If you've never seen the video of Ozzie Guillen signaling for his closer, Bobby Jenks, in the 2005 playoffs, it's certainly worth a search. When issues arose with the bullpen phone, Guillen made giant circular motions with his hands to signal the big righty to the mound. Without those issues, we probably wouldn't have seen this classic moment.
In what appears to be an attempt to appeal to a younger crowd, Major League Baseball has instituted a new policy in specific stadiums to communicate with the bullpen. T-Mobile will put cell phones in the dugouts to make the call. It has not been revealed which teams will undergo these changes, but since Philadelphia is such a popular baseball town, you have to believe the Phillies will get the new phones.
The developers have seemingly prepared for all situations, as the phones cannot be used outside of the designated areas. Therefore, no one outside the stadium, or even the dugout, can interfere with the phones. (It also stops ejected managers from "cheating")
New cell phone towers will be installed for multiple purposes. First off, they will be secluded so as to not allow fans to prank call Charlie in the middle of the game (because he won't have enough issues already). The tower will also clear up stadium signals, that way the calls made from the dugout to the bullpen will not be hurt by the thousands of fans using their phones during the game. If all goes well, and the new system works for Joe Torre's staff in the World Baseball Classic, the phones will be installed for the start of the new season.
No word has been given on Charlie's ability to use a smart phone, but you can bet we'll get some interesting shots of him trying to call on Cinco Ocho.
