Down With the Hitter Designated in Major League Baseball

It’s unclear when the nearly three-month-long labor dispute between Major League Baseball players and owners will end — or if it will. But Commissioner Rob Manfred has announced that the federation has extracted a long-awaited concession from the players: He has popularized the designated hit rule. It was the end of the era for professional baseball. For many game lovers, it was also the end of history.

Exempting pitchers from not hitting the ball in the National League doesn’t seem like a big deal – the designated hitter has been a feature of the American League for decades. But it’s the third strike at the heart of the game, and it will prove in part what has made baseball the school of character for generations of American kids.