NO DESIGNATED HITTER IN PECOS LEAGUE

But not in the Pecos League … not since 2011, its first season of operation.The only time a Designated Hitter was used in the Pecos League was in the 2nd half of the 2012 season.But it was removed from 2013 and has never been used since.

The arguments for and against are pretty standard.

Proponents say that it increases offense by taking a (usually) weak-hitting pitcher out of the lineup and provides additional roster flexibility. Managers can rotate the DH role among part-time players or they can employ a full-time designated hitter against all pitchers. It also allows them to give a healthy everyday player a partial day off, or to give an injured player the opportunity to bat without having to play in the field. It also means a player who is a poor fielder and/or old enough that he is no longer effective in the field can extend his career by being a batter only.

Opponents decry the DH because it it removes a certain amount of strategy from the game and makes it less interesting to the avid fan. With a designated hitter, managers don’t have to make decisions about when to pinch-hit for a pitcher or make a double switch. And these are basically the reasons the Pecos League doesn’t use it.

“Some people would rather have the DH,” Commissioner Andrew Dunn said. “Besides putting a better hitter into the lineup, it would limit a pitcher’s exposure to injury, either at the plate or on the bases. But we like the idea of going without it because it makes the managers use strategy more – makes them double-switch more. We had have it when we first started and the only other indy league that did it was the Golden League. The major negative is the scorekeeping is much more difficult.”

Let’s take a few moments and review the debate over the designated hitter, which goes back further than 1973 when the American League first implemented it. Quite far back, actually.

The idea was raised by long-time Philadelphia Athletics manager Connie Mack in 1906 when he supposedly grew tired of seeing his pitchers being almost automatic outs at the plate. The idea didn’t get much support at the time, but it didn’t go away. In the late 1920s, then-National League president John Heydler made multiple attempts to introduce a 10th-man designated hitter as a way to speed up the game, and the idea came close to being tried during National League spring-training games prior to the 1929 season.But real momentum for the DH came in the wake of the pitching dominance of the late 1960s – particularly after 1968, the so-called Year of the Pitcher. After that season, MLB lowered the mounds and made the strike zone smaller. In spring training of 1969, both major leagues agreed to try the designated pinch hitter, but they did not agree on the implementation and most NL teams chose not to participate. That year, though, the rule began a four-year trial in the International League and four other minor leagues. In January 1973, American League owners approved the designated hitter for a three-year trial run. At the time, the National League was better than the American League, and the AL hoped that adding offense through use of the DH would increase fan interest. Indeed, the American League posted a higher batting average that year than the National League, something that has remained consistent to this day, and the AL experienced an increase in attendance. The National League held a vote in 1980 regarding the DH, and the measure was expected to pass. However, when the teams were told the rule would not come into effect until the 1982 season, Philadelphia Phillies vice president Bill Giles didn’t know how the team owner wanted him to vote. Unable to contact him, Giles had to abstain, as did the Pittsburgh general manager, who had been told to vote as the Phillies did. The measure then failed to pass. Not long after that meeting, St. Louis fired its general manager, a leading proponent of the DH, and the National League has not held another vote on the issue. There has continued to be debate, though, and the DH was used in both leagues during the Covid 19-shortened 2020 season. There was talk earlier this year about applying the rule in 2021, but that has yet to occur.Nor has it in the Pecos League.

“I would rather not have it,” said David Peterson, who has played and managed in the league since 2014 and managed Salina in 2020. “I’ve had some experience in leagues that do use it, and it’s easy for the manager to just slot guys in the lineup for 6-7 innings and not make as many pinch-hitting decisions.

“A lot more strategy is involved without the DH,” Peterson added. “It makes the manager think more, and it really changes the dynamics of a game. I double-switch more than most guys do, and that really comes in handy since it means relief pitchers don’t have to hit as often. In four years, I’ve had a reliever bat just once.

“Not having a DH makes you maximize your bench, too, which is important since we have just 22-man rosters and usually only six guys in the bullpen.”

JD Droddy, who has been involved with the league in multiple capacities from the start and is now the league adjudicator, is not a fan of the designated hitter and agrees that not having it adds complexity to the game.

“It’s much more challenging for the manager when there is no DH,” Droddy said. “It makes the manager more relevant during the course of a game.

“Additionally, whether or not you have the DH affects how you construct your roster,” he added. “When I was managing, I tried to recruit pitchers who could hit and position players that could pitch. A starting pitcher might go every fifth or sixth day and, in between, play a couple of games in the field.

“On the teams I managed in 2014 (Trinidad) and 2016 (Tucson), and my go-to pinch hitter both years was a pitcher. In 2014, my very best hitter would also relieve and spot start. In 2016, my second baseman also pitched some. If you can get that sort of versatility, it effectively gives you a 25- or 26-man roster when you only have 22 bodies.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Designated_hitter