Hoornstra: Baseball Hall of Fame adding two more DHs, but it isn’t that easy
From J.P. Hoornstra at the Orange County Register on July 17, 2019:
From the time the American League first allowed designated hitters in 1973, another 41 years passed before the first DH was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Frank Thomas will finally get some company this weekend when Edgar Martinez and Harold Baines join him in Cooperstown, New York.
Three Hall of Famers in 46 years is a powerful testament to the challenge of DH-ing. Here’s another: Only 20 men have batted 1,000 times in their career with more than half coming as a DH. Shohei Ohtani might join the club sometime next year. Play two full seasons as a DH, retire, and you’ve done something only 20 major leaguers have done. Only four have done it at a Hall of Fame level; David Ortiz can begin writing his induction speech for the summer of 2022.
Read the full article here: https://www.ocregister.com/2019/07/17/hoornstra-baseball-hall-of-fame-adding-two-more-dhs-but-it-isnt-that-easy/
Related links:
- Read SABR biographies of the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2019
- John Cronin: “The Historical Evolution of the Designated Hitter Rule” (SABR Baseball Research Journal)
Originally published: July 18, 2019. Last Updated: July 18, 2019.