After a week’s delay, it’s opening day.
New for 2022, all teams will have the option to use a designated hitter. The National League modified its rules to match the American League.
Since its inception, I have opposed the designated hitter for two reasons. 1) Real baseball requires all players in the field to bat. 2) Why can the designated hitter only be used for the pitcher? What if a team has a weak-hitting shortstop? The American League only assumed pitchers could not hit.
Well, I have to accept that the designated hitter is here to stay. How about a better idea? I’ll call it “Extra Hitter.” Here is how it would work:
- A team would have nine position players in the field and the batting order.
- A tenth player, called “Extra Hitter,” may share a spot in the batting order with a position player. A team may remove its extra hitter from the game without being replaced.
- When the shared spot in the batting is up to bat, a team may use either the extra hitter or position player. If the team uses its extra hitter, they may not use the position player again until the end of the inning, the extra hitter is put out, or the extra hitter scores. If the position player starts the at-bat, the extra hitter may replace the position player at the plate or as a baserunner. The use of the extra hitter does not remove the position player from the game.
- If the extra hitter takes a position in the field for defense, the position player will be removed from the game.
- As long as the extra hitter is not on base, a new spot in the batting order may be assigned an extra hitter along with a position player, removing the original extra hitter from the game.
- If the extra hitter is on base, any substitutions will remove the position player from the game.
Play ball.