MLB Channel
by WyoRanger on Jan 1, 2009 8:04 PM CST
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PrintIf folks aren't watching college football, I would strongly recommend tuning into the new MLB Channel. I'm watching the very first replay ever of Don Larson's perfect game from the 1956 World Series. What's super cool is that they're showing many original ads (and no new ones). I just saw an ad that sold a Gillette razor with a "baseball encyclopedia" (including hits, wins, RBIs and everything) for $1.00.
The game also has interviews with Yogi Berra and Don Larson himself (hosted by Bob Costas).
The folks here talked here about the launching of this network earlier, but I thought it deserved it's own post to see what we all thought. I personally think I'll check it out constantly. There are over a thousand games each season. Can Baseball Tonight really do enough? I say no. Especially since they're now expanding out more and more to the X Sports and similar bullshit.
I think that Harold Reynolds should call ESPN and say thank you. He's the new center piece of something that I think could blow ESPN's baseball coverage out of the water.
Oh, and the game is being announced by a very young Vin Scully. That guy was amazing at the beginning. He just mentioned (in the 8th inning) that the Nation is standing still but he won't say why (cant' talk about a no no).
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FIOS
I’m on Verizon FIOS and found the SD MLB Network, but I don’t seem to have the HD MLB channel.
Anyone else on FIOS?
yes, fios here
no HD yet. seems to be the case for a couple different providers.
no big deal as long as its up for the WBC and ST.
the preceding post was a great success.
yeah I was thinking the same
I was kind of ragging on him a bit when he was on the tv broadcast last year, but the studio host position seems like a good fit for him.
the preceding post was a great success.
Reynolds isnt that bad as long as he has other real baseball people and real sports journalist around to keep him on line too
mormons stole me and held me against my will with Oklahoma beer and 12+ hour work days.
Yep...
I’ve been turning the channel back and forth between the Rose/Orange Bowls and this.
Pretty good stuff. Not everyday you get to see Mantle, Robinson, etc, play ball.
"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."-Socrates
Lots of potential here, for sure...
I’d love if they did some type of Sabermetrics/Fantasy Baseball type show like the NBA does on NBA TV…
And it’s nice being able to watch a show covering offseason moves and such, and not listen to a Yankee/RedSox dominated discussion…
MLB radio has had a good fantasy show for years
called the fantasy 411, it had a video version this year in a studio.
I dont know for sure since they havnt revealed the exact regular season lineup, but I’d think they could at least give a half hour for it.
the preceding post was a great success.
wish someone like BP would get a show
would love to see will carrol, kevin golstein and any of the other BP guys (or even someone like keith law) do a show
Scout: He was a first-round pick right? Got a huge bonus?
KG: Oh yeah.
Scout: Well, he spent a lot of it on milkshakes.
by knockoutking on Jan 3, 2009 12:32 AM CST up reply actions
I am so jealous.
We have dish network. Is it awesome enough to switch to direct TV?
"You got a guy coming up there who can’t hit water if he fell out of a boat." - Tom Grieve on Richie Sexson, 5.8.2008
"I’ve been a Rangers fan all my life and I can tell you there’s been plenty of fucking crying in baseball…" - WhipSmart, 6.3.08
"When it comes to Jeff Mathis, the story ends with us putting one in his earhole." - AJM, 7.7.08
God that's a hard question
I switched from Dish to DirecTV when Direct got exclusive rights to MLB Extra Innings, and I think it sucks. Their DVR system sucks as do their tuners. I thought the best thing about Dish was the whole “swap” thing if you have two tuners. That way, you can watch one channel yet have another on “swap” and just swap between the two and rewind whichever channel you’ve missed. I can’t do that on DirecTV.
But watching the new MLB channel for a while, I think it’s fanstically well done.
Here’s my analysis. The Girl and I have been thinking about switching back to Dish and just watching baseball by hooking up a computer to the TV. We dislike Directv so much (we don’t get local channels in Wyoming apparently) but the MLB channel is making us seriously rethink things.
Oh, and now there’s a Josh Hamilton interview. Gotta go. This channel rocks.
Nothing pithy here. Please move long.
dvr's
only thing i miss about my time with directv was still having my old directv tivo units. they could do the channel swap you mention (also known as dual buffer). my fios dvr cant do that and i never realized how much i used it.
"I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it." - Mitch Hedberg
i have directv and
can do that “swap” thing you refer to in your first paragraph.
Greatest Inventions Ever? 1. TiVO, 2. Boobs, 3. Baseball
ah...Rentz' post above explains why
i have the old tivo unit still.
Greatest Inventions Ever? 1. TiVO, 2. Boobs, 3. Baseball
Same here
but only with my old receivers that I have upstairs. My new HD receiver does not have the “dual tuner”.
"I can't do that on DirecTV"
Why don’t you just record both shows at the same time? Then couldn’t you do what you are talking about?
The only reason you couldn’t would be if you only had 1 input. What am I missing?
Nah, noob.
by Brian Thomas on Jan 2, 2009 10:45 AM CST up reply actions
thats the work around
but with the tivo units you didnt have to record anything it just had a buffer. so no need to set record, or delete anything later.
"I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it." - Mitch Hedberg
Yup
That’s it. I could record them but that stinks. I’m sure I sound lazy and/or dumb, but you’d never guess how great the “swap” thing is until you’ve had it and lost it.
Nothing pithy here. Please move long.
I love this
I now know I’m not the only one out there. When I tell people my problem it sounds so minimal especially when the bring up the whole “record” thing but to me it is not very minimal. My wife does not understand what a big deal this is. I would almost rather watch TV in my bedroom on my non-HDTV so that I have this feature. DirecTV screwed up a good thing when they got rid of this on their new receivers.
My pet peeve (one of them) w/ the DirecTv DVRs:
On the old tivos, if you were watching live TV and paused it, then watched something off the queue, when you returned to live TV it was still paused. Which is a good thing.
I told the tivo to pause. I didn’t tell it to fucking unpause when I went to the q. If I wanted it to fucking unpause, I would have pushed the damn pause button again. This is an especially important feature when watching sports.
Now, if you could overcome this problem by recording the live event you are watching, I would still be displeased, but I’d understand. But NO. Even if you are recording said program, there’s no pause for you. Nyet. Nein.
DVRs are kind of like Microsoft Word. Don’t do me any damn favors, Word. I’ve got this. i know what I want. Stop it with your stupid suggestions and assumptions, Word. If I wanted to indent my damn text over there, I’d frickin put it over there, Word, you douche. Suck it, Word.
Nah, noob.
another positive
their HD seems to be superior than espn’s.
Stability is key, and JD is a Beast.
Jindal - 2012
THIS NETWORK IS AWESOME
I can’t believe that I’ve been living without this network my whole life up until now. 2009 has already beaten 2008.
My baseball weenie....
is jumping all over the place. So much potential. So much history to draw upon for shows. Live coverage 24/7 in season.
I’m watching Hot Stove right now and Victor is doing great.
In an advertisement for the new network, I thought I heard the first MLB Network original documentary is going to be on Josh Hamilton.
I would change providers just for this. Anyway, I’ve found DirecTV superior to just about anything else anyway.
Anyone have TWC in the Plano area?
Is there a HD channel yet?
I don't believe so
and I don’t believe that they’ve committed to one here as of yet.
by Brett Perryman on Jan 1, 2009 9:43 PM CST up reply actions
Same
in dallas. Is it just me or does it seem like time warner is really behind when it comes to HD?
by Michael Cave on Jan 1, 2009 11:11 PM CST up reply actions
Las Colinas here...
No HD MLB Network, just SD on channel 198…I f’ing hate Time Warner cable. I should have got Uverse or FiOS.
Pretty cool.
The constant self-hype is annoying but it was certainly neat to watch Larsen, and the Hot Stove show had a real nice bit about Jackie stealing home. I still think the greatest value of this channel for me personally will be highlights during the season that are not on ESPN.
G G G E-flat_______ F F F D__________....
If they do it right
the prime time show during the season could be great, with the look-ins and all. I guess time will tell.
by Brett Perryman on Jan 1, 2009 9:44 PM CST up reply actions
wbc
also they are carrying the works baseball classic. I’m excited about that.
Wait 'til the year after next
Cooooool
I just watched Harold talking with Al Leiter and Barry Larkin about whether Joba should be a starter. Barry said he should be in the bullpen and Al responded that, according to Barry’s logic, every young promising pitcher should be in the pen. It was like a live LSB bitchfest.
Nothing pithy here. Please move long.
awesome
do they have trolls?
"I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it." - Mitch Hedberg
They have a little guy under one of the chairs
that jumps up and screams about how pathetic and jealous Reynolds and Leiter sound when they are critical of Larkin.
by Brett Perryman on Jan 1, 2009 10:14 PM CST up reply actions
My parents are getting something called AT&T U-Verse.
Obviously, I’d like to know if MLB Network is carried on this… thing.
I just
emailed a friend who has uverse and she told me that it is not.
by Michael Cave on Jan 1, 2009 11:12 PM CST up reply actions
I have U-Verse
and I really like it but MLB is not on it…yet. I switched over from DirecTV to AT&T back in May and so I am upset that I would have had the channel had I stayed but AT&T is pretty good otherwise. And, based on their track record I would imagine that they will start carrying the channel at some point in the near future.
"We live, we die, and the wheels on the bus go round and round." - Tony Romo
i'm going to venture a guess
that gillette is a sponser….
Yep
But the commercials are all of 20 seconds long. That game is flying along. The only person who steps out of the box after every pitch seems to be Billy Martin (a trait he passed on to Jeter it seems). Fun fact – his real name was Alfred Manuel Martin. Didn’t know that until now.
If baseball really wants to shorten games, just make everyone do the things they did in 1956. We don’t have any of the Jeter BS in this game. I’m not saying pitchers should be forced to throw from the stretch like Larson is, but the fix seems pretty obvious.
Nothing pithy here. Please move long.
I missed all the backstory
So, I guess Dish doesn’t carry the channel and isn’t ever expected to?
Anyone know why?
"I see their [Angels] rotation as John Lackey and a bunch of decent starters." - AJM
somebody tell me something please
I need this channel! Am I going to have to switch from Dish Network to DirectTV to get it?
"I see their [Angels] rotation as John Lackey and a bunch of decent starters." - AJM
Either them or Cox or Time Warner
I think those are the only 3 right now. The fluffy article I linked below claims it can be found in 50 million households right now…
Nah, noob.
by Brian Thomas on Jan 2, 2009 11:01 AM CST up reply actions
Verizon Fios as well.
"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is,
‘(Expletive) Dave Samson,’ then don’t say anything at all.
So I’m not going to say anything at all.
Is my mother the greatest or what?"
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, after signing Ichiro to a $90 million contract
I followed this pretty closely when it was happening
Dish was in negotiations with MLB about two years to extend Dish’s MLB ExtraInnings package. Problem was that MLB insisted that the Baseball Channel, when unveiled (i.e. yesterday) had to be on Dish’s basic package, and Dish refused claiming that it would increase the cost to all customers instead of the just the MLB ExtraInnings purchasers. So MLB signed an exclusive deal with Direct.
Enter Congress. After they became involved I believe three cable providers agreed to carry the MLB Channel on their basic set of channels and were also given the right to carry Extrainnings.
I’m guessing that Dish will never carry the Baseball Channel on anything but an upgraded sports package.
Nothing pithy here. Please move long.
well for all the complaints I had with charter about taking forever
to get ESPNU and CBSCollege in denton, I am escatic to get the MLB channel right off the bat.
Here's a puff piece with some interesting nuggets
The cameras and data sound like good ideas. And I was handing with the article until the last sentence here:
On Monday, the MLB Network will debut its original program “PRIME 9.” This half-hour show breaks down the top nine all-time in a variety of areas in baseball history, such as players at different positions, great comebacks and unbreakable records. The first of these shows will focus that night at 8 p.m. on center fielders, followed a half-hour later by all-time home runs. The debate will be crazy.
The debate will be crazy!
by Brett Perryman on Jan 2, 2009 11:10 AM CST up reply actions
well lets have our own here
I have to go by my dad’s recommendation and select Mantle then go with Mays. My dad still maintains that Mantle could have stolen 40 bases a yr for Yankees if the team and era called for it even AFTER he hurt his knee. Although it would be tough to argue with anyone who selects Mays. The best of my lifetime is/was definitely Griffey in Seattle. Had it all.
Puff piece?
How dare you. I’m sure you also question whether a 15 yo girl sent this unprompted email to MLB’s offices.
“After everything I’ve read so far about the MLB Network, I’ve become really excited,” e-mailed Elizabeth Dreeson, a 15-year-old Red Sox fan in Miami. “There will finally be an entire channel devoted specifically to baseball: all baseball, all the time. The fact that it’s on air 24/7 for 365 days means that I’ll always be able to watch baseball no matter what, and that’s very reassuring. It’s like ‘Baseball Tonight’ all the time with special features that really bring the magic of the game to life.”
What 15 year old girl doesn’t hope for a baseball program running 24/7/365 that brings the magic of the game to life?
Nothing pithy here. Please move long.
good point
heh
mormons stole me and held me against my will with Oklahoma beer and 12+ hour work days.
While I was watching
Larson’s perfect game, I was wondering, what is the second greatest game ever? That assumes that Larson’s game is #1.
Mitch Moreland - Rangers 2009 Minor League Player of the Year
Perfect game
any1 watch larsons wind up?
he looks like he doesnt throw that hard at all but can place the ball just about anywhere in the strike zone. he makes the dodgers look foolish for most of the game, half the time they cant ever get it out of the infield.
mormons stole me and held me against my will with Oklahoma beer and 12+ hour work days.
The crazy thing is
after that game, Larson went on to have a .500 record the rest of his career.
"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is,
‘(Expletive) Dave Samson,’ then don’t say anything at all.
So I’m not going to say anything at all.
Is my mother the greatest or what?"
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, after signing Ichiro to a $90 million contract
any1 who watched that game?
didnt larsons release point seem late compared to modern pitchers wind ups? maybe it was just me or the footage or sumpn.
pretty cool to get to watch the game complete in its original format.
sidenote: Billy Martin makes a play that shows unreal range (it was on the SS side of 2b), he makes Ian look like a traffic cone at 2b and i think Ian has better range than most 2b in baseball ive seen in years.
mormons stole me and held me against my will with Oklahoma beer and 12+ hour work days.
it was nice. i believe the fence to left-center was 461 ft
that is a long ways. that was cool to see as well. And how larson and berra interracted saying the same words because they have told these stories a thousand times.
Wait 'til the year after next
There were more intangibles at play with the 2001 Series.
- 9/11
- two miracle comeback wins for the Yankees against Byung-Hyun Kim
- Mariano Rivera was about the most untouchable motherfucker alive until that game.
by oc on Jan 2, 2009 8:37 PM CST up reply actions
Good pts
I guess the reason im so partial to the 91 series is it is really the first series i really remember. The way Puckett just wouldnt let the Twins lose. The worst to first stories of both teams. The first appearances of Smoltz, Maddux, and Glavine on the national stage. Lastly, Jack Morris’ transcedent game 7 10 inning shutout.
As a side note, i really hope that Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz retire the same year so they go into the Hall the same year.
Maddux already retired.
"that’s like saying because i wear a hat it keeps aliens away, just because since i’ve worn the hat aliens have never come and anally probed me." -rentz
"in the moment" series are cool that are playing now
went through lou gehrig and cal ripken. the iron men
Wait 'til the year after next
Lou Gehrig
is probably underrated. But, I am biased. He is my favorite player.
Mitch Moreland - Rangers 2009 Minor League Player of the Year
woohoo
its on (our) comcast
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Scout: He was a first-round pick right? Got a huge bonus?
KG: Oh yeah.
Scout: Well, he spent a lot of it on milkshakes.
You don't actually read threads, do you?
http://www.lonestarball.com/2009/1/1/706946/mlb-channel#11096641
Did Jon Daniels downsize your old position at Dunking Donuts?
by LSJ on Jan 3, 2009 2:19 AM CST up reply actions
Sheets
just mentioned on Hot Stove Report, they are talking about Sheets to the Rangers and why the Rangers would do it with Feliz and Holland on the way to AAA. I love actually hearing some baseball talk that knows about the Rangers. Awesome.
Ken Burns interview
with Harold and Victor is pretty good:
burns quotes an old letter from 1881 where the guys says, “bah, they dont play the game the way they did when i was a kid” heh
Reynolds isnt that bad when he doesnt have a crew of hacks surrounding him making it seem like a carnival.
mormons stole me and held me against my will with Oklahoma beer and 12+ hour work days.
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