Remind me not to be a pitcher

This is the 350th post, so I probably shouldn't steal such a milestone from My Sweetie, but I'm going to anyway. ;-)

So yeah, pitchers, especially MLB pitchers, have it tough! I mean, as a batter, it seems to me that you have it relatively easy. There is this extremely small, well-defined area that the ball has to be in, otherwise you don't have to even try to hit it. Coincidentally, this cozy little spot happens to be the very definition of where it is easy for you to hit the ball! You see when the ball's comin', and you even have this big bat that you get to use to hit the dang thing! I mean really, can this be any easier?

You're only up to bat every once in awhile, and all you have to do is hit the ball a single time when you're up there, and you're a hero!

As a pitcher, all of that is reversed! You have to throw the ball 60 feet into this tiny, well-defined area right in front of the batter! You must get that ball right in that spot, otherwise the batter can beat you without even touching the ball. Every time any member of the other team is up to bat, it's you that has to throw that ball into that tiny little spot, and get it past him, again and again and again!

If the batter hits that ball on the first pitch, he's done. But the pitcher might have to throw pitch after pitch after pitch to the same guy, only to have him finally hit the stupid ball anyway! (And don't forget that he's still holding that big bat!)

And even given all of this, the pitcher is still considered to have the upper hand, because one of the most enduring clichés in the game is "Good pitching beats good hitting."

Amazing.