I wonder when in the earlier days of baseball it became universally accepted that a pitcher's lack of skill with a bat was a complete and utter non-factor in assessing his value to the team or in the overall game. Surely, in the dawning days of the sport, all nine players were expected to skillfully wield the leather (or flesh, since they didn't use mitts) and the lumber alike. But at some point, someone determined that who cares if Henry only gets a hit once a month, he hurls the ball phenomenally well, so screw it if he's an automatic out...and then every other team said, "Heck yeah! We agree 100%!"
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