Patent ID: 7762912

Claim:
A method for practicing pitching a baseball, comprising the steps of (a) providing apparatus comprising (i) an upright support, (ii) a strike zone parsing panel ( 38 ) mounted on said support and including a fixed rectangular target opening including four corners and defining a virtual strike zone that has an effective combined width that is greater than the width of a regulation home plate, said fixed target opening comprising at least four separate corner openings at said corners of said rectangular target opening, said four corner openings including a first upper corner opening, a second upper corner opening located laterally from said first upper corner opening, a first lower corner opening located beneath said first upper corner, and a second lower corner opening located beneath said second upper corner, (iii) a shielding system comprising a panel member ( 70 A) detachably mountable on said parsing panel ( 38 ) to cover selectively three of said four corner openings while uncovering the remaining one of said four corner openings, and rotatable on said parsing panel ( 38 ) between at least two operative positions, a first operative position in which said panel member ( 70 A) uncovers a selected one of said upper corner openings and covers the remaining one of said upper corner openings and said lower corner openings, and a second operative position reached by turning said panel member ( 70 A) from said first operative position and in which said panel member ( 70 A) uncovers a selected one of said lower corner openings and covers the remaining ones of said lower corners openings and said upper corner openings; (b) selecting one of said upper corner openings; (c) mounting said panel member ( 70 A) on said parsing panel ( 38 ) in said first operative position to uncover said selected one of said upper corner openings and to cover the remaining ones of said four corner openings; (d) throwing pitches toward said selected one of said upper corner openings; (e) selecting said selected one of said lower corner openings; (f) rotating said panel member from said first to said second operative position, and mounting said panel member ( 70 A) on said parsing panel ( 38 ) in said second operative position to uncover said selected one of said lower corner openings and to cover the remaining ones of said four corner openings; and, (g) throwing pitches toward said selected one of said lower corner openings.