The just-concluded World Series was the 45th since the designated hitter rule was adopted in 1973 – but the American public is still not happy with the way it is employed.
Only 11 percent of people surveyed in this week’s Seton Hall Sports Poll opted to keep it as it is – employed only when games are played in American League parks. Forty-seven percent were divided almost equally on whether they prefer the DH in all games (25 percent) or in no games (22%). Forty-one percent said they did not know or had no opinion.
The poll was conduced October 29-31 among 839 adults across the country on landline and cellphone, with a margin of error of +/- 3.4 percent.
The poll also asked the 65 percent who said they did not watch the World Series why they did not watch, and while 46 percent said they had no interest in baseball, only 11 percent cited no interest in the Boston Red Sox or Los Angeles Dodgers in particular.
(The margin of error for this group was +/- 4.3 percent).
“That response is a good one for MLB, noted Rick Gentile, director of the poll, which is sponsored by The Sharkey Institute. “It says that the teams involved don’t really caused diminished interest.”
During the World Series, a player on the Dodgers was accused of sign stealing by the Red Sox. Only 31 percent of fans said the sign stealer should be punished, while 42 percent called it “no big deal.”
On the other hand, when it comes to recruiting violations in collegiate sports, 76 percent said that the school should be punished and 15 percent said it was “no big deal.”
“Sign stealing on the pro level is considered business as usual,” said Gentile. “It gets a shrug. But when it regards the future of our high school athletes moving into college, cheating is a big deal. And that’s a good thing.”
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