Technology and Baseball | The Baseball Zealot

Add your favorite team’s schedule to Google Calendar

This is something I never realize existed till a couple days ago when a friend pointed it out. If you use Google Calendar, you can add your favorite baseball team’s schedule as a calendar.

It’s simple enough.

Log in to Google Calendar
Click on Manage Calendars
Click on the Add Calendar button
Click on Sports
If your team’s schedule is listed, click on Add to Calendar underneath it.
If not, type in your team’s name in the Search box and click Search Public Calendars. Again, choose the one you want and click on Add to Calendar.

I of course, added the Chicago Cubs’ schedule. I had a few options. I could choose from the full schedule, home schedule or the TV schedule. I went for the TV schedule (seen above).

Totally Scored brings you scores and just that

If you’re looking for a simple way to display the latest sports scores on your screen or maybe your cellphone, Totally Scored can do that. Using rss, this site is easy to customize as long as you’re familiar with rss. Totally Scored is very simple and uncomplicated. Don’t expect boxscores or highlights. That said, there doesn’t … Continue reading “Totally Scored brings you scores and just that”

Totally Scored is very simple and uncomplicated. Don’t expect boxscores or highlights. That said, there doesn’t seem to be any ads or pop-ups, either. Very handy for tickers or cellphones, I would guess.

By the way, if you want a quick tutorial on rss, this should do nicely.

MLB.com brings on Silverlight

MLB.com has gone live with Silverlight as its default media player for its videos. There are some caveats though. One and a big one for me, it is not compatible with the Firefox web browser. Looking at my logs, some 30% people who hit The Baseball Zealot are using Firefox. Silverlight has been touted … Continue reading “MLB.com brings on Silverlight”

MLB.com has gone live with Silverlight as its default media player for its videos. There are some caveats though.

One and a big one for me, it is not compatible with the Firefox web browser. Looking at my logs, some 30% people who hit The Baseball Zealot are using Firefox. Silverlight has been touted as a cross-platform media player so I hope this incompatibility will be addressed.

Easy access to MLB.com for Blackberry users

Rest those thumbs. Word has it from IntoMobile.com that Major League Baseball is working with RIM to facilitate one-click access to MLB.com from Blackberrys. Here is the press release.

Blackberry

Rest those thumbs. Word has it from IntoMobile.com that Major League Baseball is working with RIM to facilitate one-click access to MLB.com from Blackberrys.

Here is the press release.

Baseball Zealot Radio interviews Professor Alan Nathan on the Physics of Baseball

As he says, Professor Alan Nathan has been a physicist for all his career but a baseball fan all his life. What started out for him ten years ago as a one-time gig lecture on the physics of baseball at the University of Illinois, it has mushroomed into ongoing series of lectures and projects focusing on the topic.

This was a very interesting interview for me despite my initial trepidation of not knowing ANY physics. Never fear, Alan broke it down so even I could understand it.

Here are the show notes for Show 26:

Hosts: Tom and Shawn

Summary: Alan Nathan is a professor of physics at the University of Illinois who lectures often on the physics of baseball. During our interview with Alan, we cover the effects of spin on the flight of the baseball, wood versus aluminum bats, and “Is there such a thing as a rising fastball?”.

Definitely, take a listen to our interview with Alan as he has a unique way of looking at the game. Afterwards, swing on by his website entitled The Physics of Baseball. There’s a plethora of info related to his field.

At the end of the show, Alan mentioned that MLB was making a lot of data from Gameday available to the public. Alan provided me this link to an article on Friar Watch which explains how to access the data and how to use it.

Much thanks to Alan Nathan for his time. I found the interview very insightful and hope you do too.

Thanks for listening!!

Time: 46:39

Date Recorded: 7/24/07

Direct Link to Show 26

Baseball Zealot Radio website

Listen via iTunes

Gameday chat by All-Star break?

MLB.com says they might have a new re-engineered chat in Gameday available by All-Star break. From MLB.com’s Gameday blog: We’ve completely retired the old chat engine for a number of reasons: it was unreliable, could only support a very limited number of concurrent users, was very limited in features and was not integrated with other … Continue reading “Gameday chat by All-Star break?”

MLB.com says they might have a new re-engineered chat in Gameday available by All-Star break.

From MLB.com’s Gameday blog:

We’ve completely retired the old chat engine for a number of reasons: it was unreliable, could only support a very limited number of concurrent users, was very limited in features and was not integrated with other products.

In its place, we will be rolling out a completely revamped chat service by the All-Star break. However, it will not be a Gameday-only chat; instead, it will be better integrated with MLB.TV, the Fantasy Open and other products, with the goal of creating a more complete and immersive user experience.

Dozen teams to begin mobile ticketing

It was only a week ago I blogged about the Oakland A’s who were the first professional US team to employ mobile ticketing which delivers tickets to fans’ cellphones and can be scanned at the ballpark. Technology moves fast. Since then the Pittsburgh Pirates organization has also been part of the test trial as well … Continue reading “Dozen teams to begin mobile ticketing”

barcodeticket

Technology moves fast.

Since then the Pittsburgh Pirates organization has also been part of the test trial as well as the Washington Nationals. Mobiqa, the firm behind the service called Tickets@Phone, has deemed the service ready for prime time. In conjunction with Tickets.com and Major League Baseball Advanced Media, they
will deploy it to twelve baseball clubs.

From Technology News UK:

“Tickets@Phone offers many benefits over paper or e-tickets and is undoubtedly the next step in customer service and ticket delivery,” Bob Bowman, President and CEO of MLBAM, explained.

Now if only I had bought stock in Mobiqa two weeks ago.

Followup: Here’s a link I found with a little more info on Mobiqa and Tickets@Phone.

Astros launch free Bluetooth Zones

Add Houston Astros to the list of professional sports teams who are becoming more technologically aware and finding practical ways to implement it. Minute Maid Park will be the first U.S. park with “Bluetooth Zones”. Gearlog.com says: Visitors to Minute Maid Park (hey, it’s like Wrigley Field, but with orange juice) can can download still … Continue reading “Astros launch free Bluetooth Zones”

Bluetooth Zone

Add Houston Astros to the list of professional sports teams who are becoming more technologically aware and finding practical ways to implement it.

Minute Maid Park will be the first U.S. park with “Bluetooth Zones”.

Gearlog.com says:

Visitors to Minute Maid Park (hey, it’s like Wrigley Field, but with orange juice) can can download still photos, animations, video and audio clips, ticket offers, interactive applications, and links all for free.

So ‘Stros fans, your Bluetooth-enabled phones and devices may come in handy at the park. Bring ’em with.

/Hat tip Gizmodo

A’s launching mobile ticketing this week

Starting this week, Oakland A’s fans will be able to have their tickets delivered to their cellphones. The service which is done in concert with Tickets.com Inc. will be called Tickets@Phone. The A’s are the first American professional team to give this technology a try. The bar coded ticket will sent to a cell phone … Continue reading “A’s launching mobile ticketing this week”

Starting this week, Oakland A’s fans will be able to have their tickets delivered to their cellphones.

The service which is done in concert with Tickets.com Inc. will be called Tickets@Phone. The A’s are the first American professional team to give this technology a try.

The bar coded ticket will sent to a cell phone and can be scanned at the gate.