| With the game comes the gear, as technology | | | | An oldie- but- goody is the Digital Scout, first |
| advances into the 21st century so does | | | | deemed to be the official handheld statistical |
| technological baseball products. There are some | | | | software in 2002. This software enables both |
| extremely interesting baseball products that are | | | | coaches and fans to track statistical and scouting |
| being produced year after year. From baseball | | | | data on a handheld device that uses point |
| gear, to protection, to improving your swing, | | | | -and-touch technology. Using the Personal Digital |
| protecting equipment and memorabilia, the coming | | | | Assistant (PDA) as its platform this software is |
| years promise great technological advances and | | | | great for collecting player and team performance |
| some old favorites. Each praised for the high | | | | and even report printing. |
| quality, competitive pricing, and innovative designs. | | | | But with everything that computers can do, |
| Here is a rundown on some of the products that | | | | baseball purists argue that technology takes from |
| you can expect to see now and in the future. | | | | the human aspect of the game. While others say |
| Major League Baseball is advancing into the digital | | | | that it only enhances statistical data and adds |
| age by testing and using technologies to assist in | | | | accuracy and efficiency in performance |
| helping teams, umpires, and individual players | | | | monitoring. Which ever way you lean technological |
| achieve optimum performance. Take for example | | | | advances in baseball are an asset that allows |
| the Umpire Information System (UIS) that tracks | | | | teams to organize their information without any |
| the baseball from the pitcher's hand all the way | | | | the real threat of replacing managers, coaches, |
| until it crosses the plate. This innovative product | | | | scouts, or players by computers. |
| borrows technology from the United States | | | | The ever popular video analysis adds that special |
| military missile tracking devices, monitoring pitch | | | | aspect of real-time playback and the ability to |
| location and trajectory that the umpire holds on a | | | | review from many different angles the player's |
| laptop computer. Then there is the SportMaster | | | | style or techniques. Panasonic had developed a |
| Pro device that works in tracking pitch- by- pitch | | | | video coaching system with the capacity to |
| and handles databases of the pitchers, batter | | | | archive 400 hours or more of video used by |
| performance, and types of pitches thrown. This | | | | coaches to search, view, and compare players. |
| handy little gadget operates by the use of a | | | | It's going to be very interesting to watch and |
| touch-screen tablet and is light weight and durable. | | | | wait to see what we can think of next. |