper Ralph Houk turned in lineup card on opening day, the 24 year old former first round pick was batting sixth as the team's DH while the assumed DH, 38 year old Felipe Alou, was at first base. (Boxscore)

At 1:53 p.m. in Boston and with two out and the bases loaded in the top of the first, Luis Tiant walked Blomberg scoring Felipe's brother Matty from third. A new era of offensive (or offensive - if you were an purist) baseball was upon us.

One side effect of the rule change is that it has allowed certain players to pad their statistics after their ability to play in the field has left them. Hank Aaron, for instance, hit his last 22 homers as the Brewers' DH in 1975 and '76. Ironically, he wasn't in favor of the rule in early 1973:

"...I just can't see a player going to bat, walking to the clubhouse for a cup of coffee and going to bat again when it's his turn. Me, if I strike out with the bases loaded and two outs, I want to be able to try to redeem myself with a big play in the field."

AARP and DH

Though the rule allowed fans to see old favorites who could no longer play in the field, we are sure no one anticipated who White Sox owner Bill Veeck (as in wreck) would employ at DH in 1976. Veeck signed 50 year old Minnie Minoso, who had previously retired in 1964 after batting under .230 for the third straight season, as a DH for three games. (He went a respectable 1 for 8 with two strikeouts.)

Neither Minoso nor Veeck had pulled their last stunt, however. Minoso was brought back in 1980 for a pair of unsuccessful pinch-hitting appearances, which allowed him to become the first player to appear in a Major League game in five different decades (his debut was with the Cleveland Indians in 1949).

Over the first 25 years of the rule, not many made careers of playing nearly exclusively at designated hitter. By the mid-Awesome80s, the image of the DH was that of an ageing ballplayer who was at least slightly overweight, who probably had lost a step, and probably had questionable defensive skills to begin with but was now a real liability. Harold Baines in 1987 did not look the part when at age 28 he became the White Sox primary DH. But Baines settled into the role and appeared in the field in less than 100 games over the next 14 seasons putting up numbers (2866 hits, 384 homers, 1628 RBIs) that nearly made him worthy of the Hall of Fame.

Edgar Martinez and Harold Baines: Two of the best designated hitters of the 20th Century. Photo by Lou Saurich/©BaseballChronology.com.

Edgar Martinez came up as a third baseman, but a nasty fall during a pre-season exhibition game in Vancouver (on an unsuitably slick field) rendered him pretty much a full-time DH for the rest of his career. Martinez eventually became the first DH to win a batting title and he was so well-liked that when he retired, there was even talk that he might make the Hall. But it seems very unlikely considering he only had 2247 hits, 309 homers, and just 1261 RBIs.

Arthur Daley of the New York Times wrote an interesting article two months before Blomberg made history mentioning a number of old-timers who could hit but not field who might have had great careers if the DH had existed in their time. Most interesting is the last paragraph where he makes a prediction about future full-time DHs:

"But the ones who are exalted figures in the Hall of Fame are the ones who could do it all. It's a cinch no designated hitter will ever make it to Cooperstown."

And so far, he is correct.