Posted by: Ken Lewis (hkenlewis@hotmail.com) on Sat Jun 9 22:09:06 2001

Dennis,
My partner & I have developed a pitching machine that pitches beans (preferably garbonzo beans). It is light-weight,(footprint of a VCR), portable, transportable, sets up/tears down in about 30 seconds. Pitches beans throughout the entire strike zone (much like a pitcher would do). Come complete with a tripod. Only requires about 12 feet of space which is quite suitable for most back yards. We have numerous testimonials concerning its capabilities as a outstanding training aide for hitters wishing to improve on their eye to muscle coordination, bat speed, and timing. In fact, we took the worst hitter (100 ave.) in the league from a local Little league team and worked with him on his mechanics and allowed him to train on our pitching machine for roughly 1/2 hour per day for about 6 mos. In the new season that followed, he became the best hitter in the league with an 800 batting ave. Imagine consistently hitting a bean 1/10 the size of a baseball. It is very safe and kids and adults alike actually enjoy the challenges the machine poses. Oh, by the way, Paul Lo Duca of the Dodges became a great hitter because his Mom use to pitch beans to him in their back yard all the time. We hope to go into production with this machine by early next year.