I’m a huge baseball fan. I grew up collecting baseball cards, fell asleep listening to Dave Niehaus call Mariners’ games and taught myself to hit left handed as a tribute to my favorite player Ken Griffey, Jr.
You can’t go home again
As such, moving away from Washington State to Arizona was tough. I didn’t want to pay hundreds of dollars a year for a satellite subscription to watch games, but following along in daily box scores and fantasy sports just wasn’t the same. I tried MLB.TV for a while, but ended my subscription after I couldn’t watch the All-Star Game last year. I wanted something where I could listen to games on the radio wherever I was, see the occasional TV broadcast and follow spring training.
Home is a click away
Enter the MLB.com At Bat 11 iPhone App. I’ve always been hesitant to purchase any app more then $4.99, as the easy transaction puts me on course for a slippery slope to bankruptcy. But this year’s app, priced at $14.99, is worth far more than that. Considering my audio-only (some games are televised) subscription to MLB.TV is $19.99 per MONTH ($99/yr), the app now seems like a steal.
Sweet sounds of spring
So far, I’ve been able to hear the sweet sounds of Mariners announcer Rick Rizz over my 3G connection as I drove through town, piped the audio through my AppleTV to hear Griffey Jr.’s cameo and am also able to watch tons of games on my iPhone while playing the audio through my TV. Because I’m easily distracted, I’m not too worried about the limited video access through the app. If I wanted that, I can subscribe very easily through my AppleTV and see nearly any game at any time, in HD, on my glorious 32″ Phillips.
Downsides
I’ve noticed that the app doesn’t handle the transition from WiFi to 3G well, as it usually pauses or stops if I leave my house while listening to a game. I’m going to blame this on my crappy 3G connection near my home, as the opposite handoff works perfectly.
It also shows dates weird, as it’s shown Wednesday at both the 18th of March and now today as the 24th of March, making me wonder who in the hell does the coding.
iPad
There’s a MLB.com At Bat 11 for iPad, but I haven’t been able to test it yet. It looks like more information, and it’s the same price.
