In 1911 Reds manager Clark Griffith told The Cincinnati Times-Star that pitchers no longer hit like they did when he played:
“Give me pitchers who can hit the ball instead of fanning out weakly, I wish there were a few more pitchers available like the top notchers of twenty years ago. In those days a pitcher believed that he was hired to soak the ball as well as curve it, and he always did his best to get a hit.
“(Tim) Keefe (career .187), (Mickey) Welch (.224), (Thomas “Toad”) Ramsey (.204), and (James “Pud”) Galvin (.201) were among the old-time pitchers who could not bat, but they tried all the time, and if one of them got a hit he was as proud as a kid just breaking into the big league.”
Clark Griffith
The problem, said Griffith, was that “The pitcher seems to think that when he is delivering the goods in the box nothing more is required of him. Hence his careless, indifferent air when he goes to the plate to bat.”
Griffith said Cap Anson, “wouldn’t hire a pitcher who couldn’t hit,” and said former Chicago pitchers Pat Luby (.235), Ad Gumbert (.274), Walter Thornton (.312) and George Van Haltren (.316, but was primarily an outfielder appearing in 93 games as a pitcher over a 17-year career), “were bear cats with the stick.”
Griffith said of his ability with the bat:
“The old guide-book will show that even your humble servant hit over .300 for Anson.”
Griffith hit .319 for Anson in 1895, and .233 for his career.
The 1911 Reds had only one starting pitcher who hit better than .214, (George Suggs. 256). He was also the only starter with a winning record (15-13) for Griffith’s sixth place Reds.
George Suggs
Baseball History Daily 
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