Disclaimer: I hate this subject. I do not like the Designated Hitter – never have. I can go through the reasons, the rationale, the tradition, the motivation, … whatever. Unfortunately, all of that has become irrelevant in this day and age. The NL DH continues to be mulled, discussed, debated, and … yet no movement is taking place to make it a reality.
But I’m going to tell you when the inevitable will happen.
First: the ‘Why’
The argument truly hasn’t even been settled – not on its merits, at least. There has been no task force set up by Major League Baseball headed up by John Schuerholz to go off and study the rule, the implications for strategy in the game, the impact on players… yada, yada.