Baseball Attendance and the Designated Hitter

Abstract

Major League Baseball, is a business. As such, professional baseball teams are anxious to improve the nature of the product for profit enhancement purposes. As early as 1928 the use of a designated hitter (DH) had been suggested as a product improvement. [Dewtsch et. al. p. 130] Under the DH rule adopted by the American League in 1973, a team is allowed to designate a player who will bat in place of one of the nine players in the lineup. The DH does not play in the field; his contribution is limited to offense only. The optimum strategy is for the DH to bat in place of the weakest hitter in the line-up, typically the pitcher. It should be apparent that the use of a DH will increase the amount of runs scored in a game because of the substitution of a relatively strong hitter for a relatively weak one. This latter point is readily conceded by both proponents and opponents to the rule. If increasing the amount of offense in a baseball game is a genuine product improvement, then demand should increase and revenues should be enhanced.