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SPORTS Tuesday 11 July 2017

Take me out to the screen: Virtual reality baseball a hit

By RONALD BLUM taking swings last year in
AP Baseball Writer San Diego.
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — In a dual setup at FanFest,
Nicholas Montes put on which opened Friday and
goggles and a catcher’s runs through Tuesday, peo-
mitt and crouched. ple get to signal for three
The 13-year-old will never pitches over about 90 sec-
catch a 104 mph pitch onds as Posey’s recorded
from Aroldis Chapman. voice offers tips. They can
But at the All-Star FanFest, choose the pitch type by
he felt what it’s like to be pointing their glove toward
Buster Posey snagging vir- an icon on the screen, trig-
tual strikes. gering a sensor. When a
“It was like I was actually pitch is successfully caught,
in the game. When I was the person hears and feels
catching, I felt the ball the mitt snap.
move and everything,” “It is as real as it can
the Miami teen said en- be,” Danny Devarona, a
thusiastically Sunday. “And 48-year-old who coaches
then when I saw it go in my youth baseball in Miami
glove, I tried touching the Lakes, said after taking his
ball, but I felt the remote turn. Commercial and so-
control thing. So it was pret- cial media content was
ty cool.” shot over two days during
Developed by GMR Mar- spring training in Scottsdale, In this Friday, July 7, 2017, photo, the catcher mitt with sensors and goggles used for virtual catching
keting, the Esurance Behind Arizona, where Posey’s are shown at the All-Star FanFest in Miami Beach, Fla.
The Plate With Buster Posey San Francisco Giants train. Kristen Gambetta, Esur-
VR Experience allows fans Posey’s voice-over was re- ance’s brand partnerships
to “catch” fastballs, curve- corded after the season manager. “With VR, there’s
balls and sliders from a ge- started. something really entertain-
neric pitcher at velocities “Are you ready? All right, ing about seeing people’s
ranging from 86-93 mph. let’s see what you’ve got,” facial reactions and kind
“I’ve always said that I Posey’s voice tells fans. of seeing their movements
thought it would be cool for “This guy throws a nasty and how they react to
the average fan to either curve. The trick is to keep having a ball flying at their
step in the box or like this your glove below the ball face.”
get behind the plate and and your eye on it. ... Keep Several thousand fans were
get the same sense of what your chin down and be expected to put on the
it’s like to see a 90-plus, 95- ready to slide to your right, electronic “tools of igno-
mile an hour fastball com- because this one might hit rance” over the five days.
ing your way,” Posey ex- the dirt.” And unlike real catchers,
plained last week. “Nice job! Right in the they won’t have to stuff
Esurance Insurance Ser- pocket,” he tells fans when sponges in the glove to ab-
vices Inc., a subsidiary of they succeed. sorb the impact.
Allstate Corp., became a “Yeah, that was a tricky “Let’s just say I’m pretty im-
sponsor of Major League one,” he says when they pressed. I don’t think I can
Baseball in 2015 and signed fail. Based on PITCH f/x ever catch, or hit for that
Posey as a brand ambas- data, breaks of 38-to-52 matter, a Major League
sador. The company had a inches are simulated. Baseball curveball,” said
180-degree photo experi- “Fans will receive a social- Pablo Souki, a 38-year-old
ence at the 2015 FanFest in sharable video for them from Venezuela who lives
Cincinnati, then provided that they can then distrib- in Miami. “That was pretty
360-degree videos of fans ute to their friends,” said eye-opening.”q