Major League Baseball today fined Arizona Diamondbacks coach Ariel Prieto after he wore his Apple Watch in the dugout during a game against the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday night, reports
The New York Times.
Prieto violated rules against the use of electronic communications devices when he wore the Apple Watch during the game. Major League Baseball investigated and said there was no sign the watch was used for anything suspicious.
"M.L.B. found no evidence that Mr. Prieto used the Apple Watch or cellphone for any purpose in the dugout, nor any baseball-related communication on either device during Wednesday's game," the statement on Friday said.
Though the watch was not misused, Prieto and the Diamondbacks received a fine in an "undisclosed amount" just for having the watch in the dugout. The money will be donated to hurricane relief efforts in Puerto Rico.
The Boston Red Sox were also fined last month for using electronic communications devices
in the dugout to more quickly relay the opposing team's signs to players on the field. The device in that event was originally said to be an Apple Watch, but later reports suggested it was instead a Fitbit.
Top Rated Comments
(View all)There are places where I work that ban these for security reasons. I once forgot to remove my watch in such a zone. I got that very uncomfortable yet strangely exhilarating feeling one gets as a child when going to the bathroom without a hall pass.
So this is a real thing in the US? I watched a movie (may have been IT) recently and i was like what is that thing and why isnt he just going to the bathroom
And soon…. we will have big stakes Vegas gamblers using some AppleWatch app to help with card counting.
Hooo boy. Technology is something else, iznt it?
Counting cards with a computer is more illegal than murder in Nevada.
To be fair, the Red Sox fessed up to using Apple Watches to steal signs. I don't blame MLB for cracking down.
Here's the thing though. It's not illegal to steal signs. Teams steal signs all the time. Baseball just doesn't want anyone using technology to facilitate the sign stealing. If you steal signs the old school way, nobody cares. Use tech? That's a no no.I love how people have been stealing signs since the beginning of baseball. And all the sudden someone does with a Apple Watch and everybody is freakin out.
Maybe the issue is that it's a lot harder to steal signs when they're sent over an encrypted network. The fact that signs do have to be sent "in the clear" means there's some risk in communicating between the dugout and the field. It helps level the playing field, so to speak. Electronic communication greatly reduces that risk.
I don't ever watch baseball, why does it matter if someone is wearing an Apple Watch in the dugout?
Baseball tries to stick to an old-time, traditional image. Many baseball stadiums are built to evoke 100-year-old styles. Major League Baseball requires that all bats be made of a single piece of wood - no aluminum bats allowed. The construction/materials of the ball hasn't changed since the Little Ice Age. While other sports have embraced technology on the field (football being the most obvious example, where some players have communications headsets inside their helmets, the coaches wear headsets throughout the game and carry Microsoft tablets...), baseball still prohibits any kind of electronics in the hands of players or the coaching staff.
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