It’s likely on this day 48 years ago, there wasn’t much fanfare for a seemingly minor vote taken by owners of American League baseball teams.But it led to, arguably, the most debated position in any sport.On Jan.
11, 1973, owners of American League clubs, by an 8-4 margin, voted to adopt the designated hitter.The rationale was to try and combat the dominance of pitchers in that era -- and to pump a little more offense into the game by taking out the weakest hitter in a lineup, the pitcher.In what was originally supposed to be a three-year trial run, the DH stuck around for good after the American League significantly increased its batting average in those years.The National League never followed suit in adopting the DH, which has led to.