CLIPBOARD : HOME RUN PARK

The guy cursed his way through his pitches in the 60-m.p.h. cage, connecting on several before missing a couple on wild swings. Still, he felt confident enough to step into a nearby cage for a round at 70-m.p.h. before calling it a day.

At the Home Run Park in Anaheim, it is man versus machine, where pitches are hurled from an automated ball machine toward the batter at speeds ranging from 40 to 90 m.p.h. There are also slow-pitch and fast-pitch softball machines.

The park, which will celebrate its 30th anniversary on July 15, was one of the first batting cage facilities in California, according to manager Al Paino.

Now, with 20 cages, “we are one of the largest in the country,” he said.

Paino said about 500 people file through the cages on a typical summer day.

The place gets more visitors in the springtime, as Little League and softball leagues begin, and starts winding down this time of year, he said.

Teams can rent all the cages for an hour to take batting practice for $22, or you can take some swings by yourself for 50 cents for 10 pitches, according to Paino.

“It was 25 cents 30 years ago, so it hasn’t gone up much,” he said.

Paino, who has worked at the facility since it opened, remembers the old days when the Los Angeles Dodgers used to come down to the park when they first came west from Brooklyn.

“They were playing in the L.A. Coliseum, and they didn’t have any cages or anything, so they used to come down her to take (batting practice),” Paino said.

The park has grown since then from just cages to all things related to baseball, he said.

There is a hitting and a pitching instructor available to coach people who want to do better at the game. Doing the pitching duties is Clyde Wright, formerly of the California Angels and the first to throw a no-hitter in Anaheim Stadium, Paino said.

The park is also the home of The Bat House, a retail pro shop for baseball and softball.

“We carry the equipment the pros use year-round,” Paino said.

There are more than 1,000 bats on display, including Louisville Sluggers, Adirondacks and Eastons.

Glove repair, including re-lacing, is also available, Paino said. A baseball card store and video arcade round out the facilities.

Hours: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, except Christmas

Address: 711 S. Beach Blvd, Anaheim

Telephone: (714) 229-8850