The Baseball Center NYC

If it were possible to give 0 stars, I would.
First, upon showing up with 2 of my friends, we quickly found out that we weren’t really wanted. The people who «greeted» us as we entered quickly made up their minds that we weren’t good enough to use this facility. When we asked the costs, we were met with «There’s no room. Next time call in advance». Well folks, my question was about cost, not about availability.
Second, after we received the bad news about no space, a few other people came in for the «open cages» type scenario like we did and was let in. Apparently they knew a guy who knew a guy who… you get the point.
Third, when we finally found out the price for use this place, I swear we almost fainted. If you want to know… you’re paying for the area, not the facility.
Finally (cause we left and didn’t even bother trying to schedule a time for another date), there were a lot of parents in there trying to get their little sluggers and sluggettes to learn the game. Parents, if you are reading this: don’t yell at your kids to do better in the cages. It makes you look foolish. Also, there should be someone at the facility who could possibly give advice.
With all that being said, unless you have a reservation or you know when you could go during the middle of the day to go there (as if we have the time for that) or you really are in the mood to be disrespected by staff members who probably couldn’t hit their way out of a kleenex sack using a DiMarini wrapped in barbed wire, don’t waste your time like I did.
OH…and I went back months later and it was still the same crap.

I went in to the center to try and sign up in person for my 5 year old son for the winter indoor baseball program. The staff behind the desk were rude and unhelpful. I asked to see the exact dates of the session since I was not able to find it online and he said, to look online. When I told him I did already, but could not locate it, he said, «Well, it’s all online.» I just stood there in shock that he did not help me or that they had a list of dates ready to show me. Then I asked, what their make up policy was since we were away for 2 weeks in December. He said, there wasn’t one. It just runs every weekend. When I told him my dilemma, he was again unresponsive. I have not never spoken to someone so rude to me when I was trying to sign up for their service at was $ 600! He was unprofessional and there was not way I will ever be signing up my sons for this program.
We signed up for Empire New York Baseball who have been responsive and helpful! Go there!

Just spent quite a lot of money sending my 6-​year-​old to two weeks of baseball camp at The Baseball Center on W. 74^th Street and was very dismayed to discover that it’s little more than glorified babysitting. Yes, they run drills and take the kids to Central Park, but the coaches are undisciplined and lazy and they don’t know how to teach.
Every morning when I dropped my son off, I observed all three coaches casually standing at one end of the batting cage chatting, laughing among themselves, and occasionally hitting a ground ball to the kids lined up on the other end. At least one if not two of those coaches could have been stationed at the children’s end of the cage, encouraging the kids and helping them one-​on-​one by demonstrating proper technique. Their approach to teaching and training is woefully inadequate and the fact that they didn’t bother to adjust their conduct when parents were watching demonstrates just how ingrained their laziness has become.
There is simply no enthusiasm or focus on the part of the coaches — just lazily addressing the kids with little regard for actually teaching skills and techniques, as if they’re simply killing time until the clock ticks down and they can go home. Every once in a while a coach will offer a suggestion to a specific child, but they’re completely not invested in the task at hand and not paying much attention. If the child doesn’t immediately pick it up they move on without comment. In one case, I have watched a boy throw the ball off the wrong foot for a week, and other than an initial comment about it on Monday (which the boy didn’t understand because there was no demonstration) there didn’t appear to be any more attention. By Tuesday and Wednesday, the coaches didn’t bother following up when he continued throwing off the wrong foot, as if they’d given up. After two weeks of camp, many of the kids are still as confused about how to field, bat, throw, and catch as they were on Day 1.
Often times the kids were chasing each other playing tag or horsing around and the coaches were either oblivious or actually suggesting that they shouldn’t tag each other so hard (as if it were a safety issue and not a discipline issue). I appreciate that working with children that young isn’t easy, but if you provide adequate supervision and discipline it’s not difficult to get their attention. Unfortunately, the coaches at The Baseball Center seemed to resign themselves to the idea that young children can’t be controlled and they did very little to reign in the goofing around and most of the time the atmosphere was chaotic.
Numerous times I observed children using improper technique and the coaches either said nothing or they made a vague comment from where they were standing that didn’t register with the child. Not once did I see a coach walk up to a child and demonstrate proper technique. It was as if they couldn’t be bothered to teach.
If the Baseball Center belonged to me I would actually train and then supervise the coaches to ensure children are getting as much as possible out of the program. I get the feeling the owner simply hires young 20-​something guys who have played baseball somewhere, pays them minimum wage, and throws them in with kids who want to learn how to play baseball. As we all know from life experiences, being able to do something and teach something are completely different skills. Lots of very accomplished people are incapable of teaching their fields and, again, especially with young children, they desperately need coaches who are willing to focus and do the work.
Maybe the baseball center is useful for older kids who arrive determined, well behaved, and committed to baseball, but for kids in the 5 to 8, 9 year-​old range who are starting out and learning the fundamentals, it’s really nothing more than expensive babysitting.
I suspect management thinks a proper resume for a coach to work at their facility is experience playing baseball, However, especially with very young children, you also have to know how to inspire and instill discipline.
The only thing that impressed me was the fact that the coaches somehow learned each of the children’s names. Makes me think the only training management gave them was to be sure to learn the children’s names because that will impress parents.
My advice for parents looking for summer activities, or even those hoping to have their children learn baseball fundamentals, is to save your money and do almost anything else. I can’t imagine anything being worse than dropping your child off at The Baseball Center. Massive disappointment!!!

My 7 and a half year old son did 3 weeks of camp this summer at The Baseball Center, and i can’t say enough about how much he enjoyed his experience at this truly wonderful place. The staff is courteous, friendly, great with kids, and my son came home every afternoon excited about his days, the games he played, and the new baseball skills he’d learned. Every point of contact I had with staff at The Baseball Center was genial and professional, and the place exudes an incredibly positive vibe. We will most definitely be signing him up again next summer, and we highly recommend the incredible Baseball Center.

People here seam to be complaining about the price. It is comparable to other baseball instruction in NYC, since my son has done Little League, Chelsea Piers, and Crossover Baseball. You get what you pay for! At the Baseball Center you are getting elite training from Professional Baseball players (Majors & Minors) and College Level Division I & II. The coaches are all at the top of there game. You are not going to get this anywhere else.
I played baseball up until H.S. and now coach my sons little league team but I bring him here to the Baseball Center to get some very excellent training. They have really broken down the game for him. Especially the mechanics of hitting and pitching. My son is not a catcher but before his training we usually get there early and I was watching the catching instruction and it was very excellent. I’m not a person who is easily impressed. But my son has done other baseball instruction and the Baseball Center far outweighs the others.
My son started doing the Winter Baseball program here in 2013 and there has been a huge improvement in his game in 6 months. He is still there training and is not leaving because his understanding of the game at 8 yrs. old is amazing.
I highly recommend the Baseball Center!

Love this place, super low key. It doesn’t even make you feel like you feel like you’re in the city.
The bats hurt our hands a little after using the bat and caused some calluses but it was fun otherwise.

I used a groupon to get half off for a 30 minute personal instruction/​training session with Rob. I am an adult softball player whose skill level is about average, play about every weekend during the summer, and I’ve been playing for some years now. I got some great pointers for that session…
Pros:
* convenient location right off the subway
* I have never received organized instruction/​training such as little league or HS/​college so getting instruction from somebody who played and who had received training himself was great
* I got pointers on my hitting, throwing, fielding, and footwork which all helped.
* I also got some pointers on drills/​exercise
Cons:
* Small but that can be expected with something in the city. They have two areas with different setups in each area
* I only saw a few adults there so it appears mostly for kids
* It is on the pricier side but the groupon made it cheaper.
Overall: I would recommend this if you want to get better and never really received personal instruction before. It is a bit pricey but it can be invaluable if it helps you with baseball/​softball.

Sure it can be expensive, what in NYC isn’t? The coaches are uniformly great; excellent attitudes, great coaching and consistently scheduled ao they are there when you want. These coaches are university players with lots of experience and talent and knowledge and willingness to work with the kids on the finer points. Unless you were a player in college, no parent can provide the level of training available here.

I’m the nanny, and I’ve been all over the city taking kids to classes, meeting coaches and watching kids either engage in interesting, useful teaching, or roll around on the floor in boredom. The baseball center was so great for my 4 year old twin boys. The tall hot blonde coach, the Owen Wilson look alike, was engaged and had the kids doing age appropriate drills while really seeming to be happy to be there. So many classes in the city you show up to hung over coaches giving bad lessons and could care less. I will always encourage my families to bring their kids here for lessons that will actually have an impact on their athletic ability.

The Baseball Center caters to the parents of rich, talentless, baseball loving parents who spoil their children by giving them private lessons in sports in the hopes that their genetic shortcomings can be overcome through hours of overpriced, professional education. While these people fill up these cages, I’m not sure if everyone else is missing out.
Sure the facilities are nice for practicing, but this place is crazy expensive and the staff treats you like they’re doing you a favor by accommodating the reservation that you had to make weeks in advance to hold the space. A tunnel costs $ 85 an hour here, but more if you have more people (despite the fact that it’s the same tunnel and you can have a maximum of three people in there at every time —pitcher, hitter and catcher). If you’re a team holding a «practice», they will charge you further still, just for the point of squeezing more money out of you. Of course, last time I was here, they didn’t tell me this, despite the fact that I’d been there many times before, and the staff saw fit to interrupt my practice to argue this with me.
The location can’t be better, and the facilities aren’t bad, but overall, they overcharge for their product and don’t treat you right.