Howie Newman
MUSIC, COMEDY and MORE
In 1985, Howie Newman, then a full-time sportswriter, launched a national campaign – Dump the DH – to eliminate the designated hitter rule in Major League Baseball.
This project was a response to a fan poll proposed by commissioner Peter Ueberroth, who stated that he wanted to find out how much support baseball fans had for the rule.
Widespread media coverage
The campaign caught on like wildfire, gaining coverage in Sports Illustrated, the New York Times, The Sporting News, Sport magazine, Los Angeles Herald, Chicago Tribune and dozens of other major newspapers nationwide.
Howie also did 30 radio talk shows and appeared on WTBS. The bumper sticker is now displayed in the National Baseball Hall of Fame Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y.
The result
Ueberroth's fan poll never took place but Howie sold 1,200 Dump the DH Kits (bumper sticker and brochure) and had a lot of fun in the process.
Howie's Dump the DH bumper sticker is on display at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.
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NY TIMES
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LA HERALD February 27, 1985
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Howie, who remains a staunch baseball traditionalist, includes a segment about Dump the DH in his Musical Baseball Show.
He has written more than a dozen baseball songs.
SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
May 13, 1985
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DUMP THE DH