I’m settling in to watch the Boston Red Sox take on the Cincinnati Reds for Opening Day baseball (so far, no score). I am tuning in to the Boston video feed, and watching in 4K. This is how baseball should be.
This is possible through the magic that is MLB.TV. The streaming service costs $150 for all but T-Mobile customers (who if they sign up in time will get it for free). For that cost, MLB.TV subscribers have the opportunity to watch any* game, any feed, live or on demand after the game is over. Subscribers also get radio feeds, home or away, for every game.
For someone who loves the game of baseball, this is fantastic. My favorite team is the Cleveland Guardians, and I can watch them wherever* they roam across the country, and occasionally into Canada. I also like to watch the Red Sox, the Phillies, the Giants, and a bunch of other teams. While watching, I can choose who I want to listen to call the game, either the home team (usually) or the away team (if I am watching Cleveland as I just don’t like their TV announcers). I could also, if I choose, watch a feed and listen to the radio at the same time, synced up with the action. The choice is all mine.
Basically what this means is that during the MLB regular season, I can watch anyone* at anytime, East coast, West coast, or any city in between. I love the wealth of choice and the embarrassment of riches.
*What I don’t get is local teams. They are blacked out. For me, this means the entirety of the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros games are unavailable live. I can watch them 90 minutes after the game is over, if I wished, but live I will miss at least 12 games against Cleveland, as the Guardians will visit each city once during the season, and the Astros and Rangers will visit Cleveland once during the season, usually for a 3-game series each time. This is indeed frustrating, and is more so for my mom, who would prefer to watch the hometown Rangers. My dad is a Red Sox fan, so he doesn’t mind as much.
*I also can’t watch the Sunday evening game (ESPN), the early game on Sunday (Peacock), or a few other games (Netflix/various). I can watch the occasional Friday night game as they are on AppleTV, but that is only because I also subscribe to AppleTV. Baseball has badly fractured the viewing schedule in recent years, as everyone wants a piece of the MLB broadcast money.
But this is what watching baseball needs to be. Free, open, and choice. If MLB really wants to grow the game, they should give fans the choice of who to watch whenever they want, but with no blackouts. I understand (though don’t endorse) capitalism, so charge for the service if they must, but let us watch baseball. Let us be fans of the game, whoever we cheer for, wherever we live. Celebrate every out, every home run, every strike, every double, every double play. For me: there is nothing better.
Caveats aside, this post is about celebrating what is available to baseball fans out-of-market: the ability to follow a team and watch (almost) all 162 games of the regular season for a single team (more, if you follow more teams). When I was growing up, broadcast TV aired the All·Star Game, the World Series, and the Saturday Baseball Game of the Week, with the odd game during the week (such as Cal Ripken Jr.’s record breaking game and other historic milestones). It was torture waiting for Saturday to arrive! (And that was only if I had my chores done by 1:30pm, when the game aired!)
I celebrate what I have now, while wishing for what could be, for the love of the game. Play ball!
a simple man 