There's really no need or reason to limit the number of Designated Hitters (DH). The roster imposes limits naturally. This proposal is a variation on my recurring theme of advocating "free substitution" and is actually more restrictive but may catch the attention of the more intransigent.
Saturday, September 6, 2008 Free Substitution
Free substitution means that a player may leave the game and return later. Pretty basic...
To make this work in baseball simply maintain the batting order. If Derek Jeter starts the game batting second he may only bat in that position. I am guessing that the other objection would be that changing pitchers constantly would slow down the game, as if anyone would notice. Change on the fly like the other sports. As long as the move is done within the flow of the game there should be no problem. Of course, they cannot continue the pitcher changing ceremony that is unique in team sports for its disruption and delay and which should be eliminated anyway.
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Most current teams carry about 12 pitchers and 13 non-pitchers. As a practical matter a team would need to hold at least two non-pitchers in reserve, probably a catcher and a utility player who could play either infield or outfield. That leaves 11 non-pitchers. Eight would be playing the field in addition to the pitcher. So there are only three players who could be a DH. Three DH per team.
Even better:
From the original June 9, 2006 Radical Baseball document posted on this blog February 20, 2008:
5. Designated Fielders and the Six-Player Batting Order.
There should be designated fielders, not a designated hitter. Everybody fields but a team has the option to have up to three players only play the field and not bat. Six batters in a lineup. That’s the minimum there could be without a batter coming up with himself on base. They’d get 1,000 plate appearances a season, comparable to the number of batters faced by a starting pitcher. This would improve both offense and defense. It addresses those sappy complaints of National League fans without having to watch the dreaded bottom of the order. Who wants to watch the bottom of the order? No one, except people who are actually interested in sacrifice bunting and all the brain power involved in making that decision. Oh, and the double switch. Take me out to the ball game so I can see a double switch in person. Complaining about batters not knowing how to bunt is like complaining about American soldiers not knowing how to load a musket. Who cares? Bombs away. Batter up, not bunter up.
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