What % of the games best designated hitters actually DH(ed)

    Most know that Ron Bloomberg was the first DH in the history of MLB when he batted for the Yankees in 1973. But few know that the designated hitter was originally not used close to the way it is used now. American League teams looked at it as a way to get somebody up there that was a better hitter than a pitcher. In other words, most teams would set up their regular lineup 1-8, with the DH batting ninth. The DH originally consisted of a team's best pinch hitter and that batter would be guaranteed three or four ABs. Obviously, teams were quick to use the extra batter to their advantage, with veteran players getting a couple of extra seasons by not playing the field.
    The first major player to embrace the role was Hal McRae. McRae was entering the prime of his career and may not have not had the career success had it not been for the move. Some of the greats that happened to be playing from 1973 on took some advantage such as Frank Robinson, Harmon Killebrew, Al Kaline and Hank Aaron. While MLB Network's Prime 9 did a solid job in breaking down the best DHs in the history of the game, I decided it was time to figure out which players had the highest percentage of games played as a designated hitter. It is not fair to include Robinson, Killebrew, Kaline and Aaron in the discussion since they did not have as much of an opportunity to just hit. However, Robinson hit as a DH in 358 of his 2808 games played, which came out to 12.75%. Of the players I have chosen to compare, Robinson would rank 21st on my list. 
    It is no secret that players come up with the intention of being a full time DH now as opposed to before. Brian Downing was an example of a player who was insulted by the move. So it is no surprise that David Ortiz was the highest percentage of games played at DH with the minimum total games played requirement of 1236. Though the list is unofficial, here is what I came up with.
Player        GP     nonDH      DH       percentage
1. David Ortiz     1832       257      1575        85.97%
2. Hal McRae      2084       516      1568        75.24%
3. Edgar Martinez  2055      592      1463       71.19%
4. Harold Baines    2830      1061     1769       62.51%
5. Frank Thomas   2322       971      1351       58.18%
6. Don Baylor        2292       970      1322       57.68%
7. Chili Davis         2436      1186     1250       51.31%
8. Paul Molitor       2683      1495     1188       44.28%
9. Hideki Matsui     1236       692       544       44.01%
10. Cecil Fielder     1470       915       555       37.76%
11. Brian Downing  2344      1460       884       37.71%
12. Jim Thome      2543      1599       944       37.12%
13. Reggie Jackson 2820      2102       718       25.46%
14. Vladimir Guerrero 2147    1608      539       25.10%
15. Dave Parker     2466        1887      579       23.48%
16. Juan Gonzalez   1689        1311      378      22.38%
17. Cecil Cooper     1896        1475      421      22.20%
18. Rafael Palmeiro 2831        2351      480      19.96%
19. Dave Winfield    2973        2479      494      16.62%
20. Albert Belle       1539        1311      228      14.81%
    Interesting parts of this list were players like Winfield, Parker and Thome who seem like they DHed more games than they did. However, Winfield and Parker were among the best OFs in the game during their prime. The all time percentage of games DHed will always be a more recent thing as many of the older DHs either were in the last couple of years of their career or did not stick around for a long time. With guys like Kendry Morales, Adam Dunn, Billy Butler and Travis Hafner being more DH only players, I am curious to see what percentage of DHed games those players end up with. As far as Bloomberg is concerned, he played in 461 career games, 239 as a DH, which came out to a percentage of 51.84%. If he qualified, he would have ranked 6th between Baylor and Davis.  

---