Lorenzo Ponza

Lorenzo "Larry" J. Ponza Jr. (February 15, 1918 – December 15, 2004) was the inventor of the modern baseball pitching machine.

He grew up in the Santa Cruz area of California near a sawmill which was operated by his parents.

In 1941 he moved to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and worked as a senior civilian supervisor for the US Navy's production control office.

He followed this up with many improvements, including the 1974 Hummer, which could simulate fastballs, pop-ups and grounders, the Casey (1983), the Ponza Swing King (1987) and the Rookie (1988).

In Argentina, a popular online newspaper, Telégrafo del Sur, published a comic called "The news adventures of Lorenzo Ponza" in honor of him.