The "in game" technology is tried and true. No virtual swords, no magic cloaks, and no three-pieces of gold! Just a ball and bat and glove that are pretty darn similar to those in use a 128 years ago by that most beloved of summer sports, baseball. High tech? Nope. And that’s a good thing.
But the business of baseball is another story. You know, when we hear about database applications, remote server access, and data analsys we tend to think about the technology industry and how these tools are part of software development, management consulting, or some esoteric techie company.
Those tools belong to some elite “them.”
But technology tools touch us all, even those lucky enough a bring in a few spare million by tossing a baseball around!
We were Out & About right here on the Cape this week as Red Sox scout Ray Fagnant and Orleans Cardinals manager Kelly Nicholson shared some of the ways their jobs are powered by the technology toolset. There’s no high magic in the way the business of baseball has embraced database applications, remote server access, or on-the-road connectivity; there is just high business sense.
Take for example, the Red Sox player development staff – amateur and professional scouts and farm leagues, who watch hundred upon hundreds of games and players and file reports on them all. Pitches thrown. Swings taken. Bases run. Probably enough stats and facts to make a paper train to moon and back.
Enter database applications and remote server access. Think of all those reports again. Imaging keyboarding them from a hundred faxed bits of papers from all corners of the country. Count the hours spent on this. Wonder if anyone ever really looked at any of it again.
Flash forward to just a very few years ago, when the field force was equipped with laptop computers and began to file data electronically, logging in remotely from a ballfield-near-you. Results are available within hours and better yet, everyone can share the same up-to-date information.
And a variety of applications let the data become information. By itself, data is pretty useless. Add a tool to analyze it, ask questions of it, and work with it and suddently you have information. Not just data -- but business-enhancing information. Doesn’t matter if you’re tracking employee time, meals orders, or home runs, once you have a path to get the data in, it is the application that matters.
In the past several years, the Red Sox, along with other major league teams, have embraced a suite of straight forward applications for entering player data and game reports . It's amazing, but with with a just few mouse clicks you can sees the accumulated history of a batter, what he hit, how he hit, what he missed ...
If you’re the batter, this is a valuable feedback tool ... and if you’re a pitcher, it is a powerful strategic tool for analyzing how you might approach this player. If you’re developing a young player, it’s a great tool for explorting the potential strengths and weaknesses. And that’s just from one small application.
The use of video, of DVDs in the dugout, of multiple laptops to wirelessly access team data ... this isn’t about changing the we PLAY baseball. No, you’ll always throw the ball, and hit the ball, and catch the ball. But is about changing the way we manage the industry of baseball. And in this way baseball is like everyone of our respective industries.
Smart use of technology isn’t about changing the core job we do -- rather, it is about looking for ways to work smarter, work with less pain, and manage our tasks better. Whether it is using point of sale systems to order food with less waster, using scheduling software to ensure that customer support is always there to pick up the phone, carrying hand held devices to send appraisals in from the field, using digital cameras to quickly record insurance claim backups ... no matter what we do, we’re human tool users. We can’t help it. It’s in our very genes.
Technology isn’t just for technology companies or for people who have some special level of knowledge. Nope, in the end it's clear that there’s really nothing high tech about it all. It’s just a better way to find the power hitter and bring him to the top of the draft pile. And that's something we can all understand.
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