Feeling very confident and positive, Technology steps up to the plate, bat in hand. Bases are loaded; it is home run time. The game plan is working. On first base is fan satisfaction. On second base is design and construction. On third base is operations.

And Technology wants to bring them all home. Here comes a curve ball; Technology swings and connects. The ball is high and long and over the wall. Home Run!!!!!

First Base = Fan Satisfaction
Technology is scoring in America's favorite sport, baseball, by making the ballparks high-tech. Technology has made it to first base with fan satisfaction. Many of the newly designed ballparks are attempting to make the "Park Experience" the best spectator event possible.

Scoreboards
The Mariners' new park in Seattle, Safeco Field, has a killer scoreboard, a $7.7 million Daktronics Pro Star board that stands 56 feet tall by 190 foot wide. Located in center field, this scoreboard has a high-resolution LED screen. If that is not enough, there are ten smaller scoreboards located around the park. Four of these boards automatically report the speed of each pitch and the type of pitch - curve, slider, changeup, or fastball - as recorded by a high-tech radar gun behind home plate. Safeco Park boasts of being one of most technologically advanced ballparks in the country. More details are available at the Safeco Field Web site.

It seems that Jumbotrons, giant video scoreboards, and loud techno music are becoming an expected part of the game of baseball - just like peanuts and Cracker Jacks. The Arizona Diamondbacks use ten video walls to share a mixture of player interviews, commentators' interviews, big plays over the years, and other historical footage.

Internet Access
Internet kiosks offer fans limited Internet access right at the ballparks. Giants fans enjoy the Internet kiosks at the PacBell Park making San Francisco the first Major League Baseball stadium in the nation to provide such a service. Star Trek looking computers have been installed on three levels of the stadium. Net access is free, but restricted.

PacBell Park Web Stations allow users to send or receive e-mail, check movie schedules, make dinner reservations, research baseball statistics, and check up on the headlines of the day. Arizona Diamondbacks' new stadium is described as part museum and part high-tech showplace.  This stadium's interactive kiosks invite fans to tap into nostalgia video as well as the Internet.

Ticket Swapping
San Francisco's Giants fans are eager to begin team-supported ticket swapping on the Web. Giants management wants to set up a site on the Web as a sales zone for season-ticket holders. The Web also comes in handy for fans who are members of the team's Web site. They can earn points for purchases made at the ballpark that can be traded in for merchandise.  

New Amenities
Hoping to enhance fan enjoyment as well as to attract big business, San Francisco's $316 million new park is adding novel amenities. If your boss or your wife asks questions when you claim to have been attending a business conference at the ballpark, tell them to check out Byter Up. Ballparks Go High Tech. They will find PacBell Park's forty-person conference center has videoconferencing capability and Internet connectivity for laptop computers. Their game plan is to entice conferences and other business meetings away from traditional hotel settings.

Second Base = Design and Construction
Baseball's new high-tech fields are designed to put the fans right in the middle of the action. Maximizing sightlines is a most important design goal. Superior views have been provided at the new PacBell Ballpark; all seats face the baseball diamond to ensure good vantage points for everyone. Modern design technology has also allowed for construction that effectively blocks the heavy San Francisco winds.

In Seattle, the new field at Safeco features a uniquely designed retractable roof that guarantees fans will not miss a game called for rain. This roof was designed to cover the ballpark but not enclose it. The new stadium planned for Houston, Enron Field, also has a retractable roof that will cost $65 million. It takes only twelve minutes to open or close the roof, and the movement is so quiet it will not interrupt the game. 

The Mets ballpark has gone one step further. To be built in Flushing, New York, the Mets stadium is being designed with a retractable roof that will cover the playing field's grass surface. The playing field itself is to be built on a retractable platform. The portable grass platform is designed to allow the entire playing field to be rolled out into the parking lot to accommodate other events at the stadium without harming the ballfield's turf.

Third Base = Operations
In San Francisco the Giants will use technology to track ticket usage. Electric turnstiles will take fans' tickets, and computers will collect data. The computer will know how many and which games each fan attended.

Technology even comes to the aid of food and beverage operators. In Seattle at the ballpark's Lucent Terrace Club section, vendors order food and beverage on handheld computers. Digital cash registers, right in the aisles, accept credit cards as payment. In the future, credit card style tickets will get fans into the ballpark and then will be used to purchase peanuts and Cracker Jacks and the ever popular team memorabilia. Technology will also make it possible to better monitor concessions. Computers will alert operators when more hotdogs and more buns are needed on the upper concourse.

The Detroit Tigers are planning a new baseball stadium that will offer 1,000 computer-equipped seats. Fans lucky enough to be in these seats right behind home plate can check player statistics and order food right from their seats. The Ballparks.com site offers complete details on wired ballparks for both American and National league teams built or planned for Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Cincinnati, Houston, San Diego, New York, and Detroit. (This site also supplies links to the MBL teams themselves.)

Technology Helping Players
Don't think Technology ignores coaches and players. In today's new high-tech ballparks, players analyze their swings using state of the art video technology that provides information on both bat speed and torque. Pitchers benefit from similar technology that measures pitch speed and arm rotation.

So Technology can make a leisurely jog around all bases to enjoy the crowd's appreciation and know it has knocked the ball out of the park.