The Gameday feature is a much-loved part of MLB.com. While MLB.tv and Gameday Audio require a subscription fee (and well worth the money they are too), Gameday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s main attraction is that it is completely free to use. MLB.com have been very good at catering for different sectors of fans, whether they want to pay for high quality video footage or they simply want a way to follow a game without paying a fee. What has been most impressive is that the fact that Gameday is free has not stopped MLB.com from spending considerable money on developing the product. Far from it.\u00c2\u00a0
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\nGameday started from humble beginnings, providing basic play-by-play details with simple graphics showing where each pitch ended up in relation the strike zone. It is now a stunning device. With the Pitch\/Fx cameras installed in all thirty Major League ballparks, we can enjoy pitch speed, exact location and flight for (almost) every pitch. The service was upgraded again for the 2008 season with a pitch recognition feature that automatically tells you what the pitcher went to on each count (fastball, curve etc), which appears to be getting more accurate as the season moves on. Video clips of the top plays now come flashing on to your screen a few minutes after they happen (not quite within the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcmoments\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 mentioned by Harold Reynolds in the advert, but close enough), which for a free product is incredible.<\/p>\n
The Gameday feature has even been expanded so that the complete details for each game can be found in one area. The game preview and the game wraps are all just a simple tab-click away, as are links to the full MLB.tv video and related items.<\/p>\n
The latest change has seen the main \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcstrike zone\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 part of Gameday become a 3D set-up that can be manipulated by the user however they wish. There are three standard angles to choose from: high behind home plate, at an angle behind the batter and at an angle behind the pitcher. All are useful, but the real joy is being able to set your own position by zooming in or out and moving your view in any direction. When I started using it, for some reason I wanted the mouse to work in an inverted way (e.g. by holding down my left mouse button and moving to the left, I wanted the view to spin to the right). I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not sure why my instincts wanted it to work that way, but after using it for a while I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been able to train it out of my brain.<\/p>\n
The 3D view also now uses a colour coded system to allow the user to instantly distinguish between different types of pitch (on top of the standard green for a ball, red for a strike, blue for \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcin play\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 ends that we have come to expect). Fastballs are red, splitters are purple, breaking balls are dark blue, knuckleballs and change ups are light blue etc.<\/p>\n
These enhancements (and the original Pitch\/Fx version was even called \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcEnhanced Gameday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 to distinguish it from its more basic older brother) have not found favour with all users. Despite utilizing the latest version of Flash, some have complained that it is too demanding on their PC\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s processor and would like the option to use a basic version instead. MLB.com have resisted these calls and ultimately you can understand why. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve invested a lot of money in this new technology and they want people to use it. Other sites provide their own versions of the basic Gameday service (e.g. ESPN), so baseball fans do have a choice if they want to use something else instead,<\/p>\n
Personally, I think the developments we have seen in Gameday over the last couple of years have made it a fantastic service. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have the fastest computer or Internet connection and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve experienced no problems in using the new Gameday. Watching games live via the feature is a lot of fun (especially with the video clips thrown in as well). It would be great if they could match up the Gameday output with the Gameday Audio commentary, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure that would be tricky to do without a fair bit of manipulation.<\/p>\n
Once the game is over, Gameday is brilliant when it comes to looking back at the pitcher-batter duels; seeing what pitch sequences were used in each at-bat and such. With the video clips ready and waiting to be clicked on as well, you can very quickly get a sense of how the game played out in quite a lot of detail with minimal effort on the user\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part.<\/p>\n