Co. hopes for a home run with autograph product
League Design Partners tries to ease getting baseball signatures
BY CHRIS MURINO Staff Writer

SOUTH BRUNSWICK - Have you everwalked up to a baseball player, dying to get him to autograph your baseball, only to realize you forgot your pen?What about trying to get a player to sign amuddy, scuffedup ball? Well, a township business, League Design Partners, has invented a new kit it says will make all of your baseball-signing nightmares go away.

Mike Cunningham, also a Jackson police officer, came up with the Sign and Sho Autograph Board. The entire kit is in the shape of a home plate and comes with a genuine leather baseball with a plastic covering to keep it protected, an attached baseball bat pen and a handle for easy transportation. The board can also be used to display the ball on a table or 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 lot more memories with it."

Cunningham came up with the idea while watching the Home Run Derby in 2004.

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

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

"I showed it to my 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, Cunningham visited PreSource Technologies Inc., a product development company, which mostly invests in medical products.

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

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

Hawley said he and his partner, president Philip Blysak, were instantly interested by the product as well 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 other little memories.

He knew the idea would be a viable seller after bringing it to twoMAB Celebrity trade shows featuring baseball memorabilia.

"We showed it to 650 people, and 77 percent said theywould pay $29.95 for it," Cunningham said.

However, the price was recently lowered to bemore affordable for its target audience.

"Ourmarket ismore kid-oriented," Cunninghamsaid. "Aprofessional collector isn't really going to purchase this. We lowered the price to $19.95 after meeting with several distributors. People who go to minor league games are going there for an inexpensive night out."

The minor-league stadiums are Cunningham's primary targets right now.

"There's more access to players," Cunningham said. "Major league players, unless they're at a professional signing, won't do as many signings as minor-league players will do."

Geoff Brown, general manager of the Lakewood BlueClaws, was a gigantic 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, they have 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," Cunninghamsaid,making for a piece of memory for the children.

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

"If we had a Yankee board at spring training, I don't think we'd have a problem selling it," Cunningham said.

Former Yankees RoyWhite and Sparky Lyle have endorsed the product and are on an infomercial on the company'sWeb site at www.signandsho.com.

Cunningham also said that 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.

"TheNASCAR graphicswill be of a racetrack," 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 tomove ahead with the company," Cunningham 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 original conception. One major one 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 allowthewhole board to be seen. There are also digital images on the board, done by a company in Baltimore. There is one of Roy White, featuring stats and information on his career.

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,'" Cunningham 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 familymembers of veterans who are recovering frominjury, according to signandsho. com.