This day in history, 1973

[Hornets]

Hard to believe but it's been 46 years since the designated hitter was adopted.....The Twins immediately took advantage of this by using Tony Oliva, one of the greatest Twins evah who would not have been able to continue his career due to knee issues...

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-his ... itter-rule

[Tommy_Hawk]

Hard to believe but it's been 46 years since the designated hitter was adopted.....The Twins immediately took advantage of this by using Tony Oliva, one of the greatest Twins evah who would not have been able to continue his career due to knee issues...

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-his ... itter-rule

Or this guy!


(^ Strikeout?)

[weimy froob]

Hard to believe but it's been 46 years since the designated hitter was adopted.....The Twins immediately took advantage of this by using Tony Oliva, one of the greatest Twins evah who would not have been able to continue his career due to knee issues...

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-his ... itter-rule

i can see the argument that purists make that it hurt the game.

[Hornets]

Hard to believe but it's been 46 years since the designated hitter was adopted.....The Twins immediately took advantage of this by using Tony Oliva, one of the greatest Twins evah who would not have been able to continue his career due to knee issues...

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-his ... itter-rule

i can see the argument that purists make that it hurt the game.

Maybe it's because my team is in the American League, I have never once wished they stopped having a DH. Most major sports have had tweaks of the rules through the years in attempts to make the game better, and more fan friendly. The DH has enabled quite a few great players over the years to extend their careers, and what's not to like about that?! I just wish the NL would start doing it so we don't have the World Series conundrum.

[Qman65]

Hard to believe but it's been 46 years since the designated hitter was adopted.....The Twins immediately took advantage of this by using Tony Oliva, one of the greatest Twins evah who would not have been able to continue his career due to knee issues...

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-his ... itter-rule

I was at an old timers game back in 1975. 2 years after Tony retired. I was 10 years old but remember the blast he put over the right field bleachers into the parking lot. His knees sucked but he still could still hit. What a shame.

[weimy froob]

who got the first hit as a DH in '73? it'll probably be in the first paragraph of his obituary-it was that big of a deal. so somebody should probably post the answer in this thread.

[Hornets]

who got the first hit as a DH in '73? it'll probably be in the first paragraph of his obituary-it was that big of a deal. so somebody should probably post the answer in this thread.

OK...didn't want to cheat by looking so my guess was Tony-O. Did a search and as you apparently know it was Ron Blomberg who got the first hit, BUT Tony-O did get the first dinger as a DH!

[weimy froob]

who got the first hit as a DH in '73? it'll probably be in the first paragraph of his obituary-it was that big of a deal. so somebody should probably post the answer in this thread.

OK...didn't want to cheat by looking so my guess was Tony-O. Did a search and as you apparently know it was Ron Blomberg who got the first hit, BUT Tony-O did get the first dinger as a DH!

oh yeah. it was a very much written about hit. didn't know about the dinger story though. link?

[Hornets]

who got the first hit as a DH in '73? it'll probably be in the first paragraph of his obituary-it was that big of a deal. so somebody should probably post the answer in this thread.

OK...didn't want to cheat by looking so my guess was Tony-O. Did a search and as you apparently know it was Ron Blomberg who got the first hit, BUT Tony-O did get the first dinger as a DH!

oh yeah. it was a very much written about hit. didn't know about the dinger story though. link?

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/firsts/teamdh.shtml

[weimy froob]

good fast facts from both leagues. i would have thought i heard about tony o's home run-but i probably forgot. i think sports illustrated put blomberg on the cover with his hit. at least that's my recollection of that historic hit.

[dennis1]

Hard to believe but it's been 46 years since the designated hitter was adopted.....The Twins immediately took advantage of this by using Tony Oliva, one of the greatest Twins evah who would not have been able to continue his career due to knee issues...

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-his ... itter-rule

What's sad is with today's medicine, Tony's knees could have been fixed and he'd have been in the HOF for a long time now.

[RALPH MALPH]

Hard to believe but it's been 46 years since the designated hitter was adopted.....The Twins immediately took advantage of this by using Tony Oliva, one of the greatest Twins evah who would not have been able to continue his career due to knee issues...

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-his ... itter-rule

What's sad is with today's medicine, Tony's knees could have been fixed and he'd have been in the HOF for a long time now.

for sure

[Hornets]

Hard to believe but it's been 46 years since the designated hitter was adopted.....The Twins immediately took advantage of this by using Tony Oliva, one of the greatest Twins evah who would not have been able to continue his career due to knee issues...

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-his ... itter-rule

What's sad is with today's medicine, Tony's knees could have been fixed and he'd have been in the HOF for a long time now.

for sure

If we went back in time we could probably come up with a boat load of names of great players who had their careers tragically cut short due to injury, especially to the knees. Two I can think of right away are Gayle Sayers and Billy Sims.....