After twenty seasons in the nation’s pastime, the captain has announced he will be walking away from the sport at the end of the 2014 season. Derek Jeter has been a leader on and off the field and a role model for many. His retirement will certainly leave a hole in the Yankees organization and in Major League Baseball. Much has changed in baseball over the course of his illustrious career. Today we take a look at the top technology innovations during Jeter’s career that changed baseball forever.
Although baseball had been on television for over fifty years by the time Jeter broke into the majors, it had not changed much since its arrival in 1939. Throughout the early years of Jeter’s career, stations like ESPN and FOX began to introduce technologies to their telecasts that are taken for granted these days. ESPN got the ball rolling when they introduced box scores to their telecasts in 1995. From there FOX and ESPN added in stadium camera totals and even tried out the catcher cam. Over the years the most common place for testing out new cameras and equipment has been the MLB postseason. From the diamond cam to home run tracker, the Fall Classic has been the testing ground and showcase for the latest and greatest technology.
The fall of 2002 marked the first time baseball was streamed live over the internet. With the creation of MLB Advanced Media, created by the thirty owners of baseball, everything media within baseball has been centralized in the company since 2000. MLBAM uses two platforms to stream games and show updates and highlights. The first is MLB.TV which offers every out of market game to online subscribers. In market games are not shown so that there is no competition or interference with local market stations. If a tablet or smartphone is the preferred way to follow baseball, then the MLB At Bat app has it all. This app streams all games to mobile devices, offers live look ins, news, highlights and links to favorite team’s social media pages.
For baseball, the fan experience during a game is of the utmost importance and holds a special place in the heart of America. One reason is to ensure that attendance remains up during a time when many fans would rather watch games on their television or computer. The newest app baseball has unveiled is the At the Ballpark app. Fans can buy tickets for games and use their phone to scan into the park. They can also upgrade their tickets on the app. Along with this app baseball is working with Apple to use the iBeacon in major league stadiums. The technology would detect where the fans are in the stadium and use the app to offer anything from coupons on food to information about an aspect of the stadium.
In 2008 baseball finally decided to move out of the stone age when Bud Selig officially sanctioned its use for home run calls. Since the inception of the technology it has grown substantially. Starting with the 2014 season, replay has expanded to cover everything except judgment calls like balls, strikes, and check swings. Just as the NHL has a center for replay in Toronto, baseball has a crew of umpires stationed at the MLBAM headquarters in New York.
Baseball has done a spectacular job learning as they go. Several rules have been changed in the first month of the season and umpires have done well to accept the increased use of the replay technology. Each team gets one challenge per game; however umpires can decide to review a play in the seventh inning or later.
No sport has done a better job at accepting and controlling social media than baseball. The league, per the new collective bargaining agreement, released guidelines for social media use and restrictions. Basically, players are encouraged to make the most of social media in order to connect with fans and strengthen fan bases. At the same time players are reminded that social media is public and anything posted is far from private. Teams are active on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and now even Snapchat. The most popular hashtag right now is #Baseballisbetter.
The players seem to enjoy social media much more than press conferences. It is only fitting that a career that has lasted through so much technological advancement comes to an end via this technology. Prior to the 2014 season Derek Jeter decided this would be his last season. Instead of having the standard press conference, like teammate Mariano Rivera, Jeter took to Facebook and posted (post below) a fifteen paragraph explanation on his decision to retire. Derek could not have been any more professional with this statement. The captain remains the classy, professional leader he has continued to be over the last twenty years.