Bud Selig on DH in NL: 'Never say never'

Bud Selig doesn't see the NL adopting the DH anytime soon. (Bruce Hemmelgarn/Getty Images)

The shift to Busch Stadium in Games 3 and 4 of the World Series has presented the Boston Red Sox with a recurring conundrum: Who to start, and who to sit, without a designated hitter in a National League park?

The Red Sox, so far, have stuck normal DH David Ortiz at first base through the first two games in Busch Stadium against the St. Louis Cardinals, leaving Mike Napoli on the bench.

During an impromptu news conference Saturday night, MLB commissioner Bud Selig was asked if there might be a day when the Red Sox wouldn't have to make that decision — that is, if the National League would ever adopt the designated hitter and the debate would be a thing of the past.

Selig didn't give an outright "no," noting that anything is possible. He also didn't see it as something that was likely to happen anytime soon.

"I'm the only one left who voted in 1972 for the designated hitter," Selig said, according to MLB.com. "So here we are now, 41 years later. And I often worry about that. But my friend [Phillies chairman] Bill Giles once said to me, 'You know, I like the controversy between the leagues. I think it's good.'

"Having said that, I did say three or four years ago that I had strong feelings on [expanded] instant replay. And, like everything else in life, you make adjustments and I now have somewhat different feelings.

"So I'm never going to say never to anything. But at the moment is there anything going on? No. If somebody has something to say, I'm glad to listen."