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Groan....
"The hands are part of the bat" is a long-lasting myth, and I believe that part of the reason it endures is these bogus "explanations" of why it isn't true. Most people do not learn well while being patronized; they are even less accepting when the object lesson is logically flawed.
Here's an example of the inconsistency: a rough analogy to the trip to a hardware store is a trip to a hospital delivery room. Babies come into this world wearing nothing, yet the person of a player is defined as his body, clothing, or equipment, even though it makes little sense outside of baseball. Hence if a pitched ball strikes a batter only in the uniform, and not his body, he is deemed to be hit by the pitch. Baseball bats aren't manufactured with hands attached, and babies don't come into this world wearing uniforms. Neither fact is important to the rules of baseball.
In reality, the reason that the hands aren't part of the bat is the rules of baseball say they aren't. Please direct confused spectators and game participants to rule 6.08(b) and rule 2 definition of a strike. It's a much more convincing and palatable explanation.
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