Half-Century Holdout Over, DH Comes To National League
Mar 12, 2022, 6:39 PM
The Opening Day stencil is seen behind home plate during a media availability at Fenway Park on March 30, 2021 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Kathryn Riley/Getty Images)
(Photo by Kathryn Riley/Getty Images)
PHOENIX (AP) — It was an impressive holdout for the National League, which made it nearly 50 years staving off a full-time designated hitter rule that the American League implemented before the 1973 season.
New CBA Officially Introduces Universal Designated Hitter https://t.co/fmjSBNotUF pic.twitter.com/ytH1PtyA1b
— MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) March 10, 2022
Well, the rules have finally changed.
Among the most noticeable switches in MLB for the 2022 season will be that all 30 teams will use the designated hitter, eliminating pitchers hitting and changing one of the long-standing different quirks between the two leagues.
RELATED STORIES
The extra hitter won’t be a completely new concept in the NL: The league used the DH in the coronavirus-shortened season in 2020, in interleague games when visiting AL parks and in the postseason.
