Isolating each finger so it can be exercised individually, the patented Gripmaster strengthens hands, wrist, and forearm with spring-loaded piston technology while ensuring the palm doesn't slip from a molded grip. This model offers medium tension (seven pounds per finger) and is recommended for men. Sturdy and highly durable, the Gripmaster easily fits in pocket or purse, enabling hand exercise anytime, anywhere.

A few daily workouts with the Gripmaster Pro and you'll enjoy better control of a baseball/softball bat, tennis racquet, or golf club, with each finger working in seamless unity with the others. You'll also find a ton of other uses for the Gripmaster Pro, including playing guitar or violin, rock climbing, bowling, target shooting, martial arts, yoga, or even relieving stress while clicking a mouse or gaming for hours on end.

Exercising with the Gripmaster is the most efficient and effective way to maintain the health and conditioning of the hand. It's the ideal way to maintain the suppleness and flexibility of the hand to prevent injury. Each finger of the hand is powered by a completely separate system of muscles and tendons located in the hand, wrist, and forearm. The ability to control the ball or control the bat, racquet, or club all starts with the hands. Your hand is really five separate systems which work in seamless unity. The only way to develop superior strength, endurance, and coordination in your hands is to challenge and develop each finger individually. Once you exercise with Gripmaster you'll notice a difference almost immediately.

Customer Review: Kevin Bergen
Gripmaster restored the function of my right index finger . I had broken the flexure extensor ligament of my index finger and after several weeks of use the flexion strength is back and the finger is returning to normal . Good product . Kevin Bergen
Customer Review: Comfortable and fun
It's a great product, I love the grip and it does it's job well. Is very compact can take it anywhere. I love using it at work.

It's high time baseball did something to fix one of its biggest problems. No, I'm not talking about steroids, scuffing baseballs, or the Chicago Cubs. It's the huge competitive advantage some teams have gained merely by belonging to the right division.

Back in 1994, Major League Baseball suffered a lost season, which ended in August with no playoffs or World Series. That was also the first season that the American and National Leagues were restructured into three-division leagues instead of two. At that point there were 28 teams in the major leagues. With the addition of Tampa Bay and Arizona in 1998, that brought the number of teams to 30. Although there has been a realignment of teams since then, the basic structure of the league has not changed since 1998.

With 30 teams and six divisions, there should be an equal number of teams (five) in each league. This is true of all but two divisions: The National League's Central Division has six teams, while the American League's Western Division has four. This may not seem like a big deal until one looks at the percentage chance that each team has of making the playoffs.

Major League Baseball currently allows eight teams into the post-season each year. The six division winners get in, plus two Wild-Card teams (one from each league). That means that (all things being equal) each team should have a 26.67% (8 divided by 30) chance of making the playoffs.

However, in the American League (AL) West there are only four teams. Each team has an opportunity to get into the playoffs by winning its division or claiming the Wild-Card spot for the AL. Each AL West team thus has a 25% chance (1 in 4) of winning its division, plus a 9.1% chance (1 in 11 non-division winners) of claiming the Wild Card spot. This adds up to a 34.1% chance that each AL West team has of making the playoffs. By comparison, each team in the AL East or AL Central has only a 29.1% chance of making the playoffs (20% to win their division, plus 9.1% chance at the Wild Card). That's a full 5% competitive advantage that the AL West teams have over the other two American League divisions.

In the National League, there is a somewhat similar scenario, except the National League (NL) Central has six teams while the other two divisions have five. This means that each NL Central team only has a 24.4% chance to make the playoffs (16.7% chance to win their division, plus 7.7% chance to claim the Wild Card spot). The teams in the NL East and NL West have a 27.7% chance of making the playoffs, so the disparity in the National league is only 3.3% instead of five percent.

If one looks at all six divisions, one can see the wide gap between the teams in the NL Central and the AL West:

National League

East ----- 27.7%

Central -- 24.4%

West ----- 27.7%

American League

East ----- 29.1%

Central -- 29.1%

West ----- 34.1%

As anyone can see, the teams in the AL West have a 9.7% higher chance of making the playoffs than the teams in the NL Central. Compound this advantage with the fact that two AL West teams (the A's and Angels) have repeatedly dominated the other two division rivals (the Mariners and Rangers), and the disparity between the divisions grows even further. This large disparity sways the competitive balance to the point where Major League Baseball needs to address the issue.

The solution is relatively simple: Move one NL Central team to the AL West. Then, (all things being equal) every team has the same chance to make the playoffs each year. Keeping location and competitive balance in mind, logical choices to move to the AL West are Houston or Chicago. The Cardinals (St. Louis) are typically the best team in the NL Central, while Pittsburgh, Milwaukee and Cincinnati are farther east than the Cubs or Astros.

Until the problem is fixed, I'll relish being an Oakland A's fan even more. See you in the playoffs (again)!

About the author: Scott has been a baseball fan and an Oakland A's fan for over thirty years. Visit his (new) sports blog at http://rotojournal.blogspot.com

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