Major League Baseball Players Association chief Tony Clark said Tuesday that support for a universal designated hitter rule is increasing among the union’s membership.
“It’s gaining momentum,’’ Clark said during a news conference with members of the Baseball Writers Association of America. “We’ve had a number of discussions about that and we’ll have a lot more.”
This apparently was news to baseball commissioner Rob Manfred, who followed Clark to the stage and threw a wet blanket over the possibility that the National League would adopt the DH rule any time soon.
“I think since I became involved, and this may give too much credit to my deal-making ability, I could have made a deal with the MLPBA on extending the DH to the National League,’’ Manfred said.