SAN DIEGO ? Pitcher Carlos Martinez looked like just another gadget-happy baseball player as he sat in the Marlins' clubhouse the other day, flipping through his sleek new video iPod.

 

But the rookie wasn't killing time by tuning in to U2, Kenny Chesney or Shakira. He was at work, tuning into himself ? watching video of his last appearance

 

Yes, the iPod ? the gadget of choice for music-lovering hipsters ? slowly is integrating its way into major-league clubhouses as a baseball tool.

 

"It's pretty neat," hitting coach Jim Presley said. "A lot of our players look at (baseball video) on their laptops. If you can download it on an iPod, you don't have to take your laptop everywhere. It can be a useful tool." It's been a useful tool for the Colorado Rockies since spring training. That's when the team's video coordinators began downloading videos of hitters' swings onto the new video iPods.

 

The Marlins were in Denver recently when a story about the Rockies' iPod use appeared in the Denver Post.

 

Cullen McRae, the Marlins' video coordinator, was so intrigued after reading the story that he sought out players with iPods to see how the video would look.It took him a day to work out the kinks of transferring video from DVD. "I was his guinea pig in Colorado, just to see if it works," said rookie reliever Taylor Tankersley, whose iPod usually holds music from the likes of Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. "Cullen figured out in Denver how to do it, and it's pretty cool that they can put my outings on there."

 

Players already use computer laptops to watch their swings and deliveries. But the iPod, about the size of a rosin bag, can hold 150 hours of video and display it on a mobile screen ? or about five seasons of at-bats.

 

"Some guys don't want to use the video room," McRae said. "This frees them up to look at it whenever they want, whether they're on the plane, at home, on the bus." Compared to the Rockies, whose general manager has an iPod with video of potential draft picks, the Marlins have been slow to use video iPods.

 

So far, Martinez and Tankersley are the only players using them. Infielder Alfredo Amezaga bought one with Martinez in San Francisco on Monday, but he hasn't had any of his video downloaded yet.

 

"I'm going to buy one because anything that's convenient is a good idea," pitcher Dontrelle Willis said.

 

"Nowadays they've got cellphones as big as my pinkie. So if they can put movies and TV shows on an iPod, why not put a couple of DVDs of me pitching."But players also understand that being able to hold video of your swings and deliveries in your pocket won't necessarily make you a 20-game winner or a.300 hitter.

 

Baseball players have used video for at least two decades since future Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn first pioneered the use as a learning tool in the 1980s.Since then, they've adopted such technological advances as computer laptops and laser-eye surgery in the quest to get better.

 

"Even with all the technology, there are still prolonged slumps," said retired outfielder/first basemen Tommy Hutton, the Marlins' television play-by-play analyst. "It does help you study and learn a little bit about a pitcher and vice versa, but does it make them any better? I don't know. It doesn't seem to."

 

Even Tankersley wondered if he'll use his iPod for baseball as often and enthusiastically as Rockies players.

 

"Not when it comes to baseball purposes," he said, "but whenever I see my friends I may say, 'Hey, I faced this guy.' I may use it to tease them with stuff like that more than (as) a learning tool."

 

Hutton said he wishes iPods were around when he played from 1966-81.

 

"I'd have used it if it was there," he said. "If you think you can get an edge to stay in the majors, you've got to try it."

 

 

 

Just some fun

 

 

 

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/marlins/conte...rlins_0609.html

thats neat.

The video iPods are great, however you lose some detail due to the small screen. I suspect that the use of iPods around MLB will really catch on when Apple brings out the supposed "True" video iPod soon.

soo cool, would like to get videos of marlins at bats on video instead of always taping them on VHS

The video iPods are great, however you lose some detail due to the small screen. I suspect that the use of iPods around MLB will really catch on when Apple brings out the supposed "True" video iPod soon.

 

 

Technology is always improving, makes me feel better about not getting the photo cause eventually theres gonna be a vid.. i didnt get the vid cause i know theres gonna be a "true vid", i wont get that cause theres gonna be something even better after.. thats what ill settle with, the 7G ipod! lol.. (mini for now)

 

The video quality wouldnt be good if brought backto original size, but when first made smaller, its nearly perfect, it gets the job done for MLB pitchers, lets hope those ERA's start to sink

Hey, whatever works. :lol

Loria should buy one for everyone on the team...cheap bastard.

This is like when people claim chat rooms help them with learning a foreign language. The guys have the iPods to listen to music, first and foremost.

The video iPods are great, however you lose some detail due to the small screen. I suspect that the use of iPods around MLB will really catch on when Apple brings out the supposed "True" video iPod soon.

 

 

Technology is always improving, makes me feel better about not getting the photo cause eventually theres gonna be a vid.. i didnt get the vid cause i know theres gonna be a "true vid", i wont get that cause theres gonna be something even better after.. thats what ill settle with, the 7G ipod! lol.. (mini for now)

 

The video quality wouldnt be good if brought backto original size, but when first made smaller, its nearly perfect, it gets the job done for MLB pitchers, lets hope those ERA's start to sink

I know what you mean. Last year I bought a 6G Mini and replaced it this year with a 30G Video. I promised myself that I would hold on to the 30GB for atleast a year or two and wait for the iPod to be wireless and all that good stuff. Or atleast wait till after I'm married... :whistle