For a sport that presses traditionalism tightly to its bosom like a cap during “The Star-Spangled Banner,” baseball has increasingly embraced technology in recent years—a surprising move from a league that saw the Chicago Cubs wait until 1988 for their first night game.
The small kerfuffle created by 61-year-old Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost over his Apple Watch typified this technological paradox. MLB gifted Yost the timepiece for managing the American League at the All-Star Game, but he can’t wear the high-tech watch during games because he could hypothetically gain an unfair advantage by using its “smart” capabilities. For his part, Yost claim he uses the watch conventionally (to tell time), and the watch needs the phone to have the smart functions. But for now, would-be cheaters must stick to the old-fashioned methods of gaming the system, like relaying signs using semaphore.
Aside from watch phones and phone watches, there are other types of tech that baseball players and coaches employ to improve on-field results. And no, this isn’t about titanium necklaces or the St. Louis Cardinals hacking the Houston Astros’ scouting info. It’s also not about Eric Byrnes’ robot Pitchf/x strike zone or Oculus Rift umpires. We examined the forefront of sports innovation, which includes The Matrix-style three-dimensional tracking of every play and even a training device that looks suspiciously like a sports bra.