Of course it also helps that he may be insane

updated 2:35 p.m. ET Dec. 9, 2007

PHOENIX - Mark Littell believes he has a better way to protect your boys, and, as his YouTube video shows, the former major leaguer will risk his manhood to prove it.

Perched on a wooden pallet, Littell braces himself as assistants aim the barrel of a pitching machine between his legs. On cue, the machine fires a baseball that smacks Littell right in the — well, you know — with a resounding whomp.

Littell stands and flexes his muscles, unfazed.

“Yes sir folks,” he says into the camera. “The Nutty Buddy: It’s mean, it’s tough, and it’s right there for ya, every time.”

Littell, 54, says nine seasons with the Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals helped him design an athletic cup that’s ahead of the competition. The challenge now is to convince ball players big and small that a good cup is worth the extra money.

“All people have to do is try it,” Littell says.

The primary advantage to the Nutty Buddy is that it’s anatomically correct, Littell says, which makes it more comfortable. Unlike traditional shell-shaped cups, the Nutty Buddy is wider, deeper and full of curves.

At $19.95, the Nutty Buddy is on the high end in price, about twice as much as a typical athletic cup. But Littell is betting that parents will buy them for their sons anyway in hopes the better fit will get them to wear the cups more often.

In case their kids need encouraging, Littell’s cups come with macho names: “Hammer,” “Boss,” “Hog” and for really big men, the XL-sized “Mongo,” a salute to the ogre-like character in the movie “Blazing Saddles.”

“I’m a hick,” he says with a chuckle when asked about the names. “I’m from the country.”

So far, Littell’s company has sold 3,500 units through the Web, and he also plans to market them to hockey and lacrosse players, competitive bull riders, police officers — even women. “They need them too,” he says.

Littell, who bears a resemblance to Bill Clinton, is perhaps best known for giving up the hit that allowed Pete Rose to break the National League career hit record in 1981. He’s since bounced around the minor leagues as a pitching coordinator.

The idea for the Nutty Buddy came several years ago in the dugout while working for the Kansas City Royals organization.

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