Wireless handhelds go out to the ballgame

From...

By Matt Hamblen

(IDG) -- Toronto Blue Jays Manager Buck Martinez recalls that one of the first wireless e-mails he ever saw wasn't exactly a long-distance missive.

It was in June, shortly after the Major League Baseball team's players, coaches and front-office employees started using BlackBerry handhelds from Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) in Waterloo, Ontario. "A coach in the back of the bus on the way to a game e-mailed us in the front to say, 'Hey, it's hot back here!' " Martinez said in an interview during batting practice before a recent game at Toronto's SkyDome. Everybody laughed when the message was sent, but they were intrigued by the technology, he said.

Last month, Blue Jays management distributed 70 BlackBerry handhelds to top-level business managers, coaches and players. The devices are connected to the team's e-mail server. The Blue Jays don't credit wireless e-mail with helping the team win games, but they do say it has solid business value.

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Business managers say it cuts down on the use of cell phones, makes meetings more efficient and gives players -- some of whom are away from home nearly 300 days a year -- an inexpensive way to keep in touch with the organization, their families and one another.

The team's BlackBerries also offer wireless Internet access.

The tiny keyboards and size of the BlackBerry handhelds didn't prevent any of the six Blue Jays users interviewed from getting connected easily, except for manager Martinez, who confessed three weeks after the team announced the rollout to dozens of users that he hadn't used his device.

"All the [other] coaches all use it very effectively for checking scores and staying up to date" on strategies for games and the conditions of players, said Martinez.

Carlos Delgado, first baseman for the Blue Jays, said he was a BlackBerry user eight months before the organization distributed them to others. He said it's a convenient way to reach family and friends on the road. BlackBerries operate in an always-connected mode that means users don't have to search a menu to receive a message, he said.

Calling himself an "electronics junkie," center fielder Jose Cruz Jr. said he has tried six handhelds and a laptop but likes the BlackBerry best for e-mail. He said wireless e-mail enhances his access to coaches. Both players said they send many messages a day.

First base coach Garth Iorg sends and receives up to 40 messages per day and stores his daily schedule on the device. Setup was easy enough that Iorg said he didn't have to read the instruction manual.

The players and Iorg all said they would like to see color screens on the BlackBerries, as well as more graphics and video.

The BlackBerry has cut Paul Allamby's cell phone use by half. Thanks to the BlackBerry, "I don't need to crate around a laptop" on short trips, said Allamby, who is senior vice president of marketing and sales.

Passing game statistics back and forth is simpler with a BlackBerry than it is with a voice phone or a laptop, Allamby said. "Our lives are ruled by statistics in this business," he said.

Mark Lemmon, vice president of corporate partnerships and business development for the organization, said that when he first saw the RIM model 957 and its tiny keys, he thought, "This will be interesting." But he taught himself to use the keys, and he said he "can really fly on it" with his thumbs. The device stores shortcuts for words that users call up to send messages in a hurry.

"The BlackBerry is arguably the best wireless e-mail device in the world," said Alan Reiter an analyst at Wireless Internet and Mobile Computing in Chevy Chase, Md. He added that the BlackBerry has plenty of functionality without a color screen or enhanced graphics.

IDC in Framingham, Mass., estimates that there are 220,000 BlackBerry users worldwide at 10,000 companies.