The Top Ten List: Designated Hitters

By Will-he-M


Let me start off by saying that I absolutely love the DH. That's probably because I grew up as an American League fan in general; more specifically a Toronto Blue Jays fan. The DH doesn't get a lot of respect because the casual fan looks at it and thinks, "how hard could it be to just sit there all game long and only get up to hit three to four times per game?".

Well I'm here to say that playing DH is actually tougher then one might think. In fact, many players refuse to play DH simply because it's more difficult to get into the game mentally, when not playing the field.

Since the DH is a relatively new concept, having only been introduced in 1973, the main requirement for my list is not as demanding as it was at other positions. To be considered for this list, a player must have played at least 500 games as a DH. That may seem a bit low for a position that has been around for 36 years, but I found only 15 candidates who met this criteria. You might be surprised at some of the names who didn't make the cut, including Brian Downing, Jason Giambi, Travis Hafner, Eddie Murray, Rafael Palmeiro, Mike Sweeney and Jim Thome.

Of the fifteen players who did meet the minimum requirement, I narrowed things down to the following ten:

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10. Andre "Thunder" Thornton (Chicago Cubs, Montreal Expos, Cleveland Indians 1973-1987)

Full seasons played mostly at DH: 1981-1987 (738 Games)

1565 GP, 5291 AB, 792 R, 1342 H, 244 D, 22 T, 253 HR, 895 RBI, 48 SB, .254 AVG

American League Comeback Player (1982)
Silver Slugger Award winner (1984)
2x All-Star (1982, 1984)

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9. Jose Canseco (Oakland Athletics, Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox 1985-2001)

Full seasons played mostly at DH: 1994-2001 (837 Games)

1887 GP, 7057 AB, 1186 R, 1877 H, 340 D, 14 T, 462 HR, 1407 RBI, 200 SB, .266 AVG

2x American League Rookie of the Year Award winner (1986)
American League MVP (1988)
2x American League Home Run Crown winner (1988, 1991)
American League RBI Crown winner (1988)
American League Comeback Player (1994)
4x Silver Slugger Award winner (1988, 1990, 1991, 1998)
2x World Series Champion (1989, 2000)
6x All-Star (1986, 1988-1990, 1992, 1999)

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8. Harold "Hal" McRae (Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals 1968-1987)

Full seasons played mostly at DH: 1974, 1976-1987 (1427 Games)

2084 GP, 7218 AB, 940 R, 2091 H, 484 D, 66 T, 191 HR, 1097 RBI, 109 SB, .290 AVG

American League RBI Crown winner (1982)
3x Outstanding DH Award winner (1976, 1980, 1982)
Silver Slugger Award winner (1982)
World Series Champion (1985)
3x All-Star (1975, 1976, 1982)

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7. David "Big Papi" Ortiz (Minnesota Twins, Boston Red Sox 1997-present)

Full seasons played mostly at DH: 1999-Present (1092 Games)

1404 GP, 5005 AB, 854 R, 1411 H, 368 D, 14 T, 304 HR, 1031 RBI, 10 SB, .282 AVG

American League Hank Aaron Award winner (2005)
American League Home Run Crown winner (2006)
2x American League RBI Crown winner (2005, 2006)
ALCS MVP (2004)
5x Outstanding DH Award winner (2003-2007)
4x Silver Slugger Award winner (2004-2007)
2x World Series Champion (2004, 2007)
5x All-Star (2004-2008)

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6. Don Baylor (Baltimore Orioles, Oakland Athletics, Calfornia Angels, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Minnesota Twins 1970-1988)

Full seasons played mostly at DH: 1978, 1981-1988 (1285 Games)

2292 GP, 8198 AB, 1236 R, 2135 H, 366 D, 28 T, 338 HR, 1276 RBI, 285 SB, .260 AVG

American League MVP (1979)
American League RBI Crown winner (1979)
2x Outstanding DH Award winner (1985, 1986)
3x Silver Slugger Award winner (1983, 1985, 1986)
World Series Champion (1987)
All-Star (1979)
National League Manager of the Year Award winner (1995)

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5. Charles "Chili" Davis (San Francisco Giants, Calfornia Angels, Minnesota Twins, Kansas City Royals, New York Yankees 1981-1999)

Full seasons played mostly at DH: 1990-1999 (1184 Games)

2435 GP, 8673 AB, 1240 R, 2380 H, 424 D, 30 T, 350 HR, 1372 RBI, 142 SB, .274

Outstanding DH Award winner (1991)
3x World Series Champion (1991, 1998, 1999)
3x All-Star (1984, 1986, 1994)

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4. Paul "The Ignitor" Molitor (Milwaukee Brewers, Toronto Blue Jays, Minnesota Twins 1978-1998)

Full seasons played mostly at DH: 1987, 1991-1998(1174 Games)

2683 GP, 10835 AB, 1782 R, 3319 H, 605 D, 114 T, 234 HR, 1307 RBI, 504 SB, .306 AVG

World Series MVP (1993)
Babe Ruth Award winner (1993)
2x Outstanding DH Award winner (1993, 1996)
4x Silver Slugger Award winner (1987, 1988, 1993, 1996)
World Series Champion (1993)
7x All-Star (1980, 1985, 1988, 1991-1994)
Hall of Fame (2004)

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3. Harold Baines (Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians 1980-2001)

Full seasons played mostly at DH: 1987-2001(1644 Games)

2830 GP, 9908 AB, 1299 R, 2866 H, 488 D, 49 T, 384 HR, 1628 RBI, 34 SB, .289 AVG

2x Outstanding DH Award winner (1987, 1988)
Silver Slugger Award winner (1989)
6x All-Star (1985-1987, 1989, 1991, 1999)

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2. Frank "The Big Hurt" Thomas (Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics, Toronto Blue Jays 1990-2008)

Full seasons played mostly at DH: 1991, 1998-2008(1311 Games)

2322 GP, 8199 AB, 1494 R, 2468 H, 495 D, 12 T, 521 HR, 1704 RBI, 32 SB, .301 AVG

TSN Player of the Year Award winner (1993)
2x American League MVP (1993, 1994)
American League Batting Crown winner (1997)
5x Silver Slugger Award winner (1991, 1993, 1994, 2000)
5x All-Star (1993-1997)

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1. Edgar "Papi" Martinez (Seattle Mariners 1987-2004)

Full seasons played mostly at DH: 1993, 1995-2004

2055 GP, 7213 AB, 1219 R, 2247 H, 514 D, 15 T, 309 HR, 1261 RBI, 49 SB, .312 AVG

2x American League Batting Crown winner (1992, 1995)
American League RBI Crown winner (2000)
5x Outstanding DH Award (aka the Edgar Martinez Award) winner (1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001)
5x Silver Slugger Award winner (1992, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2003)
7x All-Star (1992, 1995-1997, 2000, 2001, 2003)

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That was the ninth list in the series. To see the first eight installments, click here:

Catchers
First Basemen
Second Basemen
Third Basemen
Shortstops
Left Fielders
Center Fielders
Right Fielders

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