The Natural (now programmable)
Nov. 16, 2007
The Cleveland Indians have a well-deserved reputation for their dedication to building and maintaining a winning team. Since 1995, the club has finished first seven times and second twice in the tough American League Central. The Indians won their division last year and find themselves in the middle of another spirited pennant race this season. There are many reasons for the organization’s success, but one may very well be its front office’s dedication to providing its players, managers and coaches with every tool necessary to win.
Five years ago the Indians acquired ProBatter Sports sophisticated pitching simulator, utilizing the unit at their various farm club locations on an as-needed basis, including their AAA affiliate in Buffalo. It proved to be popular throughout the organization and the club installed a permanent system at their Jacobs Field home last season. They also purchased another dedicated unit for their AA team in Akron just this past spring.
ProBatter simulators use patented technology in an attempt to perfectly duplicate the experience of facing live pitching. Its newest model, the PX2, was introduced late last year and represents a refinement in the basic ProBatter design, taking advantage of the recent advancements in hardware and software development.
The Indians’ interest in technological solutions to traditionally instinctive baseball arts has led them to use leading edge solutions, such as an ocular eye trainer and a video recording/cataloging system designed to capture every hitter’s at-bat. In June, the team became the first in the majors to use solar energy. The organization recently provided the proprietary ProBatter system to its parent club and to its top two minor league affiliates.
Coincidence or not, all three teams are enjoyed winning seasons, with Cleveland and Akron in the thick of heated pennant races. More pertinently, all the clubs sported upper-division hitting statistics in their respective leagues.
“Because it is important for young players to develop under major league conditions, it is particularly gratifying that(the Cleveland Indians) has chosen to offer our system to their minor leaguers as well as their veteran players,” says Adam Battersby, executive vice president of ProBatter Sports.
The ProBatter pitching simulator projects a DVD-quality image of a real pitcher onto an 8 x 10-foot screen. The hitter watches as the pitcher winds up (or throws from a stretch). At the moment of release, an actual ball is fired through a small hole in the screen, delivering virtually any pitch a human being can. Synchronization is perfect and the effect is startling real. Indeed, hitters can be challenged by an endless array of fastballs, sinkers, cutters, curves, sliders, change-ups, etc.—at speeds up to 100 mph and variable in increments of two mph. Moreover, the pitches can be delivered with pinpoint accuracy and thrown to pre-selected locations inside and outside the strike zone.
The Boston Red Sox and New York Mets have ProBatter simulators installed at their spring training sites and the Chicago White Sox have also purchased the system. The New York Yankees have ProBatter machines installed at Yankee Stadium, as well as the home ballparks of their Tampa, Albany and Scranton minor league teams. In addition, the 2005 Japan Series champion Chiba Lotte Marines, under the leadership of former big league player and manager, Bobby Valentine, also use ProBatter in their training regimen, as do Division I college programs, Connecticut, Maine, Navy Old Dominion and Nevada.
ProBatter Sports was formed in 1999 by members of Kent Communications, Ltd. and Stahl Real Estate, LLC. Stahl Real Estate is one of the principal commercial real estate developers in New York City, while Kent Communications is a publisher of a variety of journals and books on such diverse subjects as intellectual property and licensing. Originally founded around the ProBatter Professional system, the ProBatter product line has expanded with products such as the ProBatter II retrofit kit for commercial batting cages, ProBatter Professional Softball system, and a host of ancillary products including a Smart Card control system, a scoring system, feeder systems, and the ProBatter seamed pitching machine balls, which are licensed to Baden Sports. The ProBatter line of products has received 13 U.S. patents and more than 20 international patents.
SOURCE: ProBatter Sports
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