Part 5/8:
This historic performance prompts a broader question: why haven't we seen more players taking advantage of such multi-role capabilities? Historically, the pitcher and the best players in a lineup typically occupy different roles—pitchers often don't hit, and exceptional hitters rarely pitch. The conversation suggests that factors such as skill development, team strategies, and perhaps traditional positional specialization have limited such dual-threat players. The speaker recounts personal experiences, noting that even collegiate great hitters may struggle with the transition to facing major league pitchers—whose velocity and spin are far beyond amateur levels. This underscores the rarity and difficulty of mastering both disciplines simultaneously.