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.

Nicholas, hitting a ball that's coming at 90-95 MPH (when it's thrown from 60 feet and 6 inches away) is a very tough task.

I played many of the major sports (including ice hockey) in my teens and 20's, and can tell you that hitting a baseball at the pro (or even semi-pro) level is extremely difficult, one of the most difficult tasks in all of sports.

The side-spin on pitches that are called "cutters" almost defy physics. You've probably heard us talk about a pitcher named Roy Halliday - he throws in the low-mid 90's and has a cutter that many joke should be against the law. I've been watching baseball since 1974 and have seen many great pitchers, but I have never seen stuff like his.

And even if a hitter manages to make some contact, it might not be with the meat of the bat. Many pitches are designed to break at about 58 feet. By that time, a hitter has already made a split second decision to swing. That is why the most effective pitchers might record 7-10 strikeouts a game, and about double the number of ground-outs.