Batting practice baseball and method

A batting practice baseball has a circumference and a diameter in the range of from approximately 65% to approximately 90% of the circumference and diameter of a regular or official league baseball sanctioned for use in league games by Rule 1.09 of the Official Baseball Rules. Preferably, the circumference of the batting practice baseball is in the range of from 5.85 inches to 8.33 inches, and the outer diameter is in the range of from 1.86 inches to 2.65 inches. The weight of the batting practice baseball is the same as the weight of an official baseball; and the resilience of the batting practice baseball should be the same as or equivalent to the resilience of an official baseball. This is achieved by constructing the batting practice baseball with materials and with yarn tension sufficient to provide a coefficient of restitution in the range of from approximately 51.4% to approximately 57.8%. Use of the comparatively smaller batting practice baseball during batting practice should improve the batting skills of a player and make the task of hitting the comparatively larger official baseball in a game situation much easier.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
A. Field of the Invention 
The device of the present invention generally relates to organized sports 
activities and, more particularly, to a new and improved method and ball 
for use in baseball batting practice. 
B. Description of the Prior Art 
The sport of baseball has been played on an organized basis since the 
nineteenth century. The ball used in this sport has been generally of the 
same configuration for many years. Rule 1.09 of the Official Baseball 
Rules governing amateur and professional league play in the United States 
of America provides that the ball shall be a sphere formed by yarn wound 
around a small core of cork, rubber or similar material, covered with two 
stripes of white horsehide or cowhide tightly stitched together. Rule 1.09 
further provides that the ball shall weigh not less than five nor more 
than five and one-quarter ounces avoirdupois and measure not less than 
nine nor more than nine and one-quarter inches in circumference. Due to 
the speed with which a baseball can be thrown by a talented pitcher and 
due to the 216 red outer cotton stitches that hold the baseball's 
two-piece leather cover together and that create an uneven flow of air 
over the baseball's surface after being thrown by a pitcher, the task of a 
player to successfully hit the baseball is formidable. Thus, it is 
customary in organized league play for baseball players to spend time in 
batting practice. Such practice hopefully will improve a player's ability 
visually to follow the flight of the baseball and the player's timing in 
swinging a baseball bat into engagement with the baseball to achieve a 
solid impact or hit between the bat and the baseball. The baseball used 
during batting practice traditionally has been the baseball specified by 
the Official Baseball Rules, that is, one identical to the official 
baseball used in league play. While batting practice is effective in 
honing a player's batting skills, new methods and devices are constantly 
being sought to further refine batting skills. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
An object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved 
baseball for use in batting practice. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved 
method of conducting baseball batting practice. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved 
baseball for use in batting practice and a new and improved method for 
conducting batting practice utilizing such a baseball in which the 
baseball is substantially dimensionally smaller than the baseball used in 
game situations. 
Briefly, the present invention relates to a new and improved batting 
practice baseball and a new and impoved method for conducting baseball 
batting practice. The batting practice baseball is dimensionally smaller 
than the regular or official baseball sanctioned by Rule 1.09 of the 
Official Baseball Rules for use in league games. Specifically, the 
circumference and diameter of the inventive batting practice baseball are 
in the range of from approximately 65% to approximately 90% of the 
circumference and diameter of the regular or official league baseball 
sanctioned by the Official Baseball Rules. Since Rule 1.09 provides that 
the baseball shall be not less than nine nor more than nine and 
one-quarter inches in circumference, the circumference of the inventive 
batting practice baseball is in the range of from approximately 5.85 
inches to approximately 8.33 inches. Preferably, the circumference of the 
inventive batting practice baseball is approximately seven inches which is 
approximately 77% of the circumference of an official baseball sanctioned 
for use in league games. 
The weight of the inventive batting practice baseball is the same as the 
weight of an official baseball, namely not less than five nor more than 
five and one-quarter ounces avoirdupois. In order to provide the same 
feeling or liveliness in the batting practice baseball as is in an 
official baseball, the resilience of the batting practice baseball should 
be the same as or equivalent to the resilience of the official baseball. 
This is achieved by constructing the batting practice baseball with 
materials and with cotton and wool yarn tension sufficient to provide a 
coefficient of restitution of the batting practice baseball in the range 
of from approximately 51.4% to approximately 57.8%. 
Use of the smaller batting practice baseball during batting practice should 
further refine the batting skills of a player and make the task of hitting 
the larger official baseball in a game situation much easier.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring to the drawing, there is illustrated a new and improved batting 
practice baseball 10 constructed in accordance with the principles of the 
present invention. The batting practice baseball 10 is spherical in shape 
and is formed by one or more windings 12 of cotton or wool yarn wound 
around a central weighted core 14 of cork, rubber or similar material and 
covered by two pieces 16 and 18 of leather, specifically white horsehide 
or cowhide, tightly stitched together by a plurality of cotton stitches 
20. The central core 14 may be formed by a spherical weighted cork core 22 
surrounded by a first layer 24 and a second layer 26 of rubber vulcanized 
on the cork core 22. 
In accordance with an important feature of the present invention, the 
batting practice baseball 10 is dimensionally smaller than a regular or 
official baseball 28 illustrated in dotted line form in FIGS. 1 and 2 of 
the drawing and constructed in accordance with Rule 1.09 of the Official 
Baseball Rules. Specifically, the circumference of the official baseball 
28 is not less than nine nor more than nine and one-quarter inches, 
resulting in an outer diameter "D" of not less than 2.87 nor more than 
2.95 inches. In addition, the weight of the official baseball 28 is not 
less than five nor more than five and one-quarter ounces avoirdupois. The 
circumference of the batting practice baseball 10 is from approximately 
65% to approximately 90% of the circumference of the official baseball 28. 
More specifically, the circumference of the batting practice baseball 10 
is in the range of from approximately 5.85 to approximately 8.33 inches; 
and the outer diameter "d" of the batting practice baseball 10 is in the 
range of from approximately 1.86 to approximately 2.65 inches. In 
accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the 
circumference and outer diameter of the batting practice baseball 10 are 
approximately 77% of the circumference and diameter of the regular 
baseball 28, that is, seven inches and 2.23 inches, respectively. 
Preferably, the weight of the batting practice baseball is not less than 
five nor more than five and one-quarter ounces avoirdupois; and, in order 
to achieve the same resilience, feel or liveliness as the official 
baseball 28, the coefficient or restitution of the batting practice 
baseball 10 is in the range of from approximately 51.4% to approximately 
57.8%. The weight of the batting practice baseball 10 recited above may be 
achieved by sufficiently weighting the central core 14 including, if 
necessary, using a relatively rigid material heavier than standard 
unweighted cork for the core 22. In order to achieve the resilience 
referred to above, the tension on the windings 12, particularly those 
formed of wool yarn, may be adjusted by increasing or decreasing the 
tension as required to achieve a coefficient of restitution in the range 
recited above. 
In this manner, a new and improved batting practice baseball 10 is provided 
that is dimensionally smaller than the official baseball 28 but has the 
same feel to a player as the official baseball 28 when hit by a player 
during batting practice. A new and improved method of conducting batting 
practice in accordance with the principles of the present invention 
includes utilizing the dimensionally smaller batting practice baseball 10 
during batting practice in order to further sharpen or refine the batting 
skills of a player. The batting practice baseball 10 illustrated in FIG. 3 
would be pitched by a batting practice pitcher or by a pitching machine 
from the pitching mound to a batter separated from the mound by the 
prescribed distance in order to sharpen the hand-to-eye coordination and 
timing of the batter. In this manner, the task of hitting the 
dimensionally larger official baseball 28 during league games should be 
much easier for the batter who has participated in batting practice 
utilizing the dimensionally smaller batting practice baseball 10. 
Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are 
possible in light of the above teachings. Thus, it is to be understood 
that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be 
practiced otherwise than as specifically described hereinabove.