BlackBerrys And BaseballBlackBerrys And Baseball

Is the batter going to bunt? Better send a wireless E-mail to the runner on first.

It's nothing new for Major League Baseball players and coaches to pass messages back and forth with hand signals, but now one team is taking that a step further with BlackBerry wireless E-mail devices from Research In Motion Ltd.

RIM and its Canadian neighbor, Rogers AT&T wireless, have formed a partnership to provide service to the devices. Rogers, which owns the Toronto Blue Jays, marked the occasion by providing each player, coach, and trainer with a BlackBerry to keep in touch with family, friends, and business contacts while they're on the road.

Because the team might be away from home for up to 291 days in a year, the device is intended to improve morale among the players, says Mark Lemmon, VP of corporate partnerships and business development for the Blue Jays. But the jokes have already begun about how they're going to be used. Says Lemmon, "Before you know it, the manager will be calling the pitches to the mound."