How the iPad is changing baseball

Baseball is undergoing a digital revolution thanks to the iPad and the iPhone. Sports fans, management and even players are using the iPad to improve America's favorite game. Fans can watch every Major League game on their phone or tablets. Managers can keep track of their rosters and players can analyze both their own performance and that of their competitors.

Companies like Baseball Info solutions have embraced this trend. The service compiles the statistics for every player in the Major Leagues and makes it available to all thirty MLB teams. Sports professionals are not alone in this move to a digital future. Recently, we took a look at Extra Innings Mobile Instructor, an app which lets coaches and parents record and analyze the technique of both hitters and pitchers.

And baseball isn't the only sport being transformed by the iPad. Recently, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers handed out iPads to all its players and management to replace the paper-based playbook.

View Tags

Source: http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/6908844/information-age-ch…

Categories

iPad

Baseball is undergoing a digital revolution thanks to the iPad and the iPhone. Sports fans, management and even players are using the...

Add a Comment

Sign in »

12 Comments

Filter by:

RadioMetz

I've been involved in webcasting high school sports over the net for about 6 years now and have clamored for the day when tablet integration could play a key role in our operations. One of my guys started using the ESPN baseball stat-keeping app on an Android tablet this summer and it added so much convenience and content to the broadcasts. Looking forward to even more integration of tablet apps and have some innovative ideas in mind for apps - just need to break down and experiment with building them.

August 31 2011 at 11:35 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Robertaleen

Also, you can use an iPad to entertain you during the 2:57 hours of downtime in a 3:00 hour game.

August 31 2011 at 5:20 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

deviladv

Baseball is the most mathematically oriented sport. The first step in baseball strategy is to gather and learn all the statistics that go with each player. With all the statistics, it attracts math and numbers geeks of all kinds, and it's a natural next step that those into baseball are surrounded with technology. So then it's just a question of "what's the best technology for the job."

August 31 2011 at 4:43 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

JiN

"Fans can watch every Major League game on their phone or tablets."

Not every game. As a New Yorker, I can't see the Mets or Yankees. I understand the broadcast rules but like everything else in the "business" of baseball, MLB should reach an agreement with each club and the broadcasters to get a cut from fans that opt in for MLB.TV+Local which would include local. Instead you have these broadcasts offering services like MLB.TV for one team and not as wide-spread as the MLB.TV system is.

August 31 2011 at 4:41 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to JiN's comment

tommydawg

I know it's a technicality, but it didn't say you could watch every Major League game LIVE. You can't watch live games of your "local" team or teams. Local is used very loosely. In some (many?) cases, your "local" team's home stadium may be over 1,000 miles away. You can however, watch every non-local game live, and every game, including the "local" ones, shortly after the game is over from the archives.

September 01 2011 at 3:02 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

TapTeachApps

We just recently created an ipad app for kids to interactively teach them about the basics of baseball. It is in the app store now. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tapteach-baseball/id457985074?mt=8

August 31 2011 at 3:54 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Jeff H

Here's a link to the game changer site:

http://www.gamechanger.io/

August 31 2011 at 3:25 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Jeff H

I am on the board of directors at the local Little League and we are looking at an app called Game Changer to do our electronic scoring. Basically, the scorekeeper would use an iPad to track the game and the updates would stream online where you could follow by computer, iPad, iPhone, or other devices.

August 31 2011 at 3:25 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

alansky

What baseball desperately needs is video review of the rulings of umpires who are blind as bats, not iPads!

August 31 2011 at 3:23 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Andrew Smiley

http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/bams-pro-baseball/id446672500?mt=8

Great app for tracking your favourite team while you are at work or out with friends.

August 31 2011 at 2:53 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply