Co. hopes for a home run with autograph product
BY CHRIS MURINO Staff Writer
Have you ever walked up to a baseball player, dying to get himto autograph your baseball, only to realize you forgot your pen? What about trying to get a player to sign amuddy, scuffed-up ball?Well, a South Brunswick business, League Design Partners, has invented a new kit it says will make all of your baseball-signing nightmares go away.

Mike Cunningham, who is a Jackson Township police officer and president of League Design Partners, came up with the Sign and Sho Autograph Board. The entire kit is in the shape of a home plate and comes with a baseballwith a plastic covering to keep it protected, an attached baseball bat pen and a handle for easy carrying. The board can also be used to display the ball on a table or on a wall.

"I wanted something a fan could take to the park that would protect the ball," Cunningham said. "The kids can take it home with them and it's not just a ball in a glass cube. It's a lot more treasurable. There are a lotmorememories with it."

Cunninghamcame upwith the ideawhile watching a home run derby in 2004.

"I wasn't a huge baseball fan," he said, "but I sawthe kids bringing a ball up and one kid didn't have a pen, so the players couldn't sign the ball."

Cunningham also mentioned how awkward it was for the player to sign the baseball, as he was simply fumbling around.

"I showed it tomy friends at the police department and they all said, 'Wow, that's a really

good idea,' " he said. After receiving a patent for the idea,Cunninghamvisited PreSource Technologies Inc., a product development company, which mostly invests inmedical products.

"Ed Hawley [from PreSource] came up with the basic design of it,"Cunninghamsaid. "He got all the aspects of it that I wanted."

"Because itwas a baseball idea, I came up with the home plate idea," Hawley said.

Hawley said he and his partner, president PhilipBlysak,were interested by the product and by Cunningham's enthusiasm.

"There's nothing out there like it,"Hawley said. "It struck us as a product that would be practical."

The back of the board has a sticker on which the autograph seeker can write down who signed the ball, when it was signed and othermemories.

Cunningham said he knew the idea would be viable after he brought the product to two trade shows featuring baseballmemorabilia.

"We showed it to 650 people and 77 percent said theywould pay $29.95 for it," he said, noting that the price was recently lowered to be more affordable for its target audience.

"Our market is more kid-oriented," Cunningham said. "A professional collector isn't really going to purchase this.We lowered the price to $19.95 aftermeetingwith several distributors. People who go to minor league games are going there for an inexpensive night out."

Minor league stadiums areCunningham's primary targets right now.

"There'smore access to players," Cunninghamsaid. "Major leagueplayers,unless they're at a professional signing, won't do as many signings asminor league playerswill do."

Lakewood BlueClaws General Manager Geoff Brown was a big help to Cunningham when it came to licensing.

"It's something you don't think anybody can do," Cunningham said of getting licenses. "He's been a real catalyst."

Right now the firm has a local license agreement, but he wants to have a national license soon.

They also sold some kits to the Jackson Little League.

"Everyone on the team will sign the ball," Cunningham said, making for a memory for the children.

Major league baseball and college baseball will be future areas that Cunningham will focus on.

"Ifwe had aYankee board at spring training, I don't think we'd have a problemselling it," Cunninghamsaid.

FormerNewYorkYankeesRoyWhite and Sparky Lyle have endorsed the product and are on an infomercial on the company's Web site at www.signandsho.com.

Cunningham said he hopes to expand the company in the future to include products involving hockey, tennis, golf, NASCAR, lacrosse and even some products to help out the police department.

"The NASCAR graphics will be of a race track," Cunningham said. "We have these plans drawn up. We're looking for an investor to take us to the next level, which could be hundreds of thousands of dollars."

So far, Cunningham said $300,000 has been invested in the company.

"We're very anxious to move ahead with the company," he said. "The building next to us is vacant, but it all costs money. I've spent every dime that my family has on this. My family's future is riding on this."

Cunningham said the product has undergone about 15 to 20 changes since its inception. One major change was the box in which it is sold. It is now sold in a clear plastic clamshell case so the entire board is visible, as opposed to its original case that did not allow the whole board to be seen.

Cunningham said word-of-mouth has been growing lately.

"You don't know how many people I've seen that say, 'Whoever thought of that is going to be a millionaire,' " he said, laughing. "I don't know when that's going to happen. It's not an overnight thing.

Ten percent of the proceeds go to the Fisher House, which provides support, transportation and a comfortable place to live for the family members of veterans who are recovering from injury, according to the Web site signandsho.com.