Abstract: A light-weight, shock-absorbing chest protector worn, for example, by participants in sports, the protector allowing air circulation to a wearer's body while providing enhanced flexibility. The protector conforms to a wearer's body and flexes inwardly and outwardly and expands and contracts vertically with the wearer's movements. The protector, which is coated with a durable coating to add color as well as additional strength to the protector, is attached to a wearer's body through the use of a harness. Apertures through the protector are shaped to "grab" a ball which strikes the protector and drop the ball near to the wearer, while also reducing the weight of the protector, providing air circulation through the protector, and giving the protector the enhanced flexibility. The protector has optional hinged pads for covering additional areas of a wearer's body without inhibiting freedom of movement.

Abstract: A baseball suitable for continuous use in a pitching machine comprises a molded, resilient polyurethane foam sphere having a type A-2 shore durometer hardness of less than about eighty to eighty-five. The sphere has a smooth polyurethane surface skin, with the surface of the sphere being provided with a regular pattern comprising a multiplicity of cup-like or hemispherical depressions substantially covering the surface. The baseball has the advantage of durability as well as the advantage of being formed economically in one operation from a homogeneous composition. The cup-like depressions enable the ball to travel greater distances than would be expected for the resilient material, and enhance the accuracy with which the ball can be pitched, bringing the ball substantially within the range of initial performance of a conventional or regulation baseball.