A little perspective here....... The first team to play baseball under modern rules were the New York Knickerbockers. The club was founded on September 23, 1845, as a social club for the upper middle classes of New York City, and was strictly amateur until it disbanded. On April 6, 1973--Opening Day--Ron Blomberg of the New York Yankees became the league's first ever designated hitter. In his first plate appearance, he was walked on a full count by the Boston Red Sox pitcher Luis Tiant. I'm not really arguing one way or another. But I think it's not fair or honest to say that the DH has made the game better compared to the 128 years we went without it. It's different, like Astro-Turf. I grew up playing ball on grass fields and blacktop. Didn't really care. With batting helmets and DH's, sliders, "turf", steroids and sabermetrics, the game has somewhat passed me by. But not by much.