Technology is defined as, “the practical application of knowledge especially in a particular area.”
In this case, the area is Major League Baseball. Baseball has been perhaps the sport most resistant to technological advancement over the years, but even baseball purists can’t deny that there have been significant strides made in applying practical knowledge to improve the game from all angles.
From equipment to fan experience to strategies on the field itself, technology has played a substantial role in the evolution of the game. Here we take a look at the top five technological advancements in MLB history and how they have impacted America’s pastime.
5. Instant Replay
Ah the great baseball instant replay debate. Opponents of instant replay champion the human element of the game and prioritize maintaining baseball’s historical integrity. However, recently the rise of replay capabilities on television began to make it difficult to ignore frequent missed calls by umpires. As the National Football League continued to up their technological game, more liberal MLB fans became frustrated that their sport wasn’t following suit.
In 2008, MLB instituted instant replay, but it is currently only used on home run balls, both distinguishing between fair and foul as well as determining if the ball actually left the park. While opposition still exists, recent developments suggest that MLB plans to push forward. MLB owners will officially vote in November on a new proposal that includes challenges for managers and an increased set of instances in which replay can be used.
It will be interesting to follow this as the years go on. It’s feasible that one day the human element could be entirely eliminated. One day we may have “robot umpires” and use technology like ESPN’s K Zone to determine balls and strikes. Whether or not something like that would be “good for baseball” is up to each individual fan to decide. One thing is certain. Although instant replay’s impact on the game has been minor up to this point, it is about to get much more significant, and soon.
4. The K Zone
Speaking of the K Zone, this was a major breakthrough in terms of the fan viewing experience. Anyone who has watched a baseball game in the last decade has seen it. In 2001, ESPN debuted this new viewing enhancement on Sunday Night Baseball. Similar to its NFL counterpart, the first and ten line, the K Zone is an on-screen graphic specifically catered for in-home viewers. In this case, the graphic adjusts to each batter to show that batter’s particular strike zone area. As the ball is thrown, the speed and location at which the ball crosses the plate are displayed on screen, theoretically showing the audience whether the pitch was a ball or a strike. In 2006, ESPN introduced the K Zone 2.0, which also showed a computer generated graphic of the ball’s trajectory as it left the pitcher’s hand and followed it to the catcher’s mitt.
Since the K Zone came out, other networks have developed their own versions of the technology, and modifications regarding the appearance, placement and timing of the graphic have been rolled out. Fox’s FoxTrax and TBS’ PitchTrax have both tried different things with this technology – e.g. only including a graphic between pitches as opposed to in live time and displaying the graphic to the side of the batter.
As we’ve seen with instant replay, something that was originally developed simply to enhance fan experience could one day become implemented into the actual regulation of the game. The challenge with the first and ten line as well as the K Zone is that technology isn’t advanced enough to ensure that the graphics can be relied upon as completely accurate. For now, on-screen graphics will remain just that. But the more progress that is made on the technology, the more in-home umpires we’ll have on our hands and the more ground those instant replay liberals will gain.
3. Tommy John Surgery
In 1974, orthopedic surgeon Dr. Frank Jobe developed a surgical procedure that aimed to repair damage to the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL), a ligament in the medial elbow. Damage to the UCL often occurs in major league pitching arms due to the repetition of the incredibly forceful motion needed to throw a baseball at a big league level. The surgery entails replacing the damaged ligament with a tendon from somewhere else in the body. The rehabilitation period is a lengthy 12-15 months for pitchers, ensuring that the patient will miss at least a full season of play following the surgery.
Dr. Jobe’s first patient was Dodgers’ left-handed pitcher Tommy John in 1974. At that time, Dr. Jobe estimated John’s odds of pitching again at a 1 percent chance. Amazingly, 18 months later, John returned to the mound and pitched for 14 more years. Today, the odds of complete recovery are an outstanding 85 to 90 percent. Most pitchers return to their peak form, and due to the extensive work involved with the rehab, some come back throwing even harder.
Prior to 1974, a damaged UCL certainly meant the end of a pitcher’s career. As of July 17, 2013, 124 active major league pitchers had undergone the surgery, and there have been hundreds of procedures since its inception. There have even been some instances of multiple surgeries on the same arm.
Some believe that Tommy John surgery is correcting an issue that will only happen again when the player resumes pitching. At the end of the day, the cause of the injury is overuse and overworking the arm. Unless major league pitchers intend to stop throwing baseballs anytime soon, then the injuries will continue. Tommy John surgery at least gives these players an opportunity to extend their careers if they so choose. Dr. Jobe and Tommy John’s left arm together spawned a significant medical advancement that changed the game.
2. The Evolution of the Glove
Baseball equipment has come a long way in the game’s history. From batting helmets to catchers’ protective gear to outfielders’ sunglasses, equipment has adapted to the needs of the game. But perhaps the most complex evolution has come with the glove.
The original baseball glove had one purpose: to prevent hand injuries. The first confirmed player to wear a glove was Charles Waitt of St. Louis in 1875. At the time gloves were looked upon as, well, for sissies, but eventually they became standard.
In 1919, Rawlings came out with the first glove that included webbing between the thumb and index finger. Named for the pitcher who came up with the idea, Bill Doak, this glove was the first that had another purpose in addition to protection – performance. Adding a web increased the surface area with which to catch, thereby increasing the likelihood of making catches.
Over the years, gloves have evolved significantly from the standpoints of size, shape, material makeup and even the number of fingers. Currently there are specific gloves for each position. For example, a catcher’s mitt doesn’t have separated fingers but does have extra padding. An outfielder’s glove has extra-long fingers to extend the reach of the outfielder, and an infielder’s glove is smaller and shallower to allow for quicker removal of the ball.
From something that was once looked upon as a sign of weakness, the baseball glove has transformed into an essential piece of equipment used by every player and has truly transformed the mechanics of making baseball plays.
1. Sabermetrics
Bill James, Moneyball, Billy Beane, advanced stats. You get the idea. This sabermetric era in baseball oozes with technological advancement. Sabermetrics is a term coined by Bill James and derived from SABR, or Society of American Baseball Research. The term doesn’t represent just one technological advancement, but a collection of them. These advancements combined equal a movement that has absolutely changed the game of baseball. The movement gives us a new way of thinking about the game.
Sabermetrics are used to answer objective questions by analyzing data in new ways. For example, Wins Above Replacement is a sabermetric statistic that attempts to quantify how many wins a particular player contributes to his team as compared to a player of replacement level ability. The formula for calculating this statistic is complicated, but it involves adding offensive value, defensive value and base running, then adjusting for position, and finally converting numbers so that they are based on replacement level abilities rather than league average abilities.
Complicated statistics exist for virtually every aspect of player performance. There is seemingly unlimited access to information, and sabermetrics provide a way to analyze that information into useful data. This data is used by scouts to value players, by managers to determine strategies involving certain players, and by the players themselves. Statistics often dictate how pitchers pitch, how hitters hit and how defensive formations shift. This access to information and the sophisticated way of creating usable data has taken managers from binders to iPads and given all parties access to instantaneous probability data for every imaginable game scenario.
Sabermetrics and the programs used to calculate data have absolutely had the most wide-reaching and significant impact on the game of baseball to date.
Honorable mention to social media, MLB At Bat, drug testing, artificial turf and rubber to cork baseball centers.