Death of the Designated Hitter?

The argument has raged for years. Both sides have presented their cases, but in the end, it was all for naught.

Gone the way of the dinosaur, the DH is dead.

During the early part of the decade, the Designated Hitter was a viable part of many offenses, lead by such steeds as David Ortiz, Travis Hafner, and Jim Thome. But now that years have worn on, the position has become a shadow of its former self. No longer is this position a vital cog in an American Leauge line-up. No longer is it a position of offensive power.

As if this writing, only two players with more than 350 at-bats as Designated Hitter have a batting average over .280, Adam Lind and Jason Kubel. Only three of these players have slugging percentages over .500, Hideki Matsui and the aforementioned Lind and Kubel. Sure, there are currently 7 players with more than 20 home runs at the position, but they are lead by Lind's 30, and only Lind and possibly David Ortiz (91) have a chance of eclipsing 100 RBI's in 2009.

So what does this mean? Well, it would be easy to say that the DH has declined over the last several seasons in response to the crackdown on steroids in the game, but it's more than that. Fact of the matter is the ranks are just not being repopulated with talented young players, Lind aside, as teams are forcing their players to become viable position players in order to justify promotion. That's right, players are being forced to learn how to play the field and contribute on the other side of the ball too, you know, complete baseball players!

That all being said is it about time MLB thinks about dropping the Designated Hitter for good? Sure, I've been a proponent for years of not having to watch pitchers flail away, but you know what, there's also something disconcerting to seeing an aged and decrepit hitter shuffle to plate with his walker too. The game has always belonged to those that stay in shape and make a name for themselves with the glove as well as the bat. The Hall of Fame doesn't recognize the DH, should we?

It's time to unify the leagues, under one set of rules, with the expectation that everyone has to perform on both sides of the ball. It's time to take Ole Yeller out back and put him down. It's finally time to say goodbye to the Designated Hitter.