Patent ID: 7458907

Claim:
An artificial pitcher for practicing the hitting skill of baseball comprising: a rectangular support having a plurality of legs secured to an underside of the rectangular support for inserting into a ground surface; a lug secured on a top surface of the rectangular support including a pair of aligned holes; a semi-circular angular adjustment plate uprightly disposed on a top surface of the rectangular support abutting the lug and further including an arcuate slot; an artificial pitcher having a hollow cylindrical main body having a transverse tube attached to a lower end engaged within said lug and rotatably secured by a bolt; a transverse rod attached to a lower periphery and slidably engaged in the arcuate slot of said semi-circular adjustment plate, the transverse rod operated by an eccentric handle, a stopping rod attached to a lower periphery opposite to the transverse rod, a substantially L-shaped hook attached on the lower periphery and held in place by a slopping rod having a small spring connected to a transverse portion of the L-shaped hook and a small projection, the small projection having a hook head on a top portion and a plane portion at an outer end of a transverse portion; a pair of slits placed in opposing peripheries of the hollow cylindrical main body, a main spring biasing a stroke inside the hollow cylindrical main body; a tread rod and a catch rod projected outward from opposing peripheries of said stroke and sliding in the pair of slits respectively; a horizontal plate including a central hole connected to a top portion of the hollow cylindrical main body; an outer spring wrapped on an outer periphery of the hollow cylindrical main body biased between the horizontal plate and the tread rod; a ball holder attached to the top portion of the hollow cylindrical main body having a central bore engaged with the central hole of the horizontal plate and a pair of slots formed within the horizontal plate for receiving a pair of bolts and butterfly nuts, and a guide stripe beside a slit to cope with a bearing of the tread rod for balancing the tread rod; a control device positioned away from the artificial pitcher having a rectangular base, the base including a plurality of legs insertible into a ground surface; a tread plate biased by a spring on a top surface of the base and a rope having one end connected to an underside of the tread plate and another end connected to the hook of said artificial pitcher.