The baseball dugout goes wireless
Major League Baseball is finally getting rid of the corded phones that managers use to connect with the bullpen.
The rest of the country may be mobile, but there was always one place you could count on seeing the old-fashioned corded phone: Major League Baseball.That may soon change, however. The landline phones in baseball dugouts, those technological relics that managers still rely on to make bullpen calls, will soon be disconnected.
Managers will start to look like everyone else at the stadium, gabbing away on 4G smartphones. Major League Baseball has worked out a wireless sponsorship deal with T-Mobile USA to replace those dugout phones with Samsung Galaxy S III phones.
In yet another charming example of baseball's attachment to tradition, MLB never thought to ask for a new phone system even after a decade's worth of discussions with wireless carriers about sponsorships, The New York Times reported. But finally, the sport is moving into the 21st century.
"This is baseball's continued push into the digital age," said MLB executive Tim Brosnan, according to the Times.
But, in fitting momentum for a sport that still uses manual scoreboards in some parks, the rollout of the new technology will be slow. It's still unclear if each stadium will have wireless phones this year.
One key question for managers is whether the new T-Mobile phones will be as reliable as their corded ancestors. Any mobile phone user can tell you about disappearing bars and dropped connections. The last thing baseball wants is Jim Leyland screaming obscenities at his T-Mobile phone at a crucial point in the game.
There will be new rules governing the use of those phones, too, the Times reported. For example, managers won't be allowed to call the bullpen from the pitcher's mound. And it's probably best to stay away from "Angry Birds" during the game.
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