Playing baseball is one of America's oldest pastimes alongside baking pies, hosting barbecues, and inventing pastimes. Invent some American heritage of your own with today's Groupon to Mercury Sports. Batters must bring their own helmets and bats. Choose between the following options:

• For $5, you get a 30-minute batting-cage rental (a $20 value).
• For $12, you get a 60-minute batting-cage rental (a $30 value).

Batters hone their slugging styles with practice in Mercury Sports' hitting facility, which houses three batting cages that challenge swingers with varying speeds. Step into The Iron Mike, a one-person cage named for its remote-control pitching arm and automated taunts recorded by Mike Tyson. An action arm on the machine lets batters see the pitch as it unfolds as if they were batting against a human pitcher. Beginning batters can limber their bats in a second conventional two-person batting area that lobs baseball or softball pitches at swatters. A third cage keeps players on their toes by throwing fastballs, curve balls, and sliders, emulating both a pitcher's arsenal and life itself.