Lucchino prefers two leagues without DH
BOSTON -- The Red Sox don't have an Interleague game until May 28, when they travel to Philadelphia, but some teams started Interleague Play as early as Opening Day.
With Interleague games on display all season in 2013, there's already chatter about the possibility of the designated hitter becoming a permanent fixture in the National League.
If democracy has a say, Red Sox president/chief executive officer Larry Lucchino will vote against that change. Lucchino would prefer consistency through both leagues, and in Lucchino's mind, that would be without a DH.
"Rule No. 1 in the baseball rulebook," Lucchino said, "Baseball is a game played by two teams of nine players each. It doesn't say, 'Except for the American League, which is going to play with 10.' It says two teams with nine players each. Rule No. 1. Check it out."
Lucchino's memory of the baseball rulebook is accurate, and his preference for a game without a designated hitter is traditional.
"I've always accepted the notion of a DH in one league and not in the other, because it underscored that we have two different leagues and two different products," Lucchino said. "And it was important that the National League had a certain brand, the American League had a certain brand, and that was a big thing to underscore, to reinforce to the public.
"But now I think those brands will always be there and will always sustain themselves. And if I were to vote on it, had the only vote on it, or wave my proverbial magic wand, I think I would phase out the DH and probably have both leagues without the DH."