To many fans of National League teams, the mere mention of the Designated Hitter will elicit responses of “I hate the DH” or “That’s not REAL baseball” or perhaps my personal favorite “That’s why I only follow the NL.”  Not exactly sure what kind of baseball fan intentionally neglects half of the Major Leagues, but that’s another story for another time.  Nevertheless, the DH is one of the most contentious and hotly debated aspects of the game, and it is not going away any time soon.

SI’s Tom Verducci reported from an unnamed baseball official last week that the NL would adopt the DH within the next 10 years.  The article notes that this development could come as a by product of a much bigger shift in the game, geographical realignment.  The idea being, the identity of the AL and NL would be nonexistent, therefore a uniform set of rules would be put into place.  I don’t mind the idea of adding the DH to the NL, but I despise the idea of geographical realignment.

This report though got me thinking about all the discussions I have had with many of the baseball fans I know.  Being in the San Francisco Bay Area, most of those fans are Giants fans who are exactly the kind of people who would say the responses I noted earlier.

So where do I stand on this issue?  I am 100% pro DH.  Why? Well I’m glad you asked, let me enlighten you.

The most common response I get from people whenever the DH comes up is that the pitcher is on the field, therefore he should bat.  I understand that in theory this makes him accountable for perhaps brushing a guy back for crowding the plate, since the pitcher himself would have to step in there shortly after.  I don’t think the game has much of an issue with players being able to police themselves, besides if a batter has a real problem with what the pitcher is doing, the mound is only 60 feet 6 inches away if you know what I mean.

I personally don’t understand why people so desperately want to see a guy who more than likely has a career average in the .100’s and hasn’t hit regularly since high school or college step into the box.  Yes, the pitcher’s spot in the order forces the manager to shuffle his position players around to prevent that automatic out, I picture NL fans applauding and high -fiving each other every time the manager goes to the home plate umpire to make a double switch.  Verducci himself raves about Game 6 of the 2011 World Series because Ron Washington used 9 guys in the number 9 spot in the order.  I’m pretty sure it was the Rangers being a strike away from winning it all, twice, and David Freese’s heroics that made that game a classic, but maybe I’m the crazy one.

For every bit of lineup shuffling that DH haters cite as their reasons for their hatred, I cite the bullpen shuffling that is necessary for facing a full lineup of hitters.  When a team is facing the Boston Red Sox, I am willing to bet that the opposing manager is just as concerned about how he is going to navigate through that lineup with David Ortiz settled in the middle, than that same manager would be about the pitcher’s spot during an inter league series in an NL park.  Just because the chess match is in a different aspect of the game, doesn’t make it any less strategic.

The fact that the DH keeps some of the greatest hitters active a little longer is a nice bonus.  Guys like Manny Ramirez, Vladimir Guerrero, Frank Thomas, Hideki Matsui, and David Ortiz are able to prolong their careers when perhaps their bodies won’t allow them to endure the grind of playing in the field everyday.  I can’t imagine what the league would be like if suddenly so many players had to retire 5 years premature because they can’t field their positions like they used to.  It’s rare that a player can keep up defensively into his late 30’s or even his 40’s, because, you know, not everyone has Barry Bonds’ “ability.”