There are few people who have had more impact on our lives than Thomas Edison, holder of over 1,000 patents for inventions in such diverse areas as electricity, light bulb, wireless technology, microphone, motion picture camera and pre-casting concrete - each of which found their way into baseball during his lifetime.

While improving baseball probably was not the intent of the inventions, Edison was in fact a huge baseball fan. These two links will give you a sense of his passion for baseball.

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/mve_time.shtml

http://www.ftmyersmagazine.com/FtM-edit.EdisonAtTheBat.html

In 1898, Edison made a movie (if 28 seconds can be considered a movie - watch it between Broxton pitches) called ‘The Ball Game' (not starring Kevin Costner but is available on YouTube). Would think that inventing motion pictures and making the first movie about baseball would qualify Thomas Edison as 'the original blogger'.

What if Edison had devoted more time to baseball instead of that other stuff he did, what would baseball be like today?

How about:

#1 Outdoor air-conditioning - run water pipes up the light poles with a remote controlled mister attachment

#2 Improved infield dirt - add a plastic-like substance that helps shed water and doesn't bake solid during extreme periods of heat

#3 Cool/Hot seats - cycle water thru tubing embedded in the expensive seats that cools when it is hot, warms when it is cold (like in floor heating)

#4 Improved Helmet and Chest Protector - find a material that can better dissipate the energy of a fastball or foul tip (NASCAR improved their walls to reduce damage during crashes)

#5 Signs using Smart Phones - for Pitchers/Catchers and Batter/Coach - no more stealing signs

What else should Edison have invented?