>I never understand baseball.
>
>Why don't they just whack the ball out of the ground every time.
>
>If someone threw a ball at me and my job was to hit it and I spent all my waking time practising hitting it I think I'd manage to do that.

Because the pitchers spend their time practicing, too, and they've learned how to throw the ball so that it moves around on its way and doesn't cross home plate where the hitter expects it to. That is, pitchers don't just rear back and throw the ball as hard as they can in a straight line; they impart spin and other motion.

Tamar