There’s no doubt about it: MLB.tv is a fantastic product. With 2,430+ live (or archived) games streamed across the Internet, it’s your one-way ticket to MLB heaven. You have to pay for it of course, but it’s tremendous value and well worth any financial sacrifices you might need to make to find the extra money from an already-squeezed budget.
If you want to learn more about MLB.tv, the free previews of the new Flash-based media player tonight (Friday) and tomorrow evening provide the perfect opportunity to try it out before parting with your cash. They also give you the chance to take a look at the two newest ballparks in baseball.Â
A handful of exhibition games are taking place at the new Yankee Stadium and Citi Field this weekend. The Mets are hosting the Red Sox, while the Yankees welcome the Cubs. Fans in New York can start to get familiar with their new homes, while the two clubs can try to sort out any teething problems with the stadiums before they open for full Major League action.
MLB.com are also using the exhibitions to test their new media player prior to the season starting. The player is still in ‘beta’ mode, so you may find the odd glitch or error as they continue to iron out the inevitable bugs. If so, check the MLB.tv blog to see if they are known problems and consider reporting your experience.Â
Because they are testing the new media player, MLB.com are opening these games up to everyone for free. All you need is an MLB.com account, which is very easy to set up if you haven’t already got one. Here are the details for the four games on offer:
Tonight
Jon Lester takes the mound for the Red Sox against veteran Livan Hernandez, with first pitch at 23.10 BST. Just under an hour later (00.05), the Cubs and the Yankees begin their game. Ted Lilly and Chien-Ming Wang will be toeing the rubber in that one.
Saturday
If you don’t fancy staying up for those games then tomorrow’s contests should be more to your liking. First pitch between the Cubs and the Yankees (Rich Harden against A.J. Burnett) is scheduled for 18.05, while the Red Sox and the Mets begin their game five minutes later (Daisuke Matsuzaka and Oliver Perez are the scheduled starters).
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More Brits are likely to consider MLB.tv now that it doesn’t look as though there will be free-to-air coverage of the sport this season. The sheer amount of choice that MLB.tv provides is one of its biggest assets, particularly as there were a number of teams you would rarely (if ever) see on Five’s coverage (a product of ESPN’s scheduling rather than Five).Â
While I loved being able to watch lots of games and lots of different teams via MLB.tv, I continued watching Five’s coverage as well because of Jonny and Josh’s infectious banter. You can’t replace that completely with MLB.tv, although some of the local announcers provide similar enjoyment (Len and Bob on the Cubs’ home broadcasts are a particular favourite of mine, for example).
The ideal is to have MLB.tv and Jonny and Josh. Hopefully we will be in that position again somewhere down the line, but until then MLB.tv has a massive amount to offer. Why not give it a try over the next couple of days?
Those two games are the first being played at the New ballparks in New York. I’m watching the Yankee Pregame right now and I have to say that I’m impressed with the New Yankee Stadium. It looks like the Old Yankees Stadium, include the Facade which surrounds the Upperdeck and has the exact same demensions as the the ball park did after it was refurbished. They also have outfield Scoreboards on the wall. It looks Nice.
As I’m writing this the score is Yankees 7 Cubs 4 in the bottom of the fourth. I can’t help but get over the fact that both New York Ballparks look Great. Citibank Field, where the Muts play, is an improvement over Shea Stadium. But the new Yankee Stadium LOOKS LIKE the pre 1976 Yankee Stadium. It has the FACADE. It has the scoreboards in the outfield. IT even has the bullpens located where they were in the old stadium. The 1st home run was hit by Robbie Cano, who was named after Jackie Robinson. I don’t care if we win this game, it’s still spring training after all, but I have to say this ballpark is great.
Both ballparks look very impressive (as they should, I guess).
Like you Joe, I was struck by how Yankee Stadium has taken on features from previous designs. At one point they had a side-on shot of someone at the plate. You could see the right field porch behind him and even though it’s a new ballpark, you immediately knew it was Yankee Stadium. It often takes a while before you become accustomed to a new stadium, especially watching on TV. I don’t think that’s going to be the case with the Yankees’ new home.
Saw Red Sox/Mets on MLBTV last night. I lost the picture in the 3rd inning but played about with the picture in picture settings to regain. Bit of a fiddle but I think I am there now. Don’t see much benefit in getting the premium package as the extra facilities weren’t used in my viewing.
Shame about the rain delay in the early hours, ended up going to bed lol.
May seriously consider taking a paid subsription this season, on the basis of the trial.
Note: the Orioles-Nationals game at 23.05 is also available via the free preview this evening.
Do blackout restrictions apply anywhere in the UK.
No, we have no blackout restrictions so can watch any games. In past seasons, we’ve even been able to watch all play-off games as part of the standard regular season package.
Matt, have you noticed that condensed games aren’t readily available in the MLB TV Schedule page? At least I can’t see any for the first two days of the season…
Also, do you know if the MLB site still does a brief video round-up of the day’s action? I’m sure they used to do a Fast Cast summarising all the day’s games in one piece of video which was quite handy (especially for those UK-based fans who don’t have NASN/ESPN America), but now it all seems to be broken up into a million fragments of highlights or individual game recaps. ESPN.com seems to do the same.
Cheers
Hi Tim
I’m equally frustrated at the lack of condensed games so far. I’m going to see if I can find out any info from MLB.com about it.
The video round-up was known as the Daily Rewind (presented by Baseball on Five’s Dave Lengel for a while). The full 30min version was discontinued prior to the start of last season and replaced by the individual game clips. There are pros and cons to this approach. For example, MLB.com don’t have to wait until after the final west coast game before they start publishing the highlights, which is a good thing. However, there is no user-friendly way to easily watch all of the clips from a day’s play back-to-back, which is definitely a bad thing.
So we just have the Daily Recaps now and even those haven’t been published for every game so far. Frustrating to say the least.
Okay, I’ve just received an update on the Condensed Games situation. MLB.com are still working on it. Their first task is to make sure MLB.tv archive games are all published correctly and then they’ll get to the condensed games. It’s possible that both will be done today (US time), but if not they should be with us fairly soon.
Thanks, Matt!
Hi, can you tell me if they sorted out the condensed games problem? I’ve heard about these issues elsewhere. I’m very tempted to subscribe, but I think the archives will be essential for UK viewers.
Hi Darren
Yes, Condensed Games are now available. These show the outcome of every plate appearance and therefore provide much more of an insight into how the game played out than simply a minute or so of the highlight plays.
Thanks Matt, I actually signed up yesterday. First live game I watched was the Phillies v the Mets. Even my partner got interested! Fascinating game from the start, with Perez falling apart immediately. A great first match to watch!
Hi Darren. Good to hear; hope you enjoy watching lots of games. I saw part of the Mets-Phillies game as well. Glad Perez was on my fantasy team bench rather than in the side! I’ll be dropping him completely later today.