The NFL has the Microsoft Surface – or “those iPad-like” things – but MLB will have the real thing: They’ve struck a deal with Apple which will place iPad Pros in every major league bullpen and dugout.

According to TechCrunch, relaying a Wall Street Journal report behind a paywall, “the iPads will give coaches the ability to get historical game statistics, pull up video from previous games, and even simulate potential pitcher-batter matches.” Each team’s info will come from their own data and analytics, not a central league database, so you still have to rely on your people to make the most of your information (as long as no one guesses your password). All the info will come through an app called MLB Dugout, developed by MLB Advance Media and Apple.

MLB won’t say if Apple paid for the placement. Microsoft pays the NFL $80 million to have its Surface tablets be on the sidelines. But Apple is typically more subtle with their product placement-like deals than Microsoft or Samsung– remember when everyone on Parks and Recreation suddenly started having the same Samsung phone? This Apple parternship isn’t just some placement or advertising, however. It will allow for the iPad Pro to not just be seen as work device, publicly, but also as an extremely helpful and useful tool. That is until a dugout tantrum destroys it.

Kyle: This is big. Here’s what I wrote last year:

So here’s an idea: Instead of eliminating the shift – a genuine strategy well within the rules of the game that exists in its current form largely because of technology – why not embrace it further by allowing managers to use tablets in the dugout? This way, rather than having them pour over a binder full of charts and scouting reports, they could quickly call up the data already available to them with just a touch.

I don’t know why you’d read any other website.

This makes a ton of sense, as baseball managers can benefit as well as any by having tablets at the ready. Apple and MLB Advanced Media have had an excellent long-term working relationship. MLB At Bat has always been one of the best apps, and MLBAM has been invited to present on-stage at Apple events. So this partnership isn’t particularly surprising. I also LOVE the wrinkle that teams will have to use their own proprietary data, which still keeps a competitive advantage for the ones that do it best (though everyone using one app levels the playing field to at least some degree). Announcing this on the day the 9.7-inch iPad Pro ships is just a coincidence, I’m sure.

Now, for the next step in my plan for baseball to embrace technology, from that same post:

How about not only allowing managers to use tablets in the dugout, but also empowering them to make pitching changes and substitutions from the devices? The tablet would be synced with the scoreboard and official box score and, boom, instant lineup changes. For completeness, the umpire could turn to the dugout and acknowledge and confirm the change with the manager (in case of an input error) with something as friendly as a hand wave, a gentle tap, or a quick sketch. PLAY BALL!

This would serve the dual purpose of both speeding up the game and embracing technology. To me, baseball’s selling point is that it’s a complex chess match. Each at-bat, a game within a game. Why not embrace that? Why not marry data with the game in a more seamless way? Why not allow people at home or at the game, through the MLB.tv app, to see all of the data available to managers and follow along as the decisions are made in real-time?** You remember how much suspense ESPN created with poker table cameras that allowed you to see the hands? Alfred Hitchcock once said that you don’t create tension by surprising the audience with a bomb… you create tension by showing them the bomb first. Same idea here– you add a new wrinkle to the fundamental core of the game (for fans) without changing the actual on-field game. Additionally, implement some of the time-centric changes being tested in the Arizona Fall League, and now you have a faster, more modern game, without any stupid gimmicks, juiced balls, changes in dimensions or manufactured hardships. It’s brilliant. I’ve solved it! I need to talk to the Commish. SOMEONE GET ME MANFRED ON THE PHONE! The Eagles just hired a 30-year-old VP of Assuaging Chip’s Big Balls— it’s time for a 31-year-old MLB Czar of Strategery and Tech for Fans Who Can’t Read Good and Wanna Learn and Do Other Good Stuff Too. Call me, Rob.

Baby steps, for now.

Side note: I guess this officially makes it OK to bring an iPad to a sporting event. I am reversing my position on this.