All on the Same Page

Every classroom had one: a kid huddled at his desk with a
transistor radio surreptitiously plugged into his ear, trying to
tune in to an afternoon game. Transistors--and, for that matter,
daytime baseball--may be things of the past, but with the Sports
Trax handheld pager, school- or work-bound fans can still keep
tabs on what's happening at the ballpark. Marketed by Motorola
and USA Page, the beeper spits out batter-by-batter updates of
every major league game, with a delay of about a minute. Given
the typical game's glacial pace, that means the beeper display
showing the score, inning, number of outs and base runners is
almost as current as the stadium scoreboard. Inattentive fans
can even program the unit, which sells for $79.95, to alert them
when something important is happening; if asked, Sports Trax
will chirp when a run scores or play "Charge!" when a rally
starts. It also lets a user scroll through the day's finals as
well as tomorrow's slate of games. Best of all, it's so small
that it's easy to hide if a teacher strolls by.

--Stephen Cannella

COLOR PHOTO: MELISSA COHEN [Sports Trax pager]