It was 40 Years Ago Today


American League club owners approved an experimental trial of the designated hitter on January 11th, 1973. (The vote wasn't unanimous -- it was by an 8-4 margin.) April 6th that year, Ron Blomberg of the Yankees made history as the first DH in a regular season game. 40 years later, that so-called experiment is still going strong. Having first helped extend the career of aging stars such as Tony Oliva, Orlando Cepeda and Harmon Killebrew, it became the path to stardom for Harold Baines, Edgar Martinez and (left) David Ortiz. There's no doubt using the DH has made American League games different -- but  it is a better brand of ball? Do you mind the difference in strategy compared to the DH-less National League? Managers in each league now deploy their bullpens in  somewhat different ways. Now, four decades into the "experiment," is it finally time for both leagues to agree on one set of rules?

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