In the pivotal game 5 of this year’s World Series, the bullpen phone (of all things) most likely cost the Cardinals a shot at the championship. The Cardinals bench boss Tony La Russa called down to the bullpen during the 8th inning in an attempt to have one of his pitchers warm up. Due to the noise of the crowd and the location of the bullpen phone (apparently echos in the stadium) the bullpen coach was unable to hear all of what La Russa said. Noticing the mix up, La Russa called back and yet again, there was a miscommunication. All being settled, it left the Cardinals in an unfavourable matchup batter vs. pitcher, something that the Cardinals just didn’t win.
This led me to do a bit of research. Currently, Major League Baseball has 16 sponsors, and NONE of which are a phone company. Phone companies can take this opportunity to become a part with MLB, revamping the bullpen phone system, making sure this type of situation was one of a kind.
Full story can be seen here: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20111024&content_id=25774312&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb