By the way: Picking up the ball

Chris Cunnane always liked to go outside and practice hitting a baseball. He had a net cage and a bucket of balls. What he didn’t like to do was pick up the balls. “It’s a waste of energy,” he said.
So, he decided to do something about it. He invented a baseball-hitting device.
Chris is one of those special people who can combine their imagination, creativity, occupational skills and determination to solve a problem.
Semi-retired, he has spent about three years perfecting his device which is basically a golf-baseball hybrid. He now holds two U.S. patents on the device, which he has named Max T. He’s hoping to have it on the market in the spring.
Max T consists of two steel posts on a steel base weighted with sandbags to provide stability. A rotating steel bar suspended between the posts holds a baseball permanently attached to either end.
Once a bat strikes the top ball, the bottom one pops up to replace it – again and again. The device has a stopping mechanism that always presents a ball at the top, Chris said.
The base measures about 30 inches long and the device stands about that tall when adjusted to its lowest level. It weighs 20 pounds and is easily transportable.
“It can be used indoors or outdoors without concern for the weather,” Chris continued, “and it telescopes up.”
The height can be adjusted to a comfortable batting level for adults or children, and it works for both right- and left-handed batters.
A child can learn to hit a ball, take it to his room and practice without fear of breaking windows. It also helps to develop hand-eye coordination and muscle memory; most of all, it provides the kind of practice that can lead toward perfection.
Chris said, “It’s a really versatile product.”
Creating Max T took a while. “We had a lot of prototypes, lots of trial and error.” said Chris. “It was frustrating at times, but a challenge.”

Jean, his wife, is totally supportive of the endeavor. She said, “I got to pick the colors.” She laughed as she recalled often mentioning something to Chris. “He’d reply with something totally unrelated, something that was puzzling him about his project. He hadn’t heard a word I’d said.”
The child of Irish immigrants Chris was born in this country but his parents moved back to Ireland. He grew up in Galway and his family returned to the United States when he was 11,
He lived at the inn that is now the Piper Tavern and was owned then by relatives. A carpenter, he built his own home on Annawanda Road in Tinicum in 1975. He and Jean have a son and a daughter and five grandchildren.
Chris said his device is based on the same principle as a golf tee but adapted to baseball. He was fortunate to have some legal help from his son-in--law, Peter Cronk, an attorney who lives in Moorestown, N.J.
“We did a patent search and couldn’t find anything like my idea, and he helped me get a provisional patent,” Chris explained.
Then Wendy Kova, a patent attorney who lives in Springfield Township, completed the formal application and a patent was granted.
Chris is currently working on a video he plans to submit to kickstarter.com. Based in Brooklyn, it’s an international crowdfunding platform that allows creators/inventors/entrepreneurs to display their products and gather financial support from the public worldwide. “It lets people know if their product is good enough to sell,” explained Chris.
Chris expects Max T will sell for “under $200.”
The market for the device is a broad one, ranging from individual families to coaches and teams from Little League up to professional levels – or anyone who loves baseball, like Chris, and they’re all over the planet.
kathyclark817@gmail.com

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