Though I'm curious about this in all sports, I'll limit my question to the scope of MLB for the moment. My question is what (if any) are the rules regarding electronic assistance in baseball games?
Extrapolation
- Scenario 1: Player batting has a ear bud inside his ear that is receiving info from another party in real time about where the catcher is located; what pitch to expect; etc.
- Scenario 2: Pitcher is wearing ear bud and receiving information about where this player likes pitches, his weak spots, how he does in certain counts; etc.
- Scenario 3: Manager receives real time data about whether to challenge a call based on a team of people scouring instant replay video.
Scenario 1 seems like it is obviously illegal, and should be.
Scenario 2 is no different than what pitchers do to prepare before games and perhaps between innings; but it allows for a much finer control on a pitch by pitch basis - and for some reason feels like it should be illegal.
Scenario 3 is legal and practiced.
So with that as background; my question expanded is:
Are there any rules governing this?
If so:
- What are they?
- And given the vast array of potential uses for electronic assistance in the game, what are the guiding principles in determining legality in a given situation?