Baseballhead:
Streaming Infidelities

Michael Cox

This week's Baseballhead will be a truncated edition, as I fight this tenacious April flu. (The hellaciously "funny" topical joke of the day seems to be "sure it isn't SARS?" It's a bleedin' laff riot, I tell ya.)

Fortunately there were no baseball-related causes of stress as I laid helplessly in front of the television last week, and one good story yesterday as Kevin Millwood became the third consecutive Kevin to no-hit the Giants. Actually, as I write this it is yesterday, and the Angels and Red Sox are playing on into bonus panels, intruding upon my anticipated enjoyment of the Vancouver-Minnesota NHL playoff game. (Said enjoyment hopefully including a Canuck win. Hey, it's the national game for half my family.)

After this, I'll be listening to the Millwood no-no on MLB.com, as I've again splurged for their RealAudio package which includes an archive of every game played so far this year. It was a fairly easy choice over both the Extra Innings TV package (honestly, I already spend most of my TV viewing time watching baseball...and "Trading Spaces") and MLB.com's new broadband streaming video package.

Looking over that new broadband offering, I'm wondering exactly who might be MLB's target audience. You could call me a pretty big baseball fan (bigger than the Commissioner, if that means anything), but I just can't see myself intently concentrating on a fist-sized window on my computer, even if my broadband was actually as broad as the phone company says it is (which, sadly, it is not).

At a cost of about $100 for the season ($14.95 per month) I'd expect most folks to splurge for Extra Innings and get a full screen of baseball. Who remains as the primary streaming baseball user? Why, the few people who the economy hasn't yet scared out of slacking at work, that's who! I sure hope there's a "boss key." ("Perplexing. I could have sworn Jenkins had a baseball game on in his cubicle, but when I got there it was the Video Professor.")

Oh, and even that online video package is subject to MLB's blackout rules - you don't get the stream of the ESPN game, or the FOX Saturday game, or presumably any other game being played simultaneously with the FOX game. Other games aren't streamed because they aren't being televised for various reasons (such as one of the teams being the Tigers).

Still, it's more games than you can watch. I'm just saying it might be an "immature" technology, like Windows XP.

So in a few more minutes I'll be lying in a semi-prone position, imagining Atlanta GM John Schuerholz going a slightly different shade of red as the game progresses (maybe a peach to start off, then a magenta later, moving into a burgundy or maroon for the late innings). Maybe the Phillies' radio announcers will even get excited. I'm not banking on it, though.

Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. Bud Selig says he'll resign as commissioner when his current term expires in 2006. I'm not suggesting we shouldn't be hopeful, but anyone holding their breath deserves what they get, which may resemble what I've got right now.

about the author

Michael Cox swears this past week he's sweated more than Freddy Garcia. Tell him that could only be seen as a challenge to Freddy at mc@strikethree.com.