FAYETTEVILLE -- When Major League Baseball puts on the first full slate of games to its delayed season Friday, National League teams will be at home in seven games.
But for the first time, pitchers won't bat in NL ballparks.
The NL this season will join the American League in using the designated hitter, which the AL adopted in 1973.
Benton native Cliff Lee, who played in both the AL and NL during his 13-year career, said it's a shame pitchers no longer will get to bat.
Lee was a starting pitcher who had a 143-91 career record with a 3.52 ERA. Five times he finished in the top seven in the Cy Young voting -- winning the AL award in 2008 -- but he enjoyed hitting as well.
"Hitting is the funnest part of baseball," Lee said in a recent interview with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. "I mean, trying to hit, it's the hardest thing to do, but it's so fun.
"When you think of baseball, that's what you think of -- trying to hit."
Lee, who played at the University of Arkansas in 2000 before being a fourth-round draft pick by the Montreal Expos, spent most of his career in the AL with the Cleveland Indians, Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers. But Lee got a chance to bat on a regular basis in two stints with the NL's Philadelphia Phillies.
Cleveland traded Lee to Philadelphia during the 2009 season, then the Phillies traded him to Texas before the 2010 season. Lee then signed as a free agent with the Phillies, where he played from 2011-14.
"I enjoyed getting to bat," said Lee, who threw and hit left-handed. "It was a challenge. I took it seriously. I felt like it could make a difference in winning and losing games.
"It can make a big difference in a game if a pitcher can get a bunt down or get a hit."
Lee's home run was the difference in the Phillies' 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers when he hit a solo shot off Ted Lilly on Aug. 9, 2011.
A drive by Lee over the right-field wall in Dodger Stadium in the seventh inning put the Phillies ahead 2-0.
"It was a 2-0 count, and Lilly basically was trying to throw a strike," Lee said. "I was pretty sure it was going to be a fastball, and that's what it was."
Lee, who pitched 8 scoreless innings and had 10 strikeouts while holding the Dodgers to 4 hits, said after the game that Gary "Sarge" Matthews -- a Phillies broadcaster who hit 234 home runs in 16 seasons in the big leagues – helped inspire him to swing for the fences on the team bus heading to the game.
"On the way over, Sarge was talking about the guys that had hit the ball out of the stadium [Willie Stargell twice, Mark McGwire and Mike Piazza], and I was just jokingly saying that I was going to do it today," Lee said. "Obviously, I didn't hit one out of the stadium, but I hit one. I was just joking around with those guys. I never expected that to happen."
It was the second home run for Lee in 2011. A month earlier he provided the only run in the Phillies' 4-1 loss in 11 innings to the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park.
Lee, who allowed one run in eight innings in that game, hit a home run against Tommy Hanson in the third inning.
Braves pitcher Jair Jurrjens was doing a television interview from the dugout when he paused to comment as Lee hit a pitch over the right-center field wall.
"Ohhhhh nooooo," Jurrjens said on air. "Noooo. Are you kidding me? Woooow."
It was Lee's first career home run.
"I remember it was a 3-2 count and I swung," Lee said. "I was choked up just trying not to strike out, really. I swung at a high fastball that would have been ball four and fouled it off.
"I remember being mad at myself. Then he threw basically the same pitch again, and I swung and hit it over the fence."
After the game Lee told reporters how much he enjoyed having the chance to hit in the NL.
"You feel more like a baseball player in the National League versus the American League," he said after the game. "In the American League, you're a pitcher. Over here you've got to pitch and hit, run the bases.
"Anything you can do to help the team win you should take pride in it, you should take it serious and try to do the best you can. That's what I try to do with hitting."
Lee's best overall hitting game didn't involve a home run.
In the Phillies' 12-2 victory over the Miami Marlins on Sept. 16, 2013, Lee went 3 for 4 – including his only career triple -- and had 4 RBI while striking out 14 in 8 innings. Of 113 pitches Lee threw, 84 were strikes.
"A heck of a game for Cliff Lee," Phillies Manager Ryne Sandberg said afterward. "It was basically his show. Probably what he's beaming the most about is his bat."
Lee's standup triple drove in a run in the fifth inning.
"He was hustling around the bases like he always does," Sandberg said. "He got the ball as a souvenir."
Lee also had a two-run single in the third inning and an RBI single in the seventh.
Lee batted .200 (15 for 75) in 2011 with 2 home runs, 2 doubles, 1 triple and 7 RBI. In 2014, before suffering what became a career-ending elbow injury, he batted .250 (6 for 24).
"In the American League, pitchers only took batting practice right before we played a road series against a National League team," Lee said. "But with the Phillies, we took batting practice every day when we were at home, so that helped me stay sharper as a hitter."
Lee said he celebrated with his teammates in the dugout after both of his home runs.
"Obviously, I was excited, but I think they were laughing at me more than anything," he said. "It was fun, good times.
"I mean, anytime anyone hits a home run it's a good feeling in the dugout. But when it's the pitcher, it's a whole other level of excitement."
Lee had a career batting average of .175 (51 for 291) with 2 home runs, 7 doubles and 19 RBI. He also drew five walks.
"I wouldn't say I was a good hitter," Lee said. "But I felt like I was better than most pitchers."
In signing with the Phillies as a free agent, Lee turned down an offer for more money from the New York Yankees. Lee said the fact he had played in Philadelphia previously and enjoyed it was the primary reason he signed with the Phillies.
But the lack of a DH in the NL also influenced his decision.
"I just liked National League baseball better," Lee said. "I liked facing the pitcher rather than a designated hitter. I liked to hit, too.
"I wasn't just going to go up there and give at-bats away. I was trying to hit it as hard as I could every time I got up there."