Video

Cameron Kruse, a participant in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, demonstrates his solution to a longstanding problem with baseballs that has won the attention of the sport's professionals. Watch »

RELATED STORIES

• Science Corner: Stephen Bergin
• Science Corner: H. Paul-Patrick Perseo
• Science Corner: Adam Akkad
• Science Corner: Susannah Clary
• Science Corner: H. Richard Zou

More School City

• Suspect beef called back from schools
• Measure requiring high school proficiency test awaits New Mexico governor's signature
• Albuquerque's Lenore Wolf has dedicated her life to kids

MOST RECENT TRIB STORIES

• ABQTrib.com to remain available
  08:48 a.m., February 25, 2008
• Congressman is indicted
  08:37 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Series of attacks target Green Zone
  08:36 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Iran is defying U.N., agency says
  08:35 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Waterboarding approval probed
  08:34 a.m., February 23, 2008

TRIB IN THE BLOGOSPHERE*

• Ty Murray Invitational thrills fans in Albuquerque
• Is Rome Burning?
• Ominous Skies
• The Road to Invalidation
• Albuquerque company participates in “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”

*Note: The Tribune does not create and is not responsible for the blogosphere's headlines and stories. These links to blogs talking about ABQTrib.com are automatically generated. Use them at your own risk.

STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• Comments
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

SHARE THIS STORY [?]

A strange, motorized contraption made of LEGOs looms between buckets of dirty baseballs on the countertop of Cameron Kruse's booth at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.

The invention might look like spillover from a boy's toy chest, but the 17-year-old has used his love of baseball and LEGOs to explore mechanical engineering - and possibly create a profitable business.

The gadget uses lasers, motors and wheels to apply an even coating of mud on new baseballs, a process that baseball clubs currently do by hand - and with some controversy, he said.

"New baseballs have this slick gloss on them," Kruse said. "When the pitcher throws a new ball it can slip out of his hand. You have to degloss it first with mud."

Typically, one person on a baseball team's staff will degloss balls by hand, rubbing special mud over each ball to remove the finish, Kruse explained.

But results from that method are inconsistent. Some balls end up darker; others are close to white.

"It's created problems," Kruse said. "Batters can see a lighter baseball better than a darker one."

His device covers the balls consistently and evenly, so they're all the same color, he said. That gets rid of the controversy and the need for a staff member to spend long hours with mud on his hands.

The gadget is gaining notoriety in the baseball world. It has already been used by the Major League baseball team Colorado Rockies and its AAA farm club in the Pacific Coast League, the Colorado Sky Sox.

The Albuquerque Isotopes are also in that league.

Branch B. Rickey, president of the Pacific Coast League, said he's impressed with the device - and with Kruse's ingenuity.

"What he demonstrates is such a uniform application (of mud) and done to such a consistent degree that it is absolutely startling to people such as me who have been around a sport all our lives," Rickey said.

The way the machine deglosses balls is just about perfect, he added.

Rickey's praise and the Sky Sox' use of the device is a major source of pride for the tall, red-haired homeschooler. Kruse said he has been a bat boy for five years with the team and practically lives at the park when he's not doing schoolwork.

The Isotopes paid respect to the young inventor this week as well, making him an honorary bat boy for Tuesday's game.

"It was cool to meet some new players," Kruse said. "The umpire had heard of my machine and was really interested in it."

Still, it will be a little while before Kruse can mass-market his device.

For one thing, he can't mass-produce it out of LEGOs - that's too expensive, with some motor components costing $150 each, he said.

"I could sell Major League Baseball the idea, or I could make a company and start selling them myself," Kruse said.

He's working on production designs for a less-expensive model, and he plans to patent the device soon, he said.

"This is the first thing I invented," Kruse said. "It really didn't start out as a science fair project. It's just something I made for my baseball team. But now it's grown into something bigger."

Regardless whether the device takes off, Kruse should be proud of his accomplishment, Rickey said.

"It just causes you to look at him and say `Golly, where do people like this come from, and why couldn't I have been this good when I was his age,' " Rickey said. "It's invigorating."

As for ideas for future inventions, Kruse just shrugs.

He's more preoccupied with the notion of going to Pepperdine University in California after he graduates from home school next year.

Between that and baseball, the next invention could take a while, he said.

"I just love baseball," Kruse said. "I love hanging out at the baseball park. That's what I do. School and baseball."