All Bat, No Glove: A History of the Designated Hitter [Illustrated] [Paperback]

G. Richard McKelvey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2004

The basic elements of baseball remain essentially the same as they were when the first professional game was played in the 1870s. Changes in this sport—when they come—come slowly. In 1973, one of baseball’s most drastic changes was legislated: American League owners voted to add one player to the traditional nine-man line-up, creating a "10-man game" in which a designated hitter (or DH) had a regular spot in the batting order, and he or a replacement for him batted for his club’s pitcher(s) throughout the game. This change to baseball rules was approved in the hopes that DH’s would provide a spark for the AL’s sagging offenses; an explosion in hits, homers and runs would draw more people to their ballparks and enable their clubs to surpass the National League in the annual attendance race.

This work offers a fascinating exploration of the history and place of the designated hitter in the major leagues.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

G. Richard McKelvey, chairman of the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Deerfield Academy (Massachusetts), has coached the Deerfield baseball and basketball teams for the past 27 years. He is the author of For It’s One, Two, Three, Four Strikes You’re Out at the Owners’ Ball Game (2001), The Bounce: Baseball Teams’ Great Falls and Comebacks (2001), The MacPhails (2000) and Fisk’s Homer, Willie’s Catch and the Shot Heard Round the World (1998).

Product Details

• Paperback: 213 pages
• Publisher: Mcfarland & Co Inc Pub (September 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 078641944X
• ISBN-13: 978-0786419449
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,648,293 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Designated Hitter Rule 6.10 and baseball preference, September 19, 2006

By 

Russell Brewer (Easley, SC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: All Bat, No Glove: A History of the Designated Hitter (Paperback)

If you are a National League fan, you prefer a pitcher batting "helping his own cause." If you are an American League fan, you enjoy having a designated hitter batting anywhere in the lineup for the pitcher without removing that pitcher and subsequent pitchers from the game. However, the DH is not mandatory as stated in the third paragraph in part (b) of Rule 6.10. I am a baseball fan so having a Designated Hitter doesnt matter to me or not. I feel the same intensity when the Yankees and Red Sox play together as I do when the Mets and Braves play without a DH. I am not for or against the DH because it has helped bring more fans into the game with increased offense while keeping pitchers in longer without pinch-hitting. However, it has increased team ERAs and pitchers' ERAs. NL fans say that the DH decreases strategy such as whether pinch-hitting for pitchers late in a game or not and double switches along with moving a pitcher to a defensive position for one batter and back to the mound, etc. There are strategies with the DH that are unique to the AL such as putting a leadoff man in the top of the lineup and at the end of the lineup, but this can be done in NL too by putting the Pitcher in the 8th spot or higher and having two leadoff hitters back-to-back. (Remember Tony La Russa doing this in 1998 to help Mark McGwire hit with men on base instead of getting an IBB with 1st base open). I could go on and on all day about the controversy of the Designated Hitter. In conclusion, I say that let the best hitters face the best pitchers when the game is on the line. Let the players decide the game on the field. If a pitcher can hit for himself without compromising the offense and other defensive players in the lineup can sacrifice bunt, hit behind the runner, and the other eight defensive guys can be used interchangably, then why do you need a DH? On the other hand, if a pitcher isnt too good at the plate and there is a player who is bad in the field, why not use a DH.

Two things I would like seen done are having a DH bat in all All-Star games and have the NL institute the DH as a part of its system but go by the 3rd paragraph in part (b) in Rule 6.10 to avoid using the DH unless there are interleague games, etc.