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Cage match
One senior baseball player finds his backyard batting cage is a hit Jon Browar is 52 years old, but he can still see the stitches on a fastball. Better, he can still hit a fastball. OK, he's not facing Major League Baseball gas of 90 to 95 miles per hour, but the fastballs in the Men's Senior Baseball League have enough juice, 75 to 80 miles per hour, where you need to train your hands and eyes to work together. So for 15 years, Browar used a batting cage in his back yard. Four times a week he took batting practice, and when it came time to hit in a MSBL game, Browar hit. Along the way, he spent time in that same backyard cage with his son, who is moving on to play college baseball. So you don't really have to ask Browar about the value of having a batting cage if you are playing MSBL. "The more pitches you see, the better you are, it keeps your hand-eye coordination sharp," said Browar, who used to run a baseball academy in the Kansas City area. "From a technical background it keeps your mechanics in place. I have always been a firm believer that the more pitches you see, the better you are." Browar could stroke pitches seven days a week if he wanted to with the cage in his back yard. He could hit Sunday morning to tune up for a game, just like the big league guys, and then go play. There is a certain convenience of a stay-at-home workout. Of course, there are many different types of machines and cages to buy. The Jugs Co. in Tualatin, Ore., sells a pitching machine where the ball squirts through two spinning tires. The advantage to this machine, compared with the metal arm machines that fling the ball, is the Jugs machine can throw curveballs. That can be a big edge. Pitchers in MSBL and other senior leagues have lost something off their fastball and mix in more offspeed pitches. Ed DeChenne, the marketing director for The Jugs Co., said the company sells a complete package called "Jason Giambi." The package, which sells for $2,809, includes the net, the poles, the pitching machine, and four dozen baseballs -- everything to get started. "We ship them out and you can put it up yourself," DeChenne said. "Any company that installs chain link fences can be hired to do the work, too." DeChenne said The Jugs Co. also sells a machine for $415 that will pitch fastballs and curveballs and simulate breaking balls from left-handers or right-handers. It weighs just 35 pounds. Weather, of course, can play a big factor in the life of a net. Some areas of the country might get heavy snow and if the cage is outdoors there is a risk of snow piling on the cage and bending the frame. "Unless you plan on taking it down every year, the weather plays a big factor," Browar said. "The weather can cut the life span in half. I recommend getting Browar also recommends a pitching machine from MasterPitch.com, which is an arm machine and helps with timing, because it simulates the pitcher's arm action. "If I was going to do it again I would buy a kit with everything included," Browar said. "My tunnel was 70 feet, which gave me plenty of room for the hitter, plenty of room for the machine, and set up at 60 feet, 6 inches, which I highly recommend. It's a great thing to have, especially for somebody who has kids growing up. I spent a lot of time with my son that way and it helped him tremendously." Browar said to go first class start to finish, the investment is approximately $4,000 to $5,000. "It's a commitment, but people spend just as much of their discretionary income in other ways," Browar said. "I didn't think it was that big a bite. I had my machine for a long time and I actually sold it to a guy in Chicago for $200 less than I paid for it. Browar said a quality "arm" pitching machine will cost $2,600 to $2,700. Many of the MSBL players did not have families with the discretionary income in the 1960s to have a batting cage and machine. It was the old man throwing pitches on the sandlot; that is if there were enough daylight remaining when the old man got home from work. Now that MSBL players are the "old man" themselves, they have the perfect tool to stay sharp. Batting cage and/or pitching machine manufacturers Atec Batting Cages Inc. Gourock The Jugs Co. Master Pitching Machine |