Self-designated Hater Of Designated Hitters

Howie Newman, a sportswriter for the Lynn (Mass.) Daily Evening Item and a songwriter (Blasted in the Bleachers), positively hates the DH. "It curdles my blood," he says. So when he found out that commissioner Peter Ueberroth was going to conduct a poll this season on the popularity of the DH, he went into action. He calls his movement "Dump the DH." Send him $2 and he'll be more than happy to send you a brochure and a DUMP THE DH bumper sticker.

"So far I've sold over 1,100 stickers," he says. "I've gotten mail from 44 states and Canada, and I got a letter last week from Saudi Arabia." A check for $4 came with it, drawn on an American bank. Oil money, no doubt.

"I don't think I can sway the whole country," Newman says, "but I've been interviewed by WTBS and a TV station in L.A., and I've done a number of radio talk shows. Still, the newspaper coverage is what does it. People see the address that way. When I heard there was going to be a poll, I decided it was a chance to make a statement."

For fellow designated haters, the address is: Dump the DH, 35 Fairview Ave., Watertown, Mass. 02172. NBC, by the way, conducted its own telephone poll on April 20, and of 66,000 respondents, 58% said no to the DH.