ROYALSWING:
KansasCity’sBillyButler had thehighest
battingaverage (.313) amongdesignatedhitters in2012.
additionalo ensivefireworksto itsgames?
Uh,notsofast.SaysMcRae:“TheNational
LeaguehatedtheDH.Theystillhate it.”
the typeofmoneyhe’sgetting [without the
DH].He’sbeenaphenomenalplayer,buthe’d
beviewedasmuch lessofaplayer ifhewere
shoehornedintoplayingfirstbaseeveryday.”
With that inmind, surely theNational
League,after40years,mightfinallypounce
on the chance to create 15new jobs from
ArizonatoWashingtonwhilebringingsome
firstDH,”heremembers.Hisbatwasswiftly
abductedbytheYankees’publicistandsent
totheBaseballHallofFame.
Althoughhisfirst at-bat (inwhatwould
eventuallybecome a loss for theYankees)
wasn’tmuchof ademonstrationof power,
thatmomentopened thedoor forothers to
have careers at theposition, includingHal
McRae,whostarted in themajorsasanout-
fielderwith theCincinnati Redsbut spent
mostofhiscareerasaDHwith theKansas
CityRoyals,wherehewasa three-timeAll-
Starandbattedover .300forsixfullseasons
andduring18games in1987,hisfinalyear.
“It was a job nobody wanted,”McRae
says, “because everybody considered you
apart-timeplayer. Andnobodywanted to
beapart-timeplayer.We feltasapart-time
player youwouldn’t be as valuable to the
ballcluband, naturally, youwouldn’t earn
asmuchsalaryasafull-time,two-wayplayer.
It tookprobably two years before itwas a
respectablepositionandpeoplerealizedthe
valueof itandwhowasbestsuitedto it.”
Itquicklybecameevidenttoplayersthat,
far frombeing a sourceof career concern,
thepositionwas insteadacause forcelebra-
tion. “The American League started tak-
ing someNational League players on the
downslide of their careers and bringing
them to theAmericanLeague,”McRae ex-
plains. “AmericanLeague fanshadn’t seen
guys like Hank Aaron, Orlando Cepeda,
TommyDavis.When the legs go and you
can’t play in the field anymore, you could
come to theAmericanLeagueand still put
upo ensivenumbers.
“Then,”McRaeadds, “theycouldalsoex-
tend thecareersofAmericanLeague stars,
too— guys likeWillieHorton, Al Kaline,
TonyOliva.”
Since then, a cavalcade of specialized
batsmenhavedistinguished themselves at
the job, includingEdgarMartinez, Frank
Thomas, PaulMolitor,CecilFielder,Andre
Thornton, ChiliDavis, GregLuzinski and
JimThome. The designated hitter, much
deridedbypuristsand theNationalLeague
faithful, hasmade it to 40 and shows no
signsofexitingthebaseball landscape.
“Will they ever take theDH out of the
game?No,” saysESPNbaseballwriter and
analystBusterOlney. “Theunionwon’t let
ithappen.Theywanttopreservejobs.Ifyou
lookat things in terms ofwhat they’re get-
tingpaid, they’redoingprettywell. David
Ortizwouldhavenochanceat gettingpaid
MICHAEL VENTRE
is a Los Angeles–based freelance
writerwho regularlycontributes to
AmericanWay
aswell
as to
Variety
, NBCSports.com,
LosAngelesConfidential
magazineandotherpublications. Hehasbeenknown to
knocka fewout of thepark.
AA.COM/AMERICANWAY
APRIL 01, 2013
37
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