I believe in the designated hitter

Two years ago, I read and blogged about This I Believe, saying that I would create my own personal belief statement at some point. (Editor's Note: The fact that this was two years ago is a little unsettling. That's a long time.) My belief statement just came to me one day recently, but is founded on years of experience and knowledge. It's something that I didn't really figure passed as a personal belief statement, but hey, I write about what I want.

I believe in the designated hitter.

The game of baseball is America's pastime. Children grow up playing it throughout Little League, high school, college, and for the lucky few, the professionals. The game has purists, radicals, and more recently, sabermetricians. I've taken pride in my meager status as a member of the latter category, but for now, I shed (most of) my statistical background in favor of the game itself.

This is one spot in the batting order of a 20-inning game.

To be clear, this isn't an argument for higher scores. Sure, the designated hitter means more scoring (home runs, specifically), but the reason that I'm all for having the DH in both the American and National Leagues is for the pitching. For anyone who thinks I just contradicted myself, consider this - having a designated hitter means that the pitcher never has to bat. Pitchers will like this. Some pitchers might even like it more than they would dislike having to face another non-pitcher batter. Pitchers also get to stay in the game longer, which they will also like. Having a pitcher removed in the 6th inning of a close game in favor of someone off the bench is the first of many managerial moves that would not need to be made. With the DH, pitchers stay in the game, the bullpens are used more effectively, and there is ultimately less confusion for anyone trying to keep up with the game. Box scores would be considerably cleaner.

On top of the game itself becoming more efficient, the uniformity that would ensue would also be good for the game. There would be no talks of American League teams losing their DH when traveling to a National League park. (That is, David Ortiz would never have to play first.) No talks of National League teams picking up a DH when playing in AL parks. The World Series wouldn't have to deal with this, interleague play wouldn't have to deal with this, and the circus that is the MLB All-Star Game wouldn't have to deal with this. (The All-Star Game has enough problems to worry about.)

And sure, let's talk about what the average fan wants. Because if nothing else, the average fan can probably be tricked into thinking that she or he has seen an exciting baseball game, when that really depends on what kind of baseball you enjoy. The majority of fans seem to enjoy higher-scoring games - more of us dreamed of hitting the World Series-ending home run, instead of striking out the last batter of Game 7 to win. Having a DH permanently would increase scoring in the long run, and would not change the game too dramatically. When all things are considered, having the designated hitter in both the American and National League just makes sense for baseball. And yet, only one of the leagues has had the DH, now in its 30th year. It just doesn't always work out like it should, but that shouldn't stop anyone from what they believe.