Strict Rules Of Baseball

Baseball is America’s favorite pastime; It is the first professional sport established in the United States, it has been one of the most attended sports, and it is advertised everywhere by clothes, commercials, and broadcasting. The various positions in baseball make it easier for players to become professional if they specialize. In traditional rules of baseball, all nine players on the field should have to hit. Designated hitters should be apart of both the American League and the National League in order to benefit the players, the fans, and the game of baseball in general. The designated hitter rule was established in 1973. “The designated hitter rule allows teams to use another player to bat in place of the pitcher” (“What Is a Designated

The designated hitter rule is what creates the difference in the American League and the National League. When interleague play occurs, the rules of the game apply for whatever league team is home. For the away team, this makes the game more difficult because they have to adjust to the different style of play. For example, the National League teams have to decide if they want to take extra hitters to be designated hitters, and the American League teams have to consider their normal designated hitter only batting one time a game as a pinch-hitter. These complications cause teams from both leagues to have to change their strategy, or lineup, several times throughout each month (Simpson

Adding a designated hitter to both leagues would take away the traditional rules of baseball. When baseball was first established, there were nine field players and the same nine players batted. Establishing a designated hitter changes the dynamics of the traditional game. Some people claim having a designated hitter diminishes the competitiveness of the game. Even though the dynamics are changed, the game is still competitive. Another counterargument is pitchers are paid a fair amount of money. With that amount of money, many people think pitchers should be demanded to hit. Along with pitchers, the designated hitters are paid a tremendous amount of money to just hit. Even though these claims are accurate, the players are being paid based on their skill performance of their craft. Another negative effect of designated hitters is it persuades them to join a team in the American League. The older, better hitters will look to play in the American League because the players will be able to play longer becoming a designated hitter. This allows for many of the American League teams to acquire exceptional hitters easily making the leagues unbalanced. If a designated hitter was applied in both leagues, the players would not base their decisions because of field play