good hitting pitchers?

[HugoTafurst]

Originally Posted by Dakota

(snip) it is a double violation... wrong sport for this forum, and commenting as a fan, not an umpire.

(snip)

Good point... I learn so much here.

[bkbjones]

Ahem. The historian inside me clears throat.

In the early years of the American League, including after the AL and NL made peace, the idea of the DH was floated around especially by Connie Mack.

Throughout the 1920s John Heydler promoted the DH -- supposedly a rule much more similar to our DP/Flex than the DH rule -- because the chicks were digging the long ball, which was much more confined to the AL. Not to say there weren't some power hitters in the NL, but there were many more in the AL. Even into the 30s, having two power hitters on a team a la Ruth and Gehrig was something of a novelty, so we're not talking about big bashers.

Considering there were only about 200 players active in a given year in the 1920s...and owners were much more tightwads back then, I'm relatively certain they just flat didn't want to have to pay someone just to hit. (For penurious owners, see Charles Comiskey, the Phillies, the Braves, et al.) These were the days when teams began more and more to develop a pitching staff with specialists like Firpo Marberry setting the stage for more pure relief pitchers, and if they were going to have someone specialize in something just like today they'd rather risk a buck on pitching rather than hitting.