when & why

[WestMichBlue]

Originally Posted by canump

Was asked if I remebered when the DP, Defoe came into being. Does anybody know when and or why it came to be?.
Also when was the year that the starters were allowed to re-enter.

I want to say the late 70s.
We're just curios and bored here at work.

The DH was created in 1979, fast pitch only, and could not play defense. Also “re-entry” was created that year for starters only. A DH could not return, and a starting pitcher could not return to pitch.

By 1986 the EH (almost identical to DH) had been added to slow pitch; both now had re-entry rights.

In 1987 the DH was replaced by the DP which was as we know it today; can play defense, has re-entry, can be replaced by their defensive player (going from 10 to 9), etc. Also the EH in SP was replaced by the EP.

1993 the defensive player being batted for was named the DEFO and the rules for the interplay between the DP and DEFO are basically what they are today under the DP/FLEX.

In 2002 re-entry was expanded to include substitutes.

In 2004 the DEFO was renamed the FLEX following the NFHS decision to replace its DH with a copy of the DP/DEFO, except called the DP/FLEX.


The Historian (aka WMB)