Franklin Sports Mlb Crossfire Pro Baseball Batting Trainer No. 14947

by Franklin Sports

Product Features

• Allows players to practice outside of a batting cage
• Hopper style ball feeder has the capacity for 60 balls for continuous pitches
• Ball automatically pitches every 5 seconds
• Set includes: 12 mini EVA foam baseballs, 1.5" in size
• Replacement balls available #14940

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 10 x 10 x 12 inches ; 3 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B0024LP9D6
• Item model number: 14947
• Manufacturer recommended age: 7 - 18 years
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #165,483 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
  • #74 in Sports & Outdoors > Team Sports > Baseball > Training Equipment > Pitching Machines
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Proven to be fun and effective coaching tool. Helps teach tracking and focusing on the ball from release to impact zone. Perfect for baseball or softball players

Product Description

The fun and effective Franklin Sports MLB Crossfire Pro Pitching Machine is designed to help improve baseball and softball batting skills. This dynamic machine pitches mini 1.5in foam balls. The small design forces batters to focus on the ball from release to impact zone for improved skills. The Crossfire Pro includes a hopper-style feeder, which holds up to 60 balls for continuous practice! This lightweight and portable baseball training aid is perfect for practice at home or on the field!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great intro to batting!, May 15, 2010

By 

C. Astalos (Alamosa, CO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Durability:3.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:1.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Franklin Sports Mlb Crossfire Pro Baseball Batting Trainer No. 14947 (Toy)

I looked all over the web for reviews of this before I purchased and couldn't find any. I decided to go ahead and give it a try knowing that Amazon is great at returns if it didn't work well. One question I could never find is how it was powered - well I can tell you, it's with 4 "C" batteries. So it can be taken/set up anywhere.

My main purpose for the machine was to give my 7 year old (who isn't very athletic) some practice at baseball before the season starts. I like that the balls are foam and he's not scared of them coming at him - giving him confidence to try a real ball. I also wanted something that his athletic 9 year old brother could use and we wouldn't have to worry about the 7 year old getting smashed with a real baseball.

The 9 year old also enjoys this machine. Having the smaller than normal baseball makes him think more about hitting the smaller target. So I think it will help him as well.

It only throws the ball about 15' and the balls are foam, so it's not the same arc as the regular pitching machine they will use in their leagues with regular size balls. The wind will easily blow these foam balls off course. But I have found it's pretty easy to adjust by standing behind the machine and just aiming it left/right based on the wind and where the ball went from the last pitch. After the first two balls (which are always low/off as it builds up pressure), the pitch is fairly consistent. It pitches every about 5 seconds. It would not work well on a very windy day though. I also have mine on gravel, so I'm able to easily adjust the gravel to adjust the pitch up/down. There is a screw that allows you to do that, but it's easier for me to just push it into the gravel more or bring more gravel underneath it. If you were using it on a solid surface, you'd have to use a knob to move the plastic screw to make it go up/down.

The whole thing is made of plastic, so I'm not sure how durable it will be in the long run. Only time will tell on that. However, being small & plastic means it's lightweight and easy to toss in the car to take to the park.

Overall I'm happy with the purchase and recommend it if you have young baseball players. I think my athletic 9 year old will outgrow it as a baseball tool shortly, but I'm sure he will enjoy it as a toy longer (no need to have someone to pitch to him!)

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Save your money, July 27, 2010

By 

Eddie S - See all my reviews

= Durability:2.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Franklin Sports Mlb Crossfire Pro Baseball Batting Trainer No. 14947 (Toy)

I purchased this machine for my daughters to get some batting practice in the basement and in the back yard.

Pros: Lightweight and portable, you can adjust height for batter, tosses very tiny balls for good hand eye coordination,

Cons: Battery operated (uses 4"C" batteries which last about 2 days), after 30 mins of continuous use the motor starts to slow down and the balls comes out inconsistently.

Its not a bad machine, I'm just not a fan of the battery operation. It got expensive replacing the batteries. I do think it helped my kids with their hand eye coordination since having to hit a tiny ball with a stickball bat was challenaging. If you are going to use this machine for rec play for your kids I say its cheap enough of an investment. If you are going use this product as a consistant training tool for your athlete, then I would recommend a different product.

4.0 out of 5 stars Great product, go through lots of batteries, November 25, 2010

By 

gobucksgirl "sm" (usa) - See all my reviews

= Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:1.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Franklin Sports Mlb Crossfire Pro Baseball Batting Trainer No. 14947 (Toy)

My 7 and 11 year old boys use this all the time to practice their hitting. With the balls being so small, it really improved their hand eye coordination and they had a lot of fun with it! I do believe this helped with hitting; by the end of the season my already good baseball boys were hitting awesome!! The only con is the amount of batteries it goes through with avid users.