Thursday, March 27, 1997

Former football coach develops pitcher's pal

By Bill Hart

W.G. "Tank" Nelson has been a football coach most of his adult life, so it may come as a surprise that he has a side business in baseball.

The one-time head football coach at Albany, Jim Ned and Stamford who is now on the staff at Crane, has invented a product called "The Pitcher's Pal," which has caught on thus far with 10 major league teams.

It is a gearless machine molded in the form of a crouched batter that can be placed in the batter's box on either side of the plate. It also is being used in the bullpen for relief pitchers.

There are three uses for the Pitcher's Pal, Nelson says - to help a pitcher learn to throw inside, for a pitcher to build up confidence pitching inside without fear of hitting a live person, and for catchers to learn to throw to either first or third base.

So far, the Florida Marlins have ordered five, keeping one on the major league level and sending four to their minor league teams. The Boston Red Sox have bought three. Other teams who have ordered one are the Texas Rangers, Montreal Expos, Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto Blue Jays, San Diego Padres, Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies.

Florida State, Rice, Connecticut, New Mexico and Houston are some of the colleges that have ordered the "Pal." Several others also have ordered it for their women's softball teams. Nelson says about 100 have been sold and just recently, the product was put in a major sporting catalog, which should help sales. (It costs $399, plus tax).

The idea came to Nelson in 1992 when he was driving from Stamford to Abilene for a meeting at the Region 14 Service Center. He dismissed it because he figured something like this was already available. A couple of weeks later at about the same spot on Farm-to-Market Road 600, the same idea resurfaced again and this time, he decided to check it out.

He discovered there were a couple of patents out for a similar product with gears, but nothing like what he had in mind. It took three years to work out the kinks, coming up with the design, getting the patent and forming the company. Then in January, 1996, it became a reality.

The "batter" is 68 inches tall. Nelson thought about making it taller until he talked to Texas Rangers pitching coach Dick Bosman.

"He told me that was the right height because most of the batters his pitchers faced were 5-10 to 6-2 and the Pal is 5-8 in a crouched position," Nelson said. "In the future, we may make one a little smaller so it can be used by Little League or Pony League kids who are learning to pitch."

Nelson and his wife Nancy sent out a lot of letters promoting the invention, dealing mainly with schools in Texas and Oklahoma. The reponse was slow at first, but it has picked up.

"We mailed out a lot of brochures, and no one has told us they don't like it or sent one back," Nelson said.

Houston company builds the product, but orders are placed through an 800 number in Burkburnett (1-800-905-8837 or 1-800-345-0391). The order is usually filled by the next day, says Nelson, who collects the payment and pays bills. He does mostly the latter.

That's why he's still coaching for his livelihood and will for awhile. Then he hopes the Pitcher's Pal will be a real pal for his pocketbook.