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Yet Another Myth

© Harold Friend

Like all myths it is spoken as truth, but when analyzed it is revealed as a false premise. There has been a recent trend among media types to explain the failure of pitchers who switch from the National League to the American on the "fact" that the American League is a much more powerful offensive league because the designated hitter gives American League lineups nine hitters while National League lineups have eight hitters and the pitcher. What garbage.

If the American League is a stronger offensive league, and it is, the reason is not because American League pitchers don't get a "breather" by facing the opposing pitcher. Of course the designated hitter makes a lineup stronger but having a better hitter than the pitcher in the number nine batting position has not resulted in significant differences in the two leagues' offenses. In recent years, the American League simply has had stronger hitters.

At the conclusion of play on May 31, 2005, National League batters had 28,233 official at bats. Pitchers had 1655 official at bats. National League pitchers accounted for 5.86% of team at bats. Simple arithmetic reveals that each position in the batting order gets 11.11% of team at bats, but it is slightly more involved. Over the course of a season and in most games, the first batting position w will have more plate appearances than the second batting position and so on through the number nine slot .

What does this mean? It means that the number nine position in the batting order, almost always the pitcher, will have the least plate appearances of any slot in the batting order. National League pitchers face opposing pitchers less often than any position player.

National League pitchers had only 1655 official at bats as of June 1. American League designated hitters had 2611 plate appearances. An important variable is that there are two more teams in the National League, which inflates total league plate appearances, but even ignoring that fact, the reason that National League pitchers had so few plate appearances is that many times pinch hitters batted for the pitchers. Would an American League pitcher get a "breather" if he were facing a pinch hitter rather than the designated hitter?

National League managers often make a double switch. Let's say Braves' manager Bobby Cox pinch hits for starting pitcher Tim Hudson with Johnny Estrada, who singles to start a rally. Catcher Eddie Perez, batting sixth, makes the last out of the inning. Estrada remains in the game as the catcher, batting ninth. Dan Kolb, who comes in to pitch, bats sixth, which means that the batting order must turn over before the pitchers spot comes up again.

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