Backyard Bullpen Lighting

As a parent, throwing yes. Bullpens without daylight were out of the question once junior hit 80’s with movement.

After several days of rain I rented a lane in a facility to catch my son. Playing catch was fine as his velocity increased. His first pitch (mid 80’s with movement at the time) in facility light I dove out of the way. About halfway to me I could see the ball. But I wasn’t sure exactly where it was.

I then fed him balls from a bucket while he pitched to the square on the mat.

We are facing the same problem - have a backyard batting cage and now it will be dark early.

I bought but have not yet received

140W Solar Street Light 14000LM - 1 Light (50% OFF) x 1

hoping that I can mount it on the batting cage or maybe a tree nearby. I like that its solar.

I also bought from Home Depot :

@RJM posted:

As a parent, throwing yes. Bullpens without daylight were out of the question once junior hit 80’s with movement.

After several days of rain I rented a lane in a facility to catch my son. Playing catch was fine as his velocity increased. His first pitch (mid 80’s with movement at the time) in facility light I dove out of the way. About halfway to me I could see the ball. But I wasn’t sure exactly where it was.

I then fed him balls from a bucket while he pitched to the square on the mat.

Kind of what I’m afraid of. It’s hard enough in broad daylight.

Seems risky. Why not use a net with a target?

We can use a net and target. Was just wondering if anyone had a setup that worked well. I imagine to get the lighting we’d need it would look pretty funny to my neighbors across the lake.

I got a couple 1000 watt Halogen c 4 foot stands( about $40 each at Lowe's). I  either use a long extension cord or bring out my portable generator. And YES, i have him throw into a Pitchers Pocket that i made ,on the cheap. I tried to catch him once, but once was enough. Even with full catcher's gear on.

I’ve been wearing gear for a while and still get dinged up. I think I won’t even risk trying to catch him at night. We have plenty of different net options we can use  

I’ll check out some of the lights you guys mentioned. There are some solid cordless options but they are pretty expensive. The solar option may work well

Personally I don’t like the nets, with pockets or without. When I was a player I had trouble finding anyone that would catch my bullpens. I built a regulation mound in the backyard and set 2 fence posts behind home plate (where the catcher would be) and strung up a canvas tarp between them. I painted a strike zone on the tarp and the painted 4 red circles at the edges of the strike zone at the locations I wanted to become proficient at hitting (at the knees & under the hands - arm side & glove side). Then I focused my bullpens on hitting those spots - all 4 spots with the 2 seam FB, and the 2 low spots with CU & slider. It worked for me.

This is a firm painful oh hell no

Black eye and bent fingers at 80 mph. Now over 90 it has become his brothers job. He heals faster.

We also get the college kids to do it when they are home from school.

@Showball$ posted:

This is a firm painful oh hell no

^^^ very very true ^^^ Lost a toenail early last spring - indoor lighting and a spiked fastball - Kid thought it was funny watching me hop around on 1 foot  -  me not so much 

call 911 and ready to go.

Age has something to do with the decision on catching kids. My son is the youngest. I was 54 when my son was 16. Had I been 44 I probably would have thought, “Bring it on.”

At 44 I was still taking on all the challenges. At 42 I played in a baseball league with a bunch of 25-27yos. At 54 I was calculating risk factor. It was all about recognizing the change in reaction time.

Luv ya RJM but I have shoes older than that and a 93FB and 80CB are out of the question.

I'm a little intimidated behind the backstop!