Editing Designated hitter (section)

===Nippon Professional Baseball===
Japan's [[Pacific League]] adopted the designated hitter in 1975, two years after its adoption in the American League.<ref name="pacific league 1975">{{Cite journal |last=Graczyk |first=Wayne |date=October 20, 2010 |title=Time for Central League to adopt designated hitter |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2010/10/20/baseball/time-for-central-league-to-adopt-designated-hitter/ |journal=The Japan Times Online |language=en-US |issn=0447-5763}}</ref> Japan's [[Central League]] has not adopted the designated hitter – the only top-level professional league in the world to refrain from doing so {{As of|2025|lc=y}}.<ref name="central and national league no DH" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Coskrey |first=Jason |date=2022-03-26 |title=Central League pitchers get into swing of things at plate |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2022/03/26/baseball/japanese-baseball/cl-pitchers-hit/ |access-date=2025-04-15 |website=The Japan Times |language=en}}</ref> When teams from different leagues play against each other in the [[Japan Series]] or interleague games, the DH rule is adopted if the Pacific League's team hosts the game, similar to the MLB rules before the universal DH.<ref name="pacific league 1975" />