Your Dream Baseball Season on Satellite TV
A short time ago, baseball fans sat back and waited for the big game of the week. After This Week in Baseball, the Saturday afternoon broadcast featured two of the all-time greats, Joe Garagiola and Vin Scully, at the microphones. Other than this, there could be two or three home team games on TV that week and that would be it. It would be a huge understatement to say that today’s baseball fans have a lot more options. Here’s how to follow the entire season on satellite TV.
1. Get to know the MLB Network. America’s Pastime finally got its comeuppance with a twenty-four hour, baseball-only network. You’ll get top-notch analysis, insider reporting from Bob Costas, highlights of all the action and live looks at games happening everywhere when you tune in to the MLB Network. They also selected two of ESPN’s top personalities: Harold Reynolds and Hall of Famer Peter Gammons are on board. If you haven’t seen what this HD network has to offer, you’re missing out on some of the best baseball coverage out there.
2. Cover all the bases with MLB Extra Innings. If you really want to follow the sport like the ultimate fan, the MLB Extra Innings package is the way to go. Broadcasting games all day and all night via your satellite TV connection, this package will solve the dilemmas of the out-of-market fan and the very curious observer. If you’ve been missing the inimitable Vin Scully, check out some of the Dodgers’ games, as the old pro is still at it, working solo, after all these years. Or, you can head back east and check with the Evil Empire, to see what the Yankees are cooking in the house George built.
3. Revisit the game of the week. Weekday games are no longer on NBC and they no longer have Vin and Joe on the mic, but Fox’s Saturday afternoon games are more than adequate. With Tim McCarver and Joe Buck directing the action, the games are never dull. To add to some of the latest reporting, senior baseball reporter Ken Rosenthal is always backstage (or in the dugout) with some news to tell.
4. Spend your lazy Sundays with ESPN. The languor of summer Sunday afternoons has no comparison. Baseball fans know how their week will end with Sunday night’s excellent broadcast on the ESPN HD networks. With Joe Morgan doing the commentary and Jon Miller playing play-for-play, you’ve got an odd pairing to close out your week. Tim Kurkijan also offers analysis from the stadium.
5. See what TBS has to offer. It is well known that Ted Turner loves baseball, and as part owner of the Atlanta Braves, he has insisted that every Braves game be nationally televised. The fans are used to this, but the TBS HD network is now doing national games of different teams as well. Their large broadcast team is a welcome addition to the field.