Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Sports Cyborgs, Take 2

Video technology has transformed the way athletes train for sports, because they can review their performance -- and that of their opponents -- in nuanced, frame-by-frame detail. But most athletes can only do this after or before a game is over.

The exception is David Ortiz -- who studies video in near real-time, while a game is still ongoing. Ortiz is a designated hitter for the Red Sox, and each time he bats, he heads back to the clubhouse, cracks open his laptop, and studies the pitches that were being thrown at him mere minutes earlier. Better yet, according to this piece in the New York Times, he's apparently got a huge database of every pitch he's ever faced.

1 comment:

Wormocious: Bodhisattva of Nanoemotions said...

Wow, this is really cool. I am kinda surprised that this is allowed, all though I am sure it is frowned upon. I definitely can't argue with the results, he may be about to get put out of the postseason, but he can sure hit the damn ball.