Sorry, baseball purists.

The designated hitter isn't going anywhere.

Adopted in 1973 by the American League, the DH is just as much a part of baseball now as pine tar, broken bats, performance enhancers and a Steinbrenner running his mouth.

We have to live with it.

Sure, these guys often are pudgy and as athletic as Clay Aiken.

Sure, their only responsibility is picking up a bat four or five times a game, digging into the batters box and trying to kill the ball.

But, they are here to stay.

The designated hitter issue is particularly troublesome in the era of interleague play.

Once AL and NL teams started mingling during the season, things got dicey.

American League pitchers, who last picked up a bat when they were still going through puberty, suddenly had to put on a batting helmet and take hacks just like other baseball player folk.

Shudder the thought.

AL teams are at a disadvantage when playing in NL parks. Whenthe senior circuit teams play in American League cities, they get an extra hitter.

When junior circuit teams travel to NL cities, they get to put Mike Mussina in the batters box.

No one wants to see Mike Mussina hit. Even if he does manage to make contact, he'd have to run in a pesky circle. Mussina doesn't like to run in circles. He only runs in straight lines.

He said that. Really.

The fact is clear, though: something has to be done. The AL and NL need to get on the same page for interleague play. You can't have two sets of rules depending on what city you are in.

It would be like the Pittsburgh Steelers playing a regular season game against the Toronto Argonauts usingCanadian Football rules.

If the National League doesn't want to adopt the DH, at least use it in NL parks during interleague games.

The American League certainly isn't going to jettison the DH.

The player's association won't let that happen. The DH is a cash cow for the players who occupy that position. They are like hired assassins, and hired assassins aren't cheap.

Players — and their agents — would salivate at the prospect of the NL adopting the designated hitter.

That's 16 more high paying jobs.

It would seem, though, this interleague play thing has helped some American League pitchers with the lumber.

C.C. Sabathia hit a home run for the Cleveland Indians that would have made Rocky Colavito envious.

Seattle Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez hit a grand slam against Johan Santana.

What are the odds of that? I guess even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then.

I guess AL pitchers figure if they must hit, they might as well help themselves.

Although, I don't think you'll see Sabathia in the lineup as a DH any time soon.

For you baseball purists out there, maybe Sabathia's next home run will be reviewed under instant replay.

Mike Kilroy is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.