OAKLAND, Calif. -- In an effort to avoid a four-game sweep at the hands of their Bay Area rivals, the San Francisco Giants will buck 40 years of baseball tradition.
Giants ace left-hander Madison Bumgarner will start Thursday against the Oakland A's at the Oakland Coliseum, and he will bat in place of a designated hitter.
Bumgarner will become the first starting pitcher to bat intentionally in place of a designated hitter since Ken Brett did so twice for the Chicago White Sox in 1976. Since the DH rule was adopted by the AL in 1973, the only other pitchers knowingly penciled into the batting order in games at AL parks were the Rangers' Ferguson Jenkins in 1974 and the Athletics' Ken Holtzman in 1975, according to the San Jose Mercury News.