"Since the inception of interleague play in 1997, baseball history has been circling the eventuality of a universal designated hitter. The implementation of the original DH rule, in the American League in 1973, applied modest pressure to the senior circuit, but as long as the two leagues only met in annual exhibitions and in the World Series, one could make excuses for the continued dissonance of having such a significant difference in gameplay between them. Once that wall came down, it became inevitable that both leagues would eventually play under a unified set of rules, and by the time that happened, the progress of the game itself had determined which way the change would go."
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