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Iphone Idle

Cellphone at Third Base: Baseball Player Mistakenly Runs the Bases with His iPhone (apnews.com) 38

Posted by EditorDavid from the six-tool-player dept.
Last year Rodolfo Castro made baseball history. Called up to the Major Leagues in April, the 22-year-old eventually recorded his first hit — a home run. But his next four recorded hits were all also home runs, something no player had done since 1901.

CBS News reports that this week, finally called back up to the Major Leagues, Castro again made history — of another sort: Modern technology has allowed people to take their phones, as well as the power of the internet, with them anywhere they go. Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Rodolfo Castro took his around the bases against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night.
Yep — an iPhone made a bizarre cameo in the 4th inning, reports the Associated Press: Castro and third base coach Mike Rabelo stood and stared, mortified.... Even third base umpire Adam Hamari had the perfect reaction, pointing at the phone that came flying out of Castro's back pocket during a head-first slide, trying not to giggle at the absurdity of the situation.

Those around the sport cringed along with them. "That's obviously not something that should happen," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.... This faux pas just happened to be at a televised big league game, creating a video clip seen by millions.

"I just remember getting dressed, putting my pants on, getting something to eat, using the restroom," the 23-year-old Castro said through a translator Tuesday night after the Pirates lost 6-4 to Arizona. "Never did it ever cross my mind that I still had my cellphone on me...."

It's far from the first time a phone has made a cameo on a pro sports field. One of the most famous examples came nearly 20 years ago when New Orleans Saints receiver Joe Horn pulled out a flip phone — remember those? — that he had hidden in the padding around the goalpost and then acted like he was taking a call after scoring a touchdown.
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Cellphone at Third Base: Baseball Player Mistakenly Runs the Bases with His iPhone More

Cellphone at Third Base: Baseball Player Mistakenly Runs the Bases with His iPhone

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  • The world news here is... (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    ... someone had a phone in his back pocket playing baseball?

    • Yeah, if he'd taken a selfie at each base, I'dl think it's amusing. Just carrying it in his pocket? Yeah, whatever.

    • Yep my reaction to this "story" as well.

      All the overblown phraseology "made baseball history", "bizarre cameo", "Rabelo stood and stared, mortified", "absurdity of the situation", etc. when all that should have happened is that someone said "Here's your phone".

  • It looked like he stepped on it as he was standing up. I would think cleats would be a bad match even for hardened glass.

  • pulled out a flip phone — remember those?

    I have one. It does exactly what I want it to do. It makes and receives phone calls. It cost me nothing (provider sent me a replacement when 3G went away) and will last at least five times as long as a "smart" phone. Even better, I can replace the battery without any tools. It even has a headset jack.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Known Nutter ( 988758 )
      Who really gives a shit if you use a flip phone? What kind of pointless virtue signaling is this?

      • The subject was brought up in the article, as if a flip phone is some kind of ancient relic. To paraphrase the message on the sleeve of chopsticks I got at Noodles and Company: It is happiness enough to know you are superior to the smart phone people.

        • Trying to make us all feel old. Yeah we remember what a floppy was too.

        • So bizarre. No. You arenâ(TM)t superior to the smart phone crowd. You arenâ(TM)t inferior either. You like your phone. Good. You should. I like mine. The fact that the vast majority of us prefer smartphones shouldnâ(TM)t take away from your satisfaction. But it doesnâ(TM)t make you smarter than the majority. Itâ(TM)s just your own personal (and slightly unpopular) opinion.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Guspaz ( 556486 )

      Most flip phones (at least in North America) won't last five times longer than smartphones because the network technologies that any given phone uses have a limited lifespan. 2G networks are long gone and 3G/3.5G/pre-LTE "4G" networks are either already gone or in the process of shutting down. You can definitely find LTE flip-phones, but if you bought an HSPA+ flip phone a few years ago, it didn't last any longer than an LTE smartphone you bought that same year.

  • So? (Score:2)

    by rossdee ( 243626 )

    I wasn't born in this country, so I don't know all the rules of baseball, but is carrying a cellphone while playing somehow illegal?

    • Unlike chess, no. If you looked at the video you can see it was not a particularly good idea, but it does not seem to violate any rules enacted to protect iPhones. All these people asking "why is this news?" should also be a clue.
      It's been a while since I last moderated the Firehose [slashdot.org], looking at all that spam got rather masochistic.

      • Re:So? (Score:4, Interesting)

        by Harvey Manfrenjenson ( 1610637 ) on Sunday August 14, 2022 @01:35PM (#62788986)

        Actually, it does violate MLB rules for the player to have an Iphone, since they can be used for sign stealing. Castro is being investigated for that but probably won't be disciplined (since it appears to have been an honest mistake).

        • Actually, it does violate MLB rules for the player to have an Iphone, since they can be used for sign stealing. Castro is being investigated for that but probably won't be disciplined (since it appears to have been an honest mistake).

          Pretty sure most professional sports have cell phone bans to deal will spot fixing.

        • Actually, it does violate MLB rules for the player to have an Iphone, since they can be used for sign stealing. Castro is being investigated for that but probably won't be disciplined (since it appears to have been an honest mistake).

          I'm kind of skeptical that it was and honest mistake. I mean, he probably forgot he wasn't supposed to have the phone, but I don't find it plausible that he forgot he had it on him. Baseball uniforms aren't dog-sledding outfits. It seems unlikely to me that you wouldn't be aware of a 5-6" rigid plastic device in your pocket. I know they've got some padding, but I mean.. I know when I've got a USB memory stick in a pocket.

          I suspect he just planned to do some texting in the dugout instead of watching hi

  • Head first slide (Score:3)

    by PPH ( 736903 ) on Sunday August 14, 2022 @12:12PM (#62788716)

    He could have slid on his butt and gotten a pretty sweet endorsement deal from Corning [wikipedia.org].

  • Kind of "story" is this?

  • I mean, seriously, what's the story here? Some overpaid circle-runner lost his phone. Film at 11.

    • If you look at the posting times of the last three stories including this one they are exactly one every hour - editor simply ran out of ideas for this one. Can't wait to see what is considered news at 1:34pm.

      -10:34, 11:34, 12:34
  • Who cares. It's not like he started hitting on one of the spectators or something.
  • This not worthy of reporting. Anywhere.

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