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.
“We’ll continue to play by baseball rules,” NL President Chub Feeney famously said back then.
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.
No more Madison Bumgarner taking meaty cuts, no more Max Scherzer trying to end last year’s 0-for-62 slump.