Via Texas Rangers Blog, unfortunate timing at ESPN. They do say timing is the essence of great comedy.

MLB has not signed off on Sirius customers getting to hear games on satellite radio, despite XM and Sirius merging.

The next panel is on the media and fan, concerned with how the media landscape is changing. David Levy of TBS, John Walsh of ESPN, Steve Pagliuca of the Boston Celtics, John Collins of the NHL and Adam Silver of the NBA are the panelist. Shira Springer of the Boston Globe leads the discussion.

Update: The difference between Turner and ESPN, ESPN is a brand, Tuner is not. So Turner does more to promote the sports brands they broadcast.

Update: Turner is working on a way to allow people who pay for cable or satellite to get all their content online.

Update: John Walsh lists all the trends newspapers missed in the last 50 years. He says they are dead and need an undertaker.

Update: Stevel Pagliuca makes the point that there media on the internet are all multi-media. WEEI has audio broadcasts, video broadcasts and print. Online, is it a radio station, a TV station, or print? It's all of them.

Update: There's a question about cultivating women fans. Adam Silver notes that when the created the WNBA, they thought they would grow female NBA fans. While the WNBA does have a large female audience, more men still watch those games.

Update: Adam Silver talks about the problem with rumors on NBA.com. A trade rumor will pop up and get heavy coverage elsewhere. Should NBA.com cover it, even though the NBA knows he rumor is false?

Update: What I took away from this panel is that there are a lot of opportunities in new media, but no one knows how it's going to evolve and how it's going to be monetized. That's good, because it makes things more exciting.

MLBAM drops the price of MLB.tv. Squawking Baseball points out:

Also keep in mind, this is all before we even consider the potential of IPTV. We're not so far from a time where you'll be able to watch your MLB.tv Mosaic player on your television, in high quality. It'll probably start cannibalizing Extra Innings sales at that point, which sucks for the cable providers, but really is no big deal for MLB. The thirty teams only get some of the profits from EI, but they own all of MLBAM. So why not push this angle?

I just bought this Roku Netflix player and I love it. Very soon it will download content from Amazon as well, meaning I can watch all my favorite shows whenever I want. If MLBAM put games on this, I would ditch my dish and go with this little unit. Maybe this will force cable and satellite providers to go with a la carte programming finally.

Via 6-4-2, Bleed Cubbie Blue notes Sirius/XM Radio may not make their $60 million payment to MLB. That's $2 million less per team in the till. With advertising down at parks, it's a good thing most clubs are being prudent with their money this year.

Roving reporter Jim Storer tells me that WFAN opened their 10 AM hour with snippets of A-Rod's 60 Minutes interview while playing "Tell Me Lies" in the background. Here's the original video:

The Tampa Bay Rays will show no local games on over the air channels. Instead, they'll air exclusively on FSN. While this is bad news for people in Florida whose cable companies don't carry cable, it's great news for everyone else in the country who gets MLB Extra Innings.

Eight teams are not scheduled to appear on the national broadcasts of ESPN and Fox this year.

Blue Jays, Marlins, Padres, Nationals, Pirates, Reds, Rockies, Royals- 0

I'm guessing the Rockies will be good enough to appear on a broadcast before the season is over.

King Kaufman sums up the move by ESPN of putting Steve Phillips in the booth with Jon and Joe:

Phillips is the new kid, introduced to give a little goose to a program that's gone flat, that has -- if I may use a catchphrase that has MySpaced -- jumped the shark.

Steve Phillips is Seven on "Married ... With Children." He's Olivia on "The Cosby Show." He's Chachi.

There's nothing wrong with bringing in new characters to a show, if the show is more about the story than the characters. That's why Law and Order lasts so long. King, however, is right about just adding a fresh face, especially when that fresh face isn't all that good.

ESPN adds Steve Phillips to the Sunday Night Baseball broadcast booth. That should be enough to bring Fire Joe Morgan out of retirement. It's unfortunate that this move likely means more idea discussions of issues and less calling of the game.

I believe I'm a rare person in the baseball blogosphere who likes Joe Morgan better than Jon Miller. Miller brings the great voice to the game, but he's an impressionist and comedian at heart and has no feel for statistics. When ESPN pairs Joe with someone who taps Joe's strengths, Morgan speaks with more intelligence about the game.

I understand ESPN feels they need their national broadcast to cover more than just the game (despite 12 to 14 hours a week of studio shows devoted to baseball). Maybe they feel that Phillips's management experience brings a different view to those stories. I just want to watch the game, however.

Don Larsen said something very interesting last night. When he completed his perfect game, he didn't realize it was that special. He knew he threw a no-hitter, he knew he retired every batter, but he didn't know about the concept of a perfect game. There were only five perfect games in Major League history before Larsen's, and none since 1922. Vin Scully, obviously knew, as he had the 1922 Charlie Robertson game as soon as Larsen was walking off the field. I wonder, however, if Larsen's feat propelled the idea of a perfect game as something extra special into the public consciousness? Do any historians care to comment?

I'm enjoying the broadcast so far. The kinescope distorts the image of Yankee Stadium, making it look smaller that the current field. Yet, a catch was made in left, and you could see a 402 FT sign in straight-away left. That park was deep, and they just showed the 461 FT sign in left center.

The other thing I'm noticing is the umpires calling the high strike.

Update: Mantle is first shown batting in the fourth, since the first inning of the game in missing. The first pitch to Mickey appears to be low and outside, but it's called a strike. How much of that is distortion, I don't know. The Dodgers, however, put on a shift very similar to what we see today against the big left-handed pull hitters, except the second baseman wasn't in the outfield.

Update: Mantle homers to end the at bat. That's the first hit and base runner of the game. I tried to back it up and watch the homer frame by frame, and discovered the frame rate was different back then. We're only seeing 1/3 the frames.

Update: Gillette sponsored the game, and so you see a shaving ad between each inning. At the time, Gillette was giving away a pocket baseball encyclopedia with a purchase of a razor. Does anyone have one of those?

Update: Mantle comes up with men on first and third and one out in the bottom of the sixth. Maglie has given up three straight hits. Mickey homered earlier, his third of the series, but Vin Scully suggests the Dodgers should be wary of a squeeze play. Instead, Mantle grounds into a double play to the first baseman.

Update: A great reaction at the end of the playback by Larsen and Berra, who were in the studio with Bob Costas. Both were smiling ear to ear. Both were also very complimentary of the other. Larsen thought Yogi called a great game, Berra said Larsen hit the right spots with all of his pitches. A very nice broadcast by MLB network.

I didn't realize until I saw Yogi and Don standing together how much bigger Larsen was than Berra. No wonder Yogi was able to jump into Don's arms so easily.

Pete Rose makes the great moments montage at the start of the show. Bud, of course, had to do the introduction.

The studios look nice. They have studio three numbered for Babe Ruth, where they'll do the studio show. They also have studio 42 for Jackie Robinson. It looks like a ballpark, and they'll do how the game's played pieces from there.

So far, so good.

Update: Reynolds, Larkin, Leiter and guest Jimmy Rollins just did an excellent analysis of Jackie Robinson stealing home in the World Series. They looked at the contributions of the pitcher, the third baseman, the batter, and the catcher's glove in making the steal possible. I actually learned something there.

Squawking Baseball looks at the finances of the MLB Network and is disappointed in the numbers.

But this also isn't a ringing endorsement of MLB Network's business model, at least not for 2009. $200 million is significant, but it's not even half of what MLB Advanced Media will bring in this year. Find another cable network that is making more online than it is through their traditional revenue streams.

With startup costs, this will probably deliver another $5 million to each team. Studio television tends to be fairly cheap to produce. This strikes me as a nice piece of cash for not that much work.

As for online vs. broadcast, I bet MLB got the model right. Television is changing, and might even be dying. I find myself watching more shows on Amazon these days, where I can pay a small fee to watch anytime I'm in front of a computer without advertisements. I'd much rather own the online world right now that the broadcast one.

Update: Maury Brown posts an inteview with Tony Petitti, the CEO of MLB Network.

MLB is opening up its video vault for the premier of MLB TV. The new channel is supposed to be on DirecTV 213, but is not up yet. Some cable subscribers, however, are seeing some things on their MLB channel, however. The 2-teens on DTV now have channels for the NFL, NHL and tennis.

It looks like Fox is going to drop their pre-game show next year. I'm a bit surprised by that, since studio shows tend to be pretty cheap to produce. My guess is they would be better off buying out Buck and McCarver and giving the jobs to talented unknowns at a lower cost.

Tony Kubek goes into the Hall of Fame as this year's Ford Frick Award winner.

Kubek is the first exclusive television analyst to win the Frick Award, which has been presented annually since 1978. Kubek also becomes the first primarily television broadcaster to be honored since Bob Wolff in 1995 and the first Frick Award winner to have called games for a Canadian team.

"For an entire generation of baseball fans, Tony Kubek was the face and the voice of the game," said Hall of Fame president Jeff Idelson. "In the days before all-sports TV networks, Tony brought baseball into your living room every Saturday afternoon for almost three decades. His straightforward style, quick and detailed analysis and no-nonsense commentary on the game's nuances gave viewers an insider's look at what the players were experiencing on the field."

Kubek and Curt Gowdy were my national television broadcasters. I started watching baseball in 1969, the year Tony moved into the booth for NBC's primary game of the week. I always thought Kubek and Gowdy made an excellent team. Later in his career, he was paired with Bob Costas on the backup game, as Vin Scully and Joe Garagiola handled the main game. Costas and Kubek, in my opinion, were the better duo, and only CBS's billion dollar bid for the game in 1990 kept the two of them from becoming the lead NBC team.

Congratulations to Tony Kubek! It's a good week for former Bronx middle infielders.

Joe Magrane joins the MLB Network. I've been impressed with their hires so far.

The MLB Network hired Harold Reynolds and Al Leiter. I like the way the MLB Network is putting together their studio show. I've worked with both men and I think there's a good chance this group will give Baseball Tonight a run for their money.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up tonight at 8 PM EST on TPS Radio. You can watch, listen and chat here. If you want to leave a question, feel free to do so in the comments to this post.

TPS Radio is on channel 100. At the bottom of the player you'll see a control with an up and down arrow. Click on that and select channel 100 from the list.

FIOS signs up for the MLB Network and the extra innings package. Very good. At some point, I assume FIOS wil be available in my area, and I'd really like to have choices in my providers. I'l never go back to cable after years of bad quality and bad service, and I'm not crazy about Verizon, but at least competition might keep prices down.

I saw earlier today that Matt Vasgersian left the Padres broadcasts. We now know why, as he's going to host MLB TV:

Lead Studio Host for the MLB Network: Matt Vasgersian, it has a nice ring to it. I wonder how tough that decision was, he seemed pretty comfortable in a cushy job like he had at the Padres. Collecting paychecks and praise, goofing off with Grant, living in La Jolla, watching endless hours of Squidbillies, eating nachos for every meal, not a bad gig if you can get it.

I bet there was more than once that he asked himself the same question that Rick Sutcliffe asked him, after a terribly boring loss by the Padres, "Matty! What're you still doing here in San Diego?"

Matt knows sabermetrics, and isn't afraid to talk about numbers on the air. I enjoyed his Channel 4 broadcasts, and his hire by MLB makes me believe the new network is moving in the right direction.

MLB TV will debut in January with a broadcast of Don Larsen's perfect game.

It seems the FCC is out of touch with the people. Chase Utley dropped an F-Bomb during his speech after the Phillies parade yesterday, and the crowd loved it:

Utley's utterance was heard on all of them, and the Federal Communications Commission doesn't take kindly to cursing.

Anchors from NBC10, 6ABC and Fox29 issued on-air apologies almost immediately. CBS3's came later. Despite having used a tape delay of several seconds, the word made it onto their air.

...

Fans at Citizens Bank Park generally were unfazed.

"They hear worse stuff in school," said Ivette Centeno, 44, of Northeast Philadelphia, there with her two children and two grandchildren. "As a parent, we can explain that it was just excitement, and that we don't want them to say that."

Malik Muhammad, 29, of West Philadelphia, there with his daughter, Tia, 6, and Tia's mother, Tamika Taylor, 28, called the remark "surprising, but I can't say it disturbed us."

Of course, given that this was the second time Utley uttered the profanity on TV, maybe it's time to ask Chase to stop giving speeches.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up tonight at 8 PM EDT on TPS Radio. You can watch, listen and chat here. If you want to leave a question, feel free to do so in the comments to this post.

TPS Radio is on channel 100. At the bottom of the player you'll see a control with an up and down arrow. Click on that and select channel 100 from the list.

The game 1 ratings for the World Series were high in Milwaukee and Minnesota.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up tonight at 8 PM EDT on TPS Radio. You can watch, listen and chat here. If you want to leave a question, feel free to do so in the comments to this post.

TPS Radio is on channel 100. At the bottom of the player you'll see a control with an up and down arrow. Click on that and select channel 100 from the list.

Larry Stone echoes my views from yesterday that this series doesn't have to be a ratings disaster.

Let's give it a chance, please. As someone not concerned with Nielsen families or overnight numbers, here's what I see: A great matchup filled with appealing players and compelling story lines.

So there are no large-market titans (although Philadelphia was a pretty large market -- No. 5 in the U.S. -- the last time I checked). So there are no of lovable "nation" teams, as in Cubs Nation and Sox Nation (although the Rays looked awfully lovable, last time I checked -- which was one frenzied celebration ago).

So what? Are those the only teams allowed to make for a colorful, riveting World Series?

Earlier this morning I was chatting with a friend about how Fox probably wanted a Boston-Los Angeles World Series for high ratings. I noted, however, that lots of people watch baseball in Florida on television. You can tell because Rays broadcasts often just get back in time for the first pitch of an inning. The Phillies should also have a pretty wide viewing area, encompassing eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, parts of Maryland and Delaware. I don't think this will be too bad for Fox. On top of that, FishStripes links to this note on highly rated series:

In the past 10 years, the highest-rated Fall Classic was the seven-game Florida Marlins-Cleveland Indians matchup, which averaged a 16.7 rating/29 share. There have only been three others since then to go over 15, most recently the 2004 Series in which Boston ended an 86-year drought to beat the St. Louis Cardinals in four straight.

Even the Red Sox, who are about as close to ratings money as you can get, averaged only a 10.6 rating last year in their four-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies. The New York Yankees averaged a 12.8 in its six-game loss to the Marlins in 2003. The lowest World Series ratings ever came in 2006, when the five-game Cardinals-Tigers series averaged a 10.1/17.

The 1997 series also featured a Florida team not known for turning out crowds. Fans, however, do watch the Marlins on TV. The series featured a team roaring onto the scene after never winning before against a team that had not won a World title in decades. The series was also very tight, with the Marlins and Indians winning alternate games. If the series avoids looking like a sweep fairly early, I can see pretty good ratings for the week.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up tonight at 8 PM EDT on TPS Radio. You can watch, listen and chat here. If you want to leave a question, feel free to do so in the comments to this post.

TPS Radio is on channel 100. At the bottom of the player you'll see a control with an up and down arrow. Click on that and select channel 100 from the list.

David Cohen at The Good Phight notes that Tim McCarver wasn't too anoying last night:

But last night, despite the fawning over Manny, Torre, and all things Dodger blue, he didn't bother me as much. Maybe it was the euphoria of the first Phillies NLCS appearance since 1993, maybe it's my increasing age, or maybe it's a change in his announcing style, but I hope it keeps up because I'm hoping to see a lot more Phillies baseball this month.

It was a fast moving game, played in about 2 1/2 hours. That's unusual for playoff baseball, and it simply gave the announcers less time to fill.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up tonight at 8 PM EDT on TPS Radio. You can watch, listen and chat here. If you want to leave a question, feel free to do so in the comments to this post.

TPS Radio is on channel 100. At the bottom of the player you'll see a control with an up and down arrow. Click on that and select channel 100 from the list.

I'm trying something new tonight. I'm chatting about the playoffs at Justin TV.

Update: That turned out to be a bad idea. Never mind.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up at the top of the hour, 8 PM EDT, on TPS Radio. You can watch, listen and chat here.

To see the show, click on the channel changer, the up and down arrow below the display, and select channel 100.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up tonight at 8 PM EDT on TPS Radio. You can watch, listen and chat here. If you want to leave a question, feel free to do so in the comments to this post.

TPS Radio is on channel 100. At the bottom of the player you'll see a control with an up and down arrow. Click on that and select channel 100 from the list.

Hawk Harrelson during a segment in which he's offering praise the Twins management:

Thank goodness, thank goodness, Carl Pohlad won't give 'em any money.

Update: The White Sox fight back with four in the bottom of the 8th to cut the lead to two runs. It's now 8-6 after Konkerko hits his second home run of the game, a two-run shot.

Update: Cleveland counters with four of their own in the top of the ninth. The White Sox need a really big bottom of the ninth.

MLBAM sees the light on a copyright infringement case.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up at the top of the hour on TPS Radio. You can watch, listen and chat here.

Update: To see the show, click on the channel changer, the up and down arrow below the display, and select channel 100.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up tonight at 8 PM EDT on TPS Radio. You can watch, listen and chat here. If you want to leave a question, feel free to do so in the comments to this post.

I believe I've finally solved the technical issues plaguing the show the last few weeks, so stop by and see if the show sounds better.

TPS Radio is on channel 100. At the bottom of the player you'll see a control with an up and down arrow. Click on that and select channel 100 from the list.

Maury Brown notes the closing of Yankee Stadium wasn't a ratings bonanza. I'm not surprised. An NFL national broadcast is going to outdraw a baseball game anytime.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up tonight on Ubroadcasttv. The show starts at 8 PM EDT. You should be able watch, listen and chat here. I'll try to make the page look prettier in the future. I hope you'll stop by and ask some questions. When you open the page, use the channel control at the bottom to go to channel 100.

6-4-2 Has the information on the Lyman Bostock documentary that will air on ESPN.

The Baseball Musings Radio show is coming up tonight at 7 PM EDT on UBroadcast.com channel 100.

I just arrived home after some errands, and I turn the MLB Mix channel to find the first game of the double header in Chicago. It's listed on channel 735, but when I go there I find it's blacked out. I can't imagine why. However, they are showing it on the mix channel, so I can watch a very tiny version of the game. It's a good thing, too, as A.J. Burnett is working on a no-hitter in the fifth. He has walked one batter in a scoreless game.

Update: The ho-hitter is intact through five.

Update: Orlando Cabrera leads off the sixth with a bad-hop single past Scott Rolen.

The Baseball Musings Radio show is coming up tonight at 7 PM EDT on UBroadcast.com channel 100.

I'll be appearing on ESPN 1470 in Tampa Bay at about 3:40 PM EDT this afternoon. You can listen at the link.

Update: They moved the interview to 4:05 PM EDT.

The Baseball Musings Radio show is coming up tonight at 7 PM EDT on UBroadcast.com channel 100. You can join in the show and chat here.

Update: Show's over, chat box removed.

It's not a Dodgers broadcast until Vin Scully says "half a dozen". He got it in early tonight as Nomar Garciaparra came up in the second inning with six home runs on the season. We also got this gem, however:

It took a miracle catch to save Jeff Francis bacon on that play.

And yes, Scully left off the apostrophe.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up tonight at 8 PM EDT. You can listen, watch and chat here.

I'll be on Sports Radio 610 in Houston at 7:25 PM EDT, 6:25 PM CDT tonight.

Who should call the final game at Yankee Stadium?

I'll be making my weekly appearance on 1010XL in Jacksonville, FL at 7:55 AM EDT.

I'll be on Sports Radio 610 in Houston at about 7:25 PM EDT, 6:25 PM CDT tonight.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show comes your way via TPS Radio tonight at 8 PM. The show is on a new broadcast platform, UBroadcast.com. They do require you to download their player, but it's easy to install and they don't appear to push ads at you with it. TPS Radio is on channel 100. You'll be able to chat as always, so I hope you'll tune in.

As always, the show will be available as a podcast shortly after the broadcast finishes. If you have any topics you'd like to hear discussed, please leave a comment.

I'll be making my weekly appearance on 1010XL in Jacksonville, FL at about 7:35 AM EDT this morning.

I'll be interviewed on WNST, 1570 AM in Baltimore at 5:30 PM EDT. I'll also make my weekly appearance on Sports Radio 610 in Houston at 7:25 PM EDT, 6:25 PM CDT.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show comes your way via TPS Radio tonight at 8 PM. The show is on a new broadcast platform, UBroadcast.com. They do require you to download their player, but it's easy to install and they don't appear to push ads at you with it. TPS Radio is on channel 100. You'll be able to chat as always, so I hope you'll tune in.

As always, the show will be available as a podcast shortly after the broadcast finishes. If you have any topics you'd like to hear discussed, please leave a comment

Thomas Boswell explores the low television ratings for the Nationals. At the end of the column, however, he makes an important observation:

"The fans we have are ample and highly appreciated. We are going to build this franchise for the long haul and do it right the first time," said Kasten, knowing the Nats' farm teams have the second-best combined record in the minor leagues.

Good minor league records often translate into future major league success. If they win, people will watch.

FanHouse notes the lack of viewers for the Nationals games:

The Nats have lost 43.5% of their viewers this season and rank last in baseball in viewership. Just 9,000 households in the D.C. market tune into games which results in a 0.39 ratings share, numbers which could easily be mistaken as people who leave their TVs on to keep their cats company. For comparison, the Royals are 28th in households (the Blue Jays weren't included) at 28,000 while the Angels draw a 1.24 share.

Why would anyone want to watch a team where the only all-star was Cristian Guzman. Is Jim Bowden the only GM to screw up the opening of two ballparks?

I'll make my weekly appearance on 1010XL in Jacksonville, FL at approximately 7:35 AM EDT.

Joe Buck on the popularity of baseball versus football:

Joe Buck was discussing baseball on Colin Cowherd's ESPN Radio show this week, specifically comparing it with the NFL and talking about how pro football's popularity is partially tied into how watching one game a week fits into the lives of most people. And those people apparently include Buck himself.

He was talking about sports in general, but the context had lots to do with baseball when he said: "As far as sitting down and watching sports, it's just not part of my day. Watching Bachelorette is."

Sure, he was probably kidding about The Bachelorette - now, if you had said Rock of Love, dude, we're right with you - but it was not exactly the kind of attitude you might have expected from Fox's voice of baseball.

It seems to me Buck is trying to promote Fox's once a week broadcast. You like football once a week, you'll like baseball once a week.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show comes your way via TPS Radio tonight at 8 PM. The show is on a new broadcast platform, UBroadcast.com. They do require you to download their player, but it's easy to install and they don't appear to push ads at you with it. TPS Radio is on channel 100. You'll be able to chat as always, so I hope you'll tune in.

As always, the show will be available as a podcast shortly after the broadcast finishes. If you have any topics you'd like to hear discussed, please leave a comment.

I'll be making my weekly appearance on 1010XL in Jacksonville, FL at about 7:35 AM EDT this morning.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show comes your way via TPS Radio tonight at 8 PM. The show is on a new broadcast platform, UBroadcast.com. They do require you to download their player, but it's easy to install and they don't appear to push ads at you with it. TPS Radio is on channel 100. You'll be able to chat as always, so I hope you'll tune in.

As always, the show will be available as a podcast shortly after the broadcast finishes. If you have any topics you'd like to hear discussed, please leave a comment.

It's Jerry Remy Day at Fenway, and MLB Extra Innings will be showing the Red Sox pre-game show at 6 PM EDT so fans of the President of Red Sox Nation across the nation can tune in and see the show.

I enjoy Jerry's announcing. He's local, he's knowledgeable and he's funny. Lately, however, I've detected a certain amount of tension in the booth. I thought that maybe the relationship between Don Orsillo and Remy was fraying, but a friend of mine with NESN connnections says that Jerry is upset about the hiring of Heidi Watney. According to my sourse, Heidi knows nothing about baseball. From what I've seen during telecasts, she just introduces taped pieces, which either Don or Jerry could do just as well.

Congratulations to Jerry on twenty years of Red Sox broadcasts!

I'll be making my weekly appearance on 1010XL in Jacksonville, FL at 7:35 AM EDT.

I'll be making my weekly guest appearance on Sports Radio 610 in Houston, the Nigh Shift, at 7:20 PM EDT, 6:20 PM CDT.

I'll be talking baseball on WNST Baltimore, 1570 AM at 3:10 PM EDT.

No show tonight, I'll return next week at the regular time.

I'll be making my weekly appearance on 1010XL in Jacksonville, FL at 7:35 AM EDT.

I'll be making my weekly appearance on Sports Radio 610 in Houston, TX at 7:25 PM EDT.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show comes your way via TPS Radio tonight at 8 PM. The show is on a new broadcast platform, UBroadcast.com. They do require you to download their player, but it's easy to install and they don't appear to push ads at you with it. TPS Radio is on channel 100. You'll be able to chat as always, so I hope you'll tune in.

As always, the show will be available as a podcast shortly after the broadcast finishes. If you have any topics you'd like to hear discussed, please leave a comment.

I'll make my weekly appearance on 1010 XL in Jacksonville, Florida at 7:35 AM EDT.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show comes your way via TPS Radio tonight at 8 PM. The show is on a new broadcast platform, UBroadcast.com. They do require you to download their player, but it's easy to install and they don't appear to push ads at you with it. TPS Radio is on channel 100. You'll be able to chat as always, so I hope you'll tune in.

As always, the show will be available as a podcast shortly after the broadcast finishes. If you have any topics you'd like to hear discussed, please leave a comment.

I'll be on The Night Shift, Sports Radio 610 in Houston at 7:20 PM EDT (6:20 PM CDT).

There a problem with the UBroadcast sever tonight, so I'll be doing the show on UStream.tv. You'll be able to watch as well.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show comes your way via TPS Radio tonight at 8 PM. The show is on a new broadcast platform, UBroadcast.com. They do require you to download their player, but it's easy to install and they don't appear to push ads at you with it. TPS Radio is on channel 100. You'll be able to chat as always, so I hope you'll tune in.

As always, the show will be available as a podcast shortly after the broadcast finishes. If you have any topics you'd like to hear discussed, please leave a comment.

I'll be a guest on Sports Final Radio with Tony Boselli on 1010 XL in Jacksonville, FL at 8:15 AM.

I'll be appearing on Yankee Fan Club Radio at 6:30 PM EDT tonight.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show comes your way via TPS Radio tonight at 8 PM. This week the show moves to a new broadcast platform, UBroadcast.com. They do require you to download their player, but it's easy to install and they don't appear to push ads at you with it. TPS Radio is on channel 100. You'll be able to chat as always, so I hope you'll tune in.

As always, the show will be available as a podcast shortly after the broadcast finishes. If you have any topics you'd like to hear discussed, please leave a comment.

I'll be appearing on the show Sports Final Radio with Tony Boselli at 7:35 AM EDT this morning. 1010XL broadcasts out of Jacksonville, FL.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show comes your way via TPS Radio tonight at 8 PM. This week the show moves to a new broadcast platform, UBroadcast.com. They do require you to download their player, but it's easy to install and they don't appear to push ads at you with it. TPS Radio is on channel 100. You'll be able to chat as always, so I hope you'll tune in.

As always, the show will be available as a podcast shortly after the broadcast finishes. If you have any topics you'd like to hear discussed, please leave a comment.

New York Baseball grades the two baseball networks in town, YES and SNY.

I'll be appearing on Sports Final Radio with Tony Boselli at 7:35 AM EDT on 1010 XL.

Kevin Youkilis just fouled a ball straight back that hit the low home camera and broke the protective glass. They just showed the replay, and the picture goes from clear to gray. Now when they show a shot through the camera you see the spider web of broken glass.

I'll be appearing on the Rob Long show a little after 3 PM EDT. It's on WNST, AM1570 in Baltimore, MD.

Bobby Murcer returned to the broadcast booth tonight after a brain biopsy sidelined him. I'm glad he's well enough to get back, but he looks much older and he's not speaking that well. He's clear, but he's pausing a lot trying to figure out what to say. I'm guessing he has to relearn how to broadcast again. Good for YES that they're giving him the chance.

Update: Now that the game has started, Murcer is doing much better. He sounds more relaxed than during the pre-game standup. The fans chanted his name as they went through the rest of the Yankees lineup. It was a nice gesture.

Due to a conflict, there will be no show tonight. Look for the show to return next week.

I'll be on Sports Final Radio with Tony Boselli on 1010XL at 7:35 AM EDT.

Harold Reynolds signs with SNY to work the studio during Mets broadcasts.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

I'll be on 1010XL tomorrow morning at 7:35 AM EDT talking baseball.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

MLBAM and Yahoo! reached an agreement to show MLB.TV on Yahoo!, with Yahoo! taking over all advertising next season. From the press release:

Yahoo! Sports will offer MLB.TV to fans in 11 countries, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, UK, Philippines and Germany. The games will be available through a co-branded player on Yahoo! Sports at http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb and MLB.com. During the first year of the deal, Yahoo! and MLBAM will jointly sell advertising for the video inventory, using Yahoo!'s advanced video ad format, Clickable, in addition to traditional pre-roll and post roll formats. For the remaining two years of the agreement, Yahoo! will be solely responsible for selling video advertising inventory for MLB.TV. All of this will be powered by Yahoo!'s industry-leading advertising management platform, AMP! from Yahoo!.

"Yahoo! has been a valuable partner with MLB.com in the past and this agreement represents an important evolution of our relationship with an industry-leading gateway to the Internet," said Kenny Gersh, senior vice president, Business Development, MLBAM. "We are excited to leverage the popularity of watching live baseball games via MLB.TV with Yahoo!'s remarkable distribution portal and its well-established advertising sales capabilities."

Might wider distribution lead to a reduction in price? That would be nice.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

Metsgrrl praises Kids Clubhouse on SNY.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

A reader complains:

FYI: it's an hour and a half till game time and the link for MLB.TV mosaic still says available March 31. Isn't that today? I can only imagine what a pain it is going to be to download if and when they finally make it available. The server will be jammed for hours as everyone with the service tries to get it running. Just another sign of how much MLB loves the fans. Gotta love it...?

As a programmer, the mantra I live by is that there is no such thing as bug-free software.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

You know how American broadcaster take shots of the managers in the dugout between every pitch? NESN is taking the Japanese MTV feed, and they're going to shots of Dice-K in the dugout between every pitch. Remy and Orsillo are ran out of things to say about Matsuzaka about four innings ago, so they're now having some fun with all the angles they're getting in the dugout. I think the broadcaster knows what's going on and is doing it on purpose now.

I've never understood why dugout shots are more interesting than watching the batter, pitcher and catcher set up on the field.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

TBS announced their early season Sunday afternoon game of the week schedule.

"For the first time in Turner Sports' 30-year history of MLB coverage we're proud to present an exciting weekly package that showcases some of the top teams and players in baseball," said Jeff Behnke, Turner Sports executive producer. "Every Sunday afternoon for 26 straight weeks fans will find key matchups and marquee names as we follow the dramatic storylines of the regular season leading into our second straight MLB Postseason on TBS."

While the schedule is very NY-Boston heavy, it pits those teams against interesting opponents. For example, the Sunday, May 18th game is Milwaukee at Boston. Nice to see the Brewers recognized as a contender by a network.

I really like the TBS baseball production. Unlike Fox and ESPN, they keep the focus on the game rather than having their announcers pontificate about the latest news story. Some people complain they are too low key, but it's a nice change.

Hat tip, Baseball Think Factory.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

I'll be on The Steve Mason Show on 710 ESPN Radio in Los Angeles at 3:22 PST.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

The show will include a taped interview in which Sal Baxamusa and I discuss our current research and talk about the Bedard trade. Thanks to Dave Laurila. for conducting the interview and providing me with the recording.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air. If you visit the site during the 8 PM hour, you should see me on video in the upper right-hand corner. Just click on the box to watch and listen.

My guest tonight is Dan Gordon, author of Haunted Baseball: Ghosts, Curses, Legends, and Eerie Events.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air. If you visit the site during the 8 PM hour, you should see me on video in the upper right-hand corner. Just click on the box to watch and listen.

Will Leitch of Deadspin will appear on Fox Business Happy Hour sometime during the show starting at 5 PM EST.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air. If you visit the site during the 8 PM hour, you should see me on video in the upper right-hand corner. Just click on the box to watch and listen.

I'll be appearing on MLB Live: Weekend Edition with Jeff Joyce. It's on XM Radio tonight, 7 PM to 10 PM EST. That's on channel 175.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air. If you visit the site during the 8 PM hour, you should see me on video in the upper right-hand corner. Just click on the box to watch and listen.

Squawking Baseball notes the Baseball Channel is already doing better than the NFL Network, even though the Baseball Channel won't launch until 2009.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air. If you visit the site during the 8 PM hour, you should see me on video in the upper right-hand corner. Just click on the box to watch and listen.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air. If you visit the site during the 8 PM hour, you should see me on video in the upper right-hand corner. Just click on the box to watch and listen.

There will be no Baseball Musings Radio Show tonight. The show returns next week.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air. If you visit the site during the 8 PM hour, you should see me on video in the upper right-hand corner. Just click on the box to watch and listen.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air. If you visit the site during the 8 PM hour, you should see me on video in the upper right-hand corner. Just click on the box to watch and listen.

NiteOwl at ArmchairGM links to a set of old time baseball radio broadcasts.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well. Spend pre-game here rather than with Fox.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air. If you visit the site during the 8 PM hour, you should see me on video in the upper right-hand corner. Just click on the box to watch and listen.

Baseball's future revenue just went up a bit more as the Mariners extend their TV deal through 2020 for $450 million dollars.

The deal is so good neither FSN nor the Mariners want to comment publicly on the amount. But sources in the sports and broadcast industries say the total value is more than $450 million.

The current FSN deal, which was scheduled to expire in 2010, was worth about $300 million, which in 2000 was considered a breathtaking number. The new deal pretty much sucks the rest of the air out of the room.

That should work out to $45 million a year from 2011 through 2020. That over two superstars a season. Once you have two superstars on your team, a good front office will fill in with good role players and keep the team competitive. There's no reason here the Mariners can't be very good for a very long time.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show will not be broadcast tonight. It will return next Wednesday at 8 PM EDT.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well. Spend pre-game here rather than with Fox.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air. If you visit the site during the 8 PM hour, you should see me on video in the upper right-hand corner. Just click on the box to watch and listen.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well. Spend pre-game here rather than with Fox.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air. If you visit the site during the 8 PM hour, you should see me on video in the upper right-hand corner. Just click on the box to watch and listen.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well. Spend pre-game here rather than with Fox.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air. If you visit the site during the 8 PM hour, you should see me on video in the upper right-hand corner. Just click on the box to watch and listen.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air. If you visit the site during the 8 PM hour, you should see me on video in the upper right-hand corner. Just click on the box to watch and listen.

I've set up a chat room here if you want to try it out and chat about the game. You do need to register.

Update: Sorry, it crashed my computer.

I'll be on the air on Yankee Fan Club Radio a 6:20 EDT. It's also in the upper right hand corner of my blog.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air. If you visit the site during the 8 PM hour, you should see me on video in the upper right-hand corner. Just click on the box to watch and listen.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up in a little while at 8 PM EDT. You can leave questions during the show in the TPSRadio Chat Room. I really recommend you stop by the chat room. Lots of people make for a lively discussion and helps me with the show.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air. If you visit the site during the 8 PM hour, you should see me on video in the upper right-hand corner. Just click on the box to watch and listen.

The Diamondbacks/Rockies is not on extra-innings tonight.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up in a little while at 8 PM EDT. You can leave questions during the show in the TPSRadio Chat Room. I really recommend you stop by the chat room. Lots of people make for a lively discussion and helps me with the show.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air. If you visit the site during the 8 PM hour, you should see me on video in the upper right-hand corner. Just click on the box to watch and listen.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air. If you visit the site during the 8 PM hour, you should see me on video in the upper right-hand corner. Just click on the box to watch and listen.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up in a little while at 8 PM EDT. You can leave questions during the show in the TPSRadio Chat Room. I really recommend you stop by the chat room. Lots of people make for a lively discussion and helps me with the show.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air. If you visit the site during the 8 PM hour, you should see me on video in the upper right-hand corner. Just click on the box to watch and listen.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up in a little while at 8 PM EDT. You can leave questions during the show in the TPSRadio Chat Room. I really recommend you stop by the chat room. Lots of people make for a lively discussion and helps me with the show.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air. If you visit the site during the 8 PM hour, you should see me on video in the upper right-hand corner. Just click on the box to watch and listen.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up in a little while at 8 PM EDT. You can leave questions during the show in the TPSRadio Chat Room. I really recommend you stop by the chat room. Lots of people make for a lively discussion and helps me with the show.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air. If you visit the site during the 8 PM hour, you should see me on video in the upper right-hand corner. Just click on the box to watch and listen.

In the last hour I've come down with a bug. No Baseball Musings radio show toninght. I'll be back behind the mike next week.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air. If you visit the site during the 8 PM hour, you should see me on video in the upper right-hand corner. Just click on the box to watch and listen.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up in a little while at 8 PM EDT. You can leave questions during the show in the TPSRadio Chat Room. I really recommend you stop by the chat room. Lots of people make for a lively discussion and helps me with the show.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air. If you visit the site during the 8 PM hour, you should see me on video in the upper right-hand corner. Just click on the box to watch and listen.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up in a little while at 8 PM EDT. You can leave questions during the show in the TPSRadio Chat Room. I really recommend you stop by the chat room. Lots of people make for a lively discussion and helps me with the show.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

Dan McLaughlin and I were interviewed for the BBC World Service on Barry Bonds. The first broadcast will occur at 10 PM EDT. I hope to post a transcript later.

Jay Jaffe sends a link to an article speculating that the YES Network is on the block:

Publicly, Yankees and YES officials are noncommittal. "Absolutely not," Yankees president Randy Levine replies when asked whether YES is for sale - though not before acknowledging some "testing of the market." Gerry Cardinale, a Goldman managing director and YES board member, is more forthcoming, conceding that YES is in fact being shopped. "We're testing the waters with a limited universe of quality buyers," says Cardinale. "We would consider selling only if we receive a full and fair price."

And what might a "full and fair" price be? Try a cool $3 billion to $3.5 billion. At that price, one could argue that the true gem of the Yankees business empire isn't the team itself but YES.

Well, YES would not be worth that amount of money without the Yankees games on the station. So YES amplifies the Yankees value. If I didn't have a long term commitment to broadcast Yankees games, I wouldn't pay that much for the network.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

I'll be appearing on Yankee Fan Club Radio tonight at 6:20. You can listen to the whole show here.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up in a little while at 8 PM EDT. You can leave questions during the show in the TPSRadio Chat Room. I really recommend you stop by the chat room. Lots of people make for a lively discussion and helps me with the show.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up in a little while at 8 PM EDT. You can leave questions during the show in the TPSRadio Chat Room. I really recommend you stop by the chat room. Lots of people make for a lively discussion and helps me with the show.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

Here's a nice explanation of the physics of baseball from KQED.

Baseball Tonight won't be at the All-Star Game this season:

Major League Baseball limited ESPN's access this week after the cable network broke an embargo and announced the All-Star rosters before the end of a selection show on TBS.

Fox is broadcasting the game, but ESPN traditionally has moved its "Baseball Tonight" crew from the studio in Bristol, Conn., to the site of the game. Karl Ravech, Steve Phillips and John Kruk instead will do the show this year from the studio. ESPN does have reporters on site who will file reports but will be treated like all other non-rightsholders.

This isn't the first time MLB punished ESPN. I believe it was in 1999 that ESPN announced they would move Sunday Night Baseball Games to ESPN2 to make room for Sunday Night Football. MLB revoked ESPN's rights to show unlimited highlights during the post season that year, so a 1/2 hour Baseball Tonight show could only show 1 1/2 minutes of highlights from the game, including analysis tapes. You would think a fine would do.

One would also think ESPN would be clear on the rules regarding embargoes. Still, I'm not sure why MLB wants to upset a network that pays them tons of money. Someday, multiple networks may not be bidding to broadcast MLB games. Goodwill is nice in times like those.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up in a little while at 8 PM EDT. You can leave questions during the show in the TPSRadio Chat Room. I really recommend you stop by the chat room. Lots of people make for a lively discussion and helps me with the show.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

I'll be on Sox and Pinstripes Radio tonight at 9 PM EDT.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up in a little while at 8 PM EDT. You can leave questions during the show in the TPSRadio Chat Room. I really recommend you stop by the chat room. Lots of people make for a lively discussion and helps me with the show.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

The Baseball Zealot writes:

Braves reporter Mark Bowman mentioned Baseball Musings when interviewed by MLB.com

http://dds.mlb.com/2007/daily/062607_mlbr.mp3

I think he was referring to the Day by Day Database.

His interview is toward the end.

The interview with Bowman starts around 27 minutes into the show. The blog mention happens at about 32:50. Thanks Mark!

I'm scheduled to appear on Yankees Fan Club Radio at 6:20 PM EDT. Hope you'll tune in to that fine show.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up in a little while at 8 PM EDT. You can leave questions during the show in the TPSRadio Chat Room. I really recommend you stop by the chat room. Lots of people make for a lively discussion and helps me with the show.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up in a little while at 8 PM EDT. You can leave questions during the show in the TPSRadio Chat Room. I really recommend you stop by the chat room. Lots of people make for a lively discussion and helps me with the show.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

MLB.com hires Harold Reynolds. I assume this means he'll be part of the baseball channel when that premiers.

Welcome back, Harold!

I'm off to my 25th college reunion tonight through the weekend, so no Baseball Musings Radio Show this evening. I'm going to miss the draft, but I'm sure John Sickels will keep you posted. He ranks New England's Matt Harvey 9th among pitchers. Classmate Jim Storer saw him pitch last week and sent me cell phone video, but I can't get it to play on my computer.

In case you haven't seen the Blog Show, their tenth show highlights their best moments.

This reminds me of Boston's first album. They took so long to come out with a second that people started to refer to the first as "Boston's Greatest Hits." :-)

(Sorry, Jamie.)

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up in a little while at 8 PM EDT. You can leave questions during the show in the TPSRadio Chat Room at Stickam. I really recommend you stop by the chat room. Lots of people make for a lively discussion and helps me with the show.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

You can stop by the chat room at TPSRadio during the broadcast and leave a comment. We're now using Stickam for the chat, so there are no logins required. Also, feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

I'm surprised to see the Diamondbacks TV ratings are down. It's a good, young team that's winning. Maybe it's backlash from letting Luis Gonzalez go?

The Show premieres on Mojo (formerly INHD) on Wednesday, May 30, 2007. The six part series traces the ups and downs of six Arizona Diamondback minor leaguers through the 2006 season. Some are already starting for Arizona; some are still trying to make it. The show is filmed beautifully, an idyllic view of baseball. The colors are deep and bright, from the purple on the uniforms to the luster of the grass. Watching the scenes of the ballparks really makes you want to get out to a game.

They picked an interesting group. Carlos Quentin contrasts well with Casey Daigle. The former graduated from Stanford, the latter admits he never reads books. Yet both share the same desire to reach the majors, and both are able to articulate the weaknesses that might keep them from sticking there.

The teaser they sent me gave me the impression that this is an honest show about what drives these men to play a game with the odds of great success against them. With a bevy of good prospects, the Arizona Diamondbacks were the perfect organization to choose for this project. The producers capture the players in the clubhouse, warming up, succeeding and failing. I'm impressed by the candidness of these young men. It's a loving homage to a part of baseball many never see. The Show is well worth a look.

The Dia Tribe sounds the death knell for ESPN's Baseball Tonight.

Well, as with most good things, it has come to an end. Maybe it was Gammons' health scare that convinced him to not stay on the nightly show, or Reynolds' unceremonious firing from ESPN, but the show has devolved into a 3-ring circus. With the addition of John Kruk and Steve Phillips to the everyday lineup with Karl Ravech (who must just sit there every night wondering what the hell happened), the show has lost all credibility and fails to even be interesting. I can't tell you the last time I sat through a whole show, which would be simply unheard of a mere 2 years ago, when my post-game viewing revolved around it.

The problem with the show in its current incarnation is that it seemingly tries to be like The Best Damn Sports Show Period or TNT's NBA Studio Crew (a bunch of guys who enjoy each other and talk sports while having fun); the difference is that there's nothing fun about the show, and the personalities couldn't be less compelling (unlike Chuck and Magic). To pass the show off as anything remotely insightful or "insider" is irresponsible.

When I started with the show in 1990, we did 1/2 hour and always managed to get in 13 highlights, one for each game. Now it seems in an hour, they can't get in 15 games. There was less insider talk back then, but you got to see the games.

Part of this is the way the baseball world changed. I now can watch live games at 10 and midnight, so why would I watch a highlight show? I can get up to the minute scores on the internet. I can read great commentary from fans all over the world. The fact is, what made Baseball Tonight unique in the 1990s is gone. The show needed to change. And while it may no longer attract fans like me, it wasn't going to keep fans like me anyway. Remember, shows are driven by ratings, and someone did the research and decided this is the show that brings in the most eyeballs. They're different eyeballs than the people who watched the show in the 1990s, but that audience has new shows that take their attention.

Hat tip, Deadspin.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up in a little while at 8 PM EDT. You can leave questions during the show in the TPSRadio Chat Room at Stickam. I really recommend you stop by the chat room. Lots of people make for a lively discussion and helps me with the show.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

You can stop by the chat room at TPSRadio during the broadcast and leave a comment. We're now using Stickam for the chat, so there are no logins required. Also, feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

It looks like MLB playing hardball with the Extra Innings deal resulted in better coverage. I've seen San Diego local broadcasts from channel four. Earlier this week, Comcast Philadelphia allowed broadcasts of Phillies games on DirecTV. Today, I'm seeing a Rogers Sportsnet broadcast of the Blue Jays games. That means a lot more games are going to be available for Extra Innings. Great stuff.

Maury Brown notes the owners are starting to talk about changing blackout rules. Just don't expect anything to change soon.

I'm lucky. I'm in the Red Sox territory, so the only time they get blocked out on EI is when the opposition broadcast is picked up. But, NESN is provided free to us, so I just tune there when they don't show up on EI. Many others aren't that lucky. My gut is that if you pay for EI, you shouldn't be subject to the blackout.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up in a little while at 8 PM EDT. You can leave questions during the show in the TPSRadio Chat Room at Stickam. I really recommend you stop by the chat room. Lots of people make for a lively discussion and helps me with the show.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

You can stop by the chat room at TPSRadio during the broadcast and leave a comment. We're now using Stickam for the chat, so there are no logins required. Also, feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up in a little while at 8 PM EDT. You can leave questions during the show in the TPSRadio Chat Room at Stickam. I really recommend you stop by the chat room. Lots of people make for a lively discussion and helps me with the show.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

You can stop by the chat room at TPSRadio during the broadcast and leave a comment. We're now using Stickam for the chat, so there are no logins required. Also, feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

Harold Reynolds won a ruling in his case against ESPN. Maury Brown at the Biz of Baseball provides the details.

Judge Joseph Shortall approved Reynolds' motions deciding that ESPN must turn in information and in a separate protective order document that certain key pieces of information must be treated confidential by order of the court, including "the names, addresses and any other identifying information of person(s) who complained to ESPN about plaintiff."

PDF's of the documents can be found at Maury's site.

Update: The above quote means that Harold can see the names of his accusers, but can't release them to the public. We'll see if that gag order works better than the one in the BALCO case.

They're showing Willis vs. Maddux in HD tonight on Extra Innings

If your cable or satellite company doesn't carry MLB Extra Innings by the end of the day, you'll suffer seven years bad luck.

As we've been reporting for sometime on The Biz of Baseball, the biggest players are Cablevision and Charter Communications. Both companies have said that they are working on completing a deal, which is contingent on placing The Baseball Channel on the basic tier when it goes online in 2009. Charter has said that they are very close to reaching a deal, while Cablevision's comments have been more of the "we hope to get a deal done" variety.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up in a little while at 8 PM EDT. You can leave questions during the show in the TPSRadio Chat Room at Stickam. I really recommend you stop by the chat room. Lots of people make for a lively discussion and helps me with the show.

Matt Cerrone writes:

I'm debuting a live, streaming, webcast at MetsBlog.com tonight at 6 PM, called MetsBlog Talk Radio. Buster Olney from ESPN.com will be on to talk about Rich Harden, Carlos Zambrano, and others, followed by Gary Cohen from SportsNet NY and live, listener call in.

Click here for more information.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

You can stop by the chat room at TPSRadio during the broadcast and leave a comment. We're now using Stickam for the chat, so there are no logins required. Also, feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

Gary Thorne caused some controversy last night:

For those who have somehow forgotten, here's what happened: Schilling, who had a right ankle tendon injury, had sutures stitched into his ankle to keep the tendon stable so he could pitch in Game 6 against the New York Yankees in the 2004 American League Championship Series. A red stain, presumably blood, could be seen on the sock during the game, which the Red Sox won, and the sock was sent to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., after the Red Sox won the 2004 World Series.

Fast-forward to Wednesday night's Mid-Atlantic Sports Network's telecast of Red Sox-Orioles.

In the bottom of the fifth, according to multiple media reports, Orioles play-by-play man Gary Thorne said on the air that he had been told by Red Sox catcher Doug Mirabelli that the substance was paint, not blood.

"The great story we were talking about the other night was that famous red stocking that he wore when they finally won, the blood on his stocking," Thorne told broadcast partner and Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer, according to media reports.

"Nah," Thorne said. "It was painted. Doug Mirabelli confessed up to it after. It was all for PR. Two-ball, two-strike count."

Everyone associated with the Red Sox and this story, Mirabelli, Schilling and Francona denied it was paint. Having seen Thorne screw up on the air many times with ESPN, I have no doubt that the Red Sox are right here. I try very hard not to dislike people, but I have strong professional dislike for Thorne. In the early days of the STATS/ESPN relationship a number of people were upset that ESPN didn't use Elias. Gary was one of these people. One day, he called STATS out during a broadcast for supplying incorrect caught stealing statistics. What Gary failed to realize, however, that the report we provided only dealt with caught stealing by catchers, where the report his friends at Elias gave him dealt with all caught stealings. Gary was forced to apologize on the air.

So I'm biased about Thorne. In my opinion, he's sloppy. And in this case he's very likely wrong.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up in a little while at 8 PM EDT. You can leave questions during the show in the TPSRadio Chat Room at Stickam. I really recommend you stop by the chat room. Lots of people make for a lively discussion and helps me with the show.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

You can stop by the chat room at TPSRadio during the broadcast and leave a comment. We're now using Stickam for the chat, so there are no logins required. Also, feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

The Game Mix channel that's part of MLB Extra Innings on DirecTV shows pregame shows, but the main channel showing the game doesn't. That's a bit strange.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up in a little while at 8 PM EDT. You can leave questions during the show in the TPSRadio Chat Room at Stickam. I really recommend you stop by the chat room. Lots of people make for a lively discussion and helps me with the show. (I'll remove this after the broadcast.)

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

You can stop by the chat room at TPSRadio during the broadcast and leave a comment. We're now using Stickam for the chat, so there are no logins required. Also, feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

Rock Me TV attends Mets opening day. They include an interview with the Imus van.

I'm watching a San Diego home broadcast on DirecTV. In the past, these broadcast were not available for distribution on DirecTV. But here it is! I wonder if that was part of the compromise of cable getting Extra Innings.

MLB.TV is also being blacked out on Saturday afternoons due to Fox exclusives.

I've had three cable subscribers write me about problems with their cable systems offering Extra Innings. One person had problems with bandwidth, one with blackout restrictions, and one with a small cable company that's not carrying the package.

The blackout problem is due to MLB's rules, but if anyone is experiencing problems like the other two and wants to switch to DirecTV, let me know. If I refer you, you'll get a $50 credit over your first five bills, and so will I. My e-mail address is in the navigation section at the right. Let me know and I'll send you the info on how to get the $50 credit.

Deadspin presents the best headline on the new MLB iNDemand deal. What's interesting to me is that we now see a clear tactic that works for MLB in negotiating a deal. They threaten to take something away, act very seriously about it, and then trade it for what they really want. In the previous contract negotiations with the MLBPA, they did this with contraction. This year, it was exclusivity and the threat of cable losing subscribers. After 30 years of ineptitude, someone at MLB finally got smart.

These are not bluffs. I have no doubt MLB would have closed down two teams in 2003 if they could. I have no doubt they would have given DirecTV the exclusive if the cable deal didn't work out. And by not bluffing, they keep this strategy viable.

MLB and iN Demand reached a deal. If you have cable, you might already be getting MLB Extra Innings.

Major League Baseball announced today that iN DEMAND has entered into a seven-year agreement in principle to carry the MLB EXTRA INNINGS subscription package of out-of-market games and will distribute the MLB Channel, which is scheduled to launch in January 2009.

No details about the deal yet, and no word if Dish Network will reach a similar deal.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up in a little while at 8 PM EDT. You can leave questions during the show in the TPSRadio Chat Room at Stickam. I really recommend you stop by the chat room. Lots of people make for a lively discussion and helps me with the show. (I'll remove this after the broadcast.)

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

You can stop by the chat room at TPSRadio during the broadcast and leave a comment. We're now using Stickam for the chat, so there are no logins required. Also, feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

Maury Brown wants to know if you are one of the 5000 Extra Innings subscribers who can't switch to DirecTV.

Extra Innings is carrying the MASN broadcast of the Orioles game tonight, and the picture looks beautiful. Looks like they fixed their problems.

Rock Me TV makes programs for the web. They took their cameras to Yankee Stadium yesterday to talk to the fans on opening day.

Keep your eye out for more sports programs from them, as they'll attend the Shea opener as well.

Oriole Post didn't like the quality of the broadcast he watched on MASN last night.

Being that we are in 2007, I expected (wait, assumed) better from MASN. Well, I am going to go into the O's Xtra show in a bit, but I'm very peeved about the game broadcast itself.

The picture was not sharp or clear and the sound was very lackluster. I have DirecTV at home along with a 27" LCD in my main room. I have VHS tapes that play better on the TV through a VCR than what I saw and heard last night on MASN.

For those of you, who didn't see the game, the picture was fuzzy, some colors were distorted and you had to squint and refocus your eyes to see anything.

I'm going to give MASN a chance, but right now, I am not pleased at all, and it's kind of an embarrassment to the Orioles and the hard working people of the network.

I've watched a number of MASN broadcasts of Nationals games on DirecTV over the last two years and they were fine. I wonder what the difference is? Sometimes, on road games, broadcasters take the other teams' video feed and put their own audio over it. It's possible they didn't get a good feed from the Twins, but I don't know.

As always, Maury Brown remains on top of this story. There is no longer a deadline for negotiations to end. This is bad. Deadlines force the sides to compromise, other wise things will just drag out indefinitely. It's fine to let the deadline slip if you're close, but it's better to set a new one not too far in the future.

The second post is to an editorial in the Wall Street Journal that puts Kerry and Specter in their proper place. (By the way, if I were Arlen I'd change the spelling of my last name to Spectre and start carrying around a cat.)

Update: Actually, since I'm allergic to cats, I'd probably carry a Schnoodle instead.

At NCAA FanHouse, Michigan State complains about the commericals on MLB.TV:

New this year, every time you start watching a new game, you've got to watch a 15-second Right Guard commercial ... the same 15-second Right Guard commercial, every single time, where an idiot fights a deer, and then is impressed that his deodorant doesn't have him reeking like he just spent two weeks in the hole after a 1.5-second altercation with a deer.

Maybe I'm just being selfish, but I kind of feel like the $130 I paid for MLB.TV Premium should take care of that. I don't think that's asking too much. I paid for this product, it's not fair to make me watch a freaking commercial on top of that. 15 seconds every time doesn't sound like a big deal, but ... it's enough to make me miss an at-bat, and through the course of the season, all these 15-seconds are going to add up to hours. I could really use those extra hours to stick burning pins into the nipples of my Bud Selig voodoo doll.

Someone also complained about this in the comments yesterday. All I can say is, thank goodness they're not showing HeadOn ads!

Now that there's fewer games on, I'm checking out the new interactive features on Extra Innings. While watching a game on the non HD channels, you can press the menu button and get a choice of batting stats, pitching stats, or a boxscores, as well as quickly switch to Strike Zone or the mix channel. You can also get standings and leaders. The standings seem to be updated as games end, but the leader boards look like they're through the previous day. Not a bad feature at all.

I'm checking out Strike Zone Channel, part of the DirecTV superfan package. It's already better than I thought. Instead of being a studio show that shows highlights, they actually switch to games live when there's something interesting happening. That's very cool.

The sides are still negotiating. The longer they go, the more likely they are to reach a deal.

The Twins lost their radio voice today:

Hall of Fame broadcaster Herb Carneal, whose smooth baritone narrated Minnesota Twins games for the past 45 seasons, died Sunday morning of congestive heart failure.

Carneal, 83, was part of the club's radio play-by-play team for all but the first year of the team's existence in Minnesota.

"Herb Carneal's voice was the signature element of Twins baseball for multiple generations of fans," said club president Dave St. Peter, a longtime friend of Carneal's. "Clearly, he was one of the most beloved figures in Minnesota sports history."

My thoughts go out to his family and friends. This is the second year in a row the Twins are starting the season with the loss of an important colleague on their minds.

The Biz of Baseball is staying on top of the Extra Innings negotiations, and has a dedicated page for updates on the subject.

MLB extended the negotiations for Extra Innings past the 11:59 PM March 31, 2007 deadline. That's probably good news. If nothing else, it gives MLB better cover if the deal falls through. If they really wanted a DTV exclusive, they could have packed up last night. It appears more and more that the exclusive deal was a way to force the other two carriers to meet MLB's desires for more money and carriage of the Baseball Channel.

Tim Brosnan, M.L.B.'s executive vice president for business, said that the deadline would expire at the end of today.

"We continue to talk," he said, "and we wouldn't have extended the deadline if we didn't think we could bring everybody in."

We'll see if tonight's deadline is flexible as well.

Does this mean Comcast threw in the towel on Extra Innings negotiations?

Due to a decision by Major League Baseball, Comcast, as well as many other cable operators will not be able to distribute the 2007 MLB Extra Innings out-of-market package.

If you are a current Comcast customer and subscribed to Comcast 2006 MLB Extra Innings, you should receive correspondence from Comcast no later than April 11, 2007 with an offer to help make up for the loss of MLB Extra Innings, with an opportunity to subscribe to MLB.TV. With MLB.TV you can use your computer to view all the same games you would see on TV with MLB Extra Innings.

Thanks to Brian Hammond for the link. According to this article (the most balanced I've seen), the negotiations are continuing.

"We are trying to get everybody in," said Tim Brosnan, executive vice president of business for Major League Baseball. "That is our goal."

I still think there should be a trade-off to get Padres and Phillies games on the dish. Then no one is exclusive.

My Baseball Bias notes that if you want to get the Extra Innings Superfan Package from DirecTV, you need to own the carrier's latest equipment. Extra Innings, however, will work with any of their receivers.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up in a little while at 8 PM EDT. You can leave questions during the show in the TPSRadio Chat Room at Stickam. I really recommend you stop by the chat room. Lots of people make for a lively discussion and helps me with the show. We'll be talking about the AL East and the NL West tonight. Click on the screen below to join the chat.

Update: I've removed the Stickam player. I didn't realize it would keep playing once my show was over. Also, if you see it in the future, clicking on the speaker icon in the top left corner should mute it, I think.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

You can stop by the chat room at TPSRadio during the broadcast and leave a comment. We're now using Stickam for the chat, so there are no logins required. Also, feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

Tonight I'll preview the AL East and NL West.

You can read the submitted testimony of the principal witnesses before the Senate panel here. The two that stand out for me are EchoStar's Carl Vogel who says he'll match the DirecTV deal if EchoStar also gets a stake in the Baseball Channel. Even more interesting is Stephen F. Ross, law professor, who attacks the whole idea of horizontal markets for baseball broadcasts. That is, teams get exclusivity in a particular region. Ross wants to see that eliminated, so then systems can compete for particular packages of games. I'm all for that.

The Senate holds hearings on the DirecTV deal today, but it looks like there's not much they can do about it:

Sixty million consumers would lose access to baseball's television package of out-of-market games if the sport is allowed to strike an exclusive deal with DirecTV, according to Sen. John Kerry.

A day ahead of a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing, the Massachusetts Democrat said the deal probably was legal but might not be good for fans.

"When you've got 75 million people who currently have the option of doing something and you reduce it to 15 million, you've got to ask are the terms of this deal fair and does it work for the fan and for the sport itself?" he said during a conference call Monday.

Kerry, of course, is exaggerating the numbers. There are more EI subscribers in the 15 million DirecTV customers than in the 60 million customers of other services. My feeling here is that the negotiations will go down to the last minute, and it all comes down to how many subscribers cable is willing to lose to DirecTV.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up in a little while at 8 PM EDT. You can leave questions during the show in the TPSRadio Chat Room at Stickam. I really recommend you stop by the chat room. Lots of people make for a lively discussion and helps me with the show. We'll be talking about the NL Central tonight.

MLB rejected the deal offered by iN Demand made earlier today:

Not so fast, said Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer.

"The communication sent to our office today by iN Demand is not responsive to that offer," he said. "In spite of their public comments, the response falls short of nearly all of the material conditions (among them requirements for carriage of The Baseball Channel and their share of the rights fees for Extra Innings) set forth in the Major League Baseball offer made to them on March 9."

DuPuy said the March 31 deadline to match remains.

So they're still playing chicken. The cable company blinked first, which gives MLB the leg up. My guess is we'll need to stay up until midnight on March 31st to find out if these games are going to be on cable.

Update: I also wonder how much of a difference this is going to make? If I can stream MLB broadcasts from my computer, I can buy the cheaper MLB package and get about the same results.

It looks like Cable TV is meeting the demands of MLB:

IN Demand said Wednesday it will offer to match the terms of DirecTV's $700 million, seven-year deal with Major League Baseball on behalf its owners, who are affiliates of the companies that own Time Warner, Comcast and Cox cable systems.

As part of the offer, iN Demand also said it would carry The Baseball Channel when it launches in 2009 to at least the same number of subscribers who will get the channel on DirecTV.

"As the current home for 'Extra Innings' for more than 200,000 cable subscribers, we have extended ourselves to do our best to be able to continue to provide this package to baseball fans and our customers," iN Demand president Robert Jacobson said. "This offer meets all the conditions set forth by MLB last week. "

I'm not sure the Baseball Channel provision is exactly what MLB wanted. We'll see if it's a deal breaker. But this is good news for cable subscribers to EI.

Update: I'm really wondering what made iN Demand change its mind. Was it the flurry of calls from customers who want the package? Was it a number of customers actually switching to DirecTV? If this deal works, I have to say MLB did a great job of negotiating. They found someone who was willing to pay a high price for the broadcast rights, and now have another willing to pay what the market will bear. I would guess the Baseball Channel should be a relatively small barrier, especially if the deal keeps Congress out of their hair.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

You can stop by the chat room at TPSRadio during the broadcast and leave a comment. We're now using Stickam for the chat, so there are no logins required. Also, feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

This post the other day talked about NESN's ban on using video on-line. It now seems the NFL is in trouble over this very issue. It's an important post, as it tells you how to fight DMCA requests to remove video.

Correction: Fixed first link.

The San Diego outlet of Cox Communications tries to keep customers from switching to DirecTV:

The company recently sent a letter to subscribers who purchased the "MLB Extra Innings" package last season offering a 100 percent rebate for anyone who signs up for the MLB.TV broadband service - an $89.95 value that includes video for every out-of-market game and audio for every game.

The offer affects a little more than 3,000 people in San Diego County, said Bill Geppert, vice president and general manager of Cox San Diego. Cox is the nation's fourth-largest cable operator with 5.4 million subscribers.

"You can't go wrong with free," Geppert said.

San Diego is one of two places where if you switch to DirecTV, you lose your home team's games, so switching doesn't seem to be a real option here. Still, it's a good move to try to keep the customers that might want to switch.

Update: Has any one switched to DirecTV? Was the process easy? How much did they charge?

I've been wondering about fair use of TV video for use on my blog. If I'm watching a game and see something I want to comment about, can I take 10 second of video off my DVR, post it to the internet and use it in my blog? In the case of NESN, no.

No highlight of any Game (or any NESN content) may be used on the Internet, cell phones, wireless devices or any other electronic medium under any circumstances.

Update 3/21/2007: The NFL is in trouble over this.

Baseball Musings is holding a pledge drive in March.

I was checking out the DirecTV site to make sure my subscription to MLB Extra Innings was automatically renewed. The answer is yes! However, all that extra programming that's been talked about, the mix channel and the highlights channel, are not included in the package. Four extra channels, two for HD games, one for the mix and one for the highlights called Strike Zone cost an additional $39. Now, if you sign up today, you get a forty dollar discount on the Extra Innings package, and I'm sure they'll be encouraging you to use that saved money to get the extras. DirecTV has to pay that $100 million dollar bill somehow.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up in a little while at 8 PM EST. You can leave questions during the show in the TPSRadio Chat Room at Stickam.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

You can stop by the chat room at TPSRadio during the broadcast and leave a comment. We're now using Stickam for the chat, so there are no logins required. Also, feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

Tonight's show will preview the AL Central race.

BBTF's Newsblog links to a story about how iN Demand might get around the DirecTV deal:

To compete, iN Demand may take an interesting side route to keep from losing customers to DirecTV: offer free or deeply discounted access to MLB.TV, the MLBAM controlled online version of Extra Innings.

Customers would still need to watch on their computers, which is a complaint I've heard often in these posts. But broadband to the house to getting faster. I recently upgraded my home to a 3MB line, and videos now stream without interruption. Not a bad strategy, although MLB may not let them carry it out.

Baseball Musings is holding a pledge drive in March. There's one copy of The Baseball Economist left.

The Score Bard explains the Extra Innings deal as concisely as possible.

It looks like In Demand isn't going for the Extra Innings deal:

Jacobson said the deal contained "conditions for carriage that MLB and DirecTV designed to be impossible for cable and DISH to meet." He said the agreement will "disenfranchise baseball fans in the 75 million multichannel households who do not subscribe to DirecTV" and "represents the height of disrespect and disregard for their loyal baseball fans."

So both sides are trying to make the other look like the bad guy here.

I just called in to the press conference by MLB and DirecTV. With luck, I'll be able to live blog the proceedings.

Update: The call is starting now.

Update: Bob DuPuy is announcing an extension of Extra Innings on DirecTV. DirecTV will provide enhancements to the product. DirecTV will carry the Baseball Channel on its basic tier. No mention of an exclusive so far.

Update: DuPuy addresses exclusivity. He says incumbent cable carriers have until the end of March to sign up with DirecTV to continue to carry the games.

Update: It wasn't too clear to me, but if you currently get MLB Extra Innings on your cable or satellite system, you should encourage them to sign up for Extra Innings. According to DuPuy, they can do this for the same cost they paid last year.

Update: This agreement doesn't seem to be as exclusive as first thought. However, it seems to be up to the cable providers and Dish Network to take the initiative to get the programming.

Update: The Times is asking for clarification on cable getting the programming. What are the incentives for them? The head of DirecTV says the cable companies negotiate with MLB, not DirecTV. If they don't reach a deal, then DirecTV has an exclusive.

Update: It all comes down to Dish and In Demand wanting to pay the money. But they have a short window to make the deal.

Update: The others have to meet the same rate structure as DirecTV.

Update: One person is asking about Phillies games on DirecTV. Baseball is saying that they'd like to get Phillies on DirecTV, but there's not much DTV can do now. Bob DuPuy says the issue also exists in San Diego, and MLB Baseball wants that to change.

Update: Chase Carey of DirecTV says there will be no cost to switch to DirecTV.

Update: The San Diego/Philadelphia situation is due to a loop-hole in federal law, and baseball would like to see that law changed.

Update: In Demand and Dish have to sign up for all seven years by the end of the month.

Update: They'll also have to carry the baseball channel, from what I understand.

Update: The conference call is over (5:00 PM EST). There are some mistakes as I live blogged, as it some time to understand what this deal is about. Let me try to clarify.

MLB and DirecTV reached a seven year agreement for DirecTV to carry MLB Extra Innings. In addition, DirecTV will add enhancements, such as a mosaic channel. DirecTV will also carry the Baseball Channel when it debuts in 2009.

In Demand and Dish Network, the other incumbent carriers of Extra Innings can still buy the package. However, they have until the end of March, and they must pay the same rate as DirecTV, and carry the Baseball Channel as well. If neither of these providers signs on to the deal, DirecTV gets an exclusive and pays more money to MLB. MLB suggests people who get Extra Innings on Dish and In Demand call their providers to encourage them to make a deal for Extra Innings.

So there's still hope fans won't be shut out, but there's not much time left.

Update: Al's Ramblings wrote a piece in favor of the DirecTV deal before this announcement, and he posts a rebuttal as well.

Baseball Musings is holding a pledge drive in March.

DirecTV and MLB scheduled a conference call for 4:15 to announce the new deal. It doesn't look like it will be broadcast.

The LA Times is reporting the deal between MLB and DirecTV is imminent. A second hand source tells me the announcement will come at 4 PM EST today. Also, one of my readers who complained to DirecTV about the exclusivity a month ago got a call yesterday about how to fix the installation problem. However, at the DirecTV website, the package is still not available.

One good thing about the delay in reaching an agreement is that it delayed one month having the extra-innings charge appear on my bill.

Update: Another reason this deal might have taken awhile to announce is that DirecTV was reorganizing their executive staff.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up in a little while at 8 PM EST. You can leave questions during the show in the TPSRadio Chat Room at Stickam.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EST. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

You can stop by the chat room at TPSRadio during the broadcast and leave a comment. We're now using Stickam for the chat, so there are no logins required. Also, feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

Bud Selig spoke with reporters about the DirecTV deal:

Speaking to reporters before Saturday's Cubs-A's game, Selig called it "a slight controversy, in some places."

He pointed out the deal is close to being completed but is not done.

"I've heard for years we have too much product out there," Selig said.

"Everywhere I've gone ... there's no market that has less than 350 to 400 [televised] games, and some [like Chicago] have quite a bit more than that. We have an enormous amount of product out there.

"As for this deal, what fascinates me is I have spent a lot of time going over it and trying to find out who can't get [DirecTV].

"We're down now to such small numbers, that I'm really wondering [about the fuss].

"... In a year or two, when people understand the significance of this deal ... everybody will understand it."

There are two things worth talking about here. The first is the idea of too much product. When I started working on Baseball Tonight in 1990, ESPN was broadcast six games a week nationally. And not too many people were watching. The reason was that except for Sunday night, ESPN couldn't show games in market. So if the Red Sox were playing Cleveland, those two cities got the backup game. The market for out of market games is small compared to the market for home team games. That's just a fact of life.

But having more broadcasts available does eat into those local broadcasts a bit. Someone might want to watch that Mets-Cardinals game rather than their local Royals-Orioles game. And EI certainly eats into ESPN broadcasts. The more product out their, the less providers are going to make off the product they can broadcast. So I understand this concern, although I believe it's balanced by building a bigger fan base.

On the other hand, the argument that you can see 350 to 400 games in any market talks past the argument the opposition makes. No one is complaining about the amount of games available. People are complaining about the choice available. An Indians fan in South Dakota wants to see Indians games, not whatever ESPN or Fox is airing that evening or afternoon. It goes back to the home team trump card. It doesn't matter if a person can see 350 games if 330 aren't of interest to them. Most people (I'm not included here) don't watch baseball games just because they are on. They watch games that have some meaning to them. Bud needs to realize this and address that issue directly. Otherwise, he sounds like a man out of touch.

Baseball Musings is holding a pledge drive in March.

DirecTV answers the FCC questions about the proposed MLB deal:

In his letter, Mr. Carey described what the Extra Innings service would look like if the satellite TV provider completes its deal with MLB. Most games will be provided in high-definition on satellite--something cable operators don't have the bandwidth for now--and the games will be accompanied by the Strike Zone channel, which will deliver live cut-ins of games throughout the country as well as scores and statistics.

"DirecTV will do for Extra Innings what we have done for other programming: transform a service that had enjoyed limited popularity when offered by multiple [distributors] into a fan's dream," Mr. Carey said.

DirecTV also is agreeing to carry MLB's Baseball Channel, which will be available to other distributors as well.

According to Mr. Carey, only 230,000 non-DirecTV subscribers purchased Extra Innings last year. (About 270,000 DirecTV customers bought the package.)

"The only real barriers to cable customers who want to switch to DirecTV are imposed by cable," Mr. Carey added. "Cable penalizes such customers by increasing the price of Internet service if a customer drops cable's video service. Furthermore, if cable did not prohibit a direct connection between the Internet and the set-top box, MLB.com could easily be viewed on television sets."

I'm somewhat skeptical about the HD service. DTV has been promising more channels since I first got HD back in 2003 and they've appeared very slowly. But they do a good job with the mixes. Right now, they offer three channels that show up to eight related stations, news, sports or kids. You can flip see what's happening on each and select one for audio. If they do this with EI, it will be a quick way to find a game worth watching.

So DirecTV made their pitch that they're adding value to the package by taking it exclusive. Of course, there's nothing to stop them from doing all that if it's not exclusive. Also, this story corrects a statement in the original letter. The deal is not done.

Update: I also just realized DirecTV is being a bit hypocritical about connecting set top boxes to the internet. They don't allow connection of their DVRs to the internet like TIVO does, with the excuse that this prevents pirating. Give me access to my DVR via my computer before you complain about cable.

Update: Okay, I take that back. There was a software upgrade that I didn't know about that makes a connection to the internet possible. Now I have to figure out how to make it work.

Update: This connection allows you to show pictures from your computer on your television through the DirecTV box. It doesn't allow control of the recorder. But it does strike me that you could show MLBTV on your TV through this system.

Baseball Musings is holding a pledge drive in March.

The DirecTV deal is still on hold. Last week there were reports that it would happen this week. But as Richard Sandomir reports:

Earlier this week, it looked as if Major League Baseball's ever-pending deal that would move the Extra Innings package of out-of-market games exclusively to DirecTV might be announced today. That is no longer likely. It may happen Monday, next month or by the All-Star Game break.

Richard still thinks the deal gets done, and wonders how Selig explains it to fans. I take the delays as a sign this may end up working out for fans in a better way.

Baseball Musings is holding a pledge drive in March.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up in a little while at 8 PM EST. You can leave questions during the show in the TPSRadio Chat Room at Stickam.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EST. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

You can stop by the chat room at TPSRadio during the broadcast and leave a comment. We're now using Stickam for the chat, so there are no logins required. Also, feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

There seems to be conflicting information on the DirecTV exclusive:

One source familiar with negotiations said he now believes that the Extra Innings package will remain available to all three services.

"I'd be surprised if the DirecTV deal goes through," he said.

It seems the cable companies are becoming willing to carry the baseball network:

But after initially rebuffing the MLB demands for carriage of the Baseball Network, the cable operators are now coming around, according to the industry source.

"There will be a commitment to carry the Baseball Network (on cable)," said the industry official. "Where it will be placed, that still needs to be sorted out."

However:

Another source with the league said he was not aware of any shift away from plans to go with an exclusive deal for DirecTV. But talks have lingered for months without an official announcement even as baseball's opening day draws near.

The longer this goes on, the more I think this deal was designed with the same goal as contraction. Put something out on the table the MLB doesn't want to do, but be serious about the plan and use it as leverage to get what you really want. It's the used car salesman in Bud at work.

Thanks to Jan for the tip.

The Orioles are making it harder for radio stations other than their flagship to host club officials:

As Davis posted on the station's Web site today, the club has instituted a policy prohibiting members of team management -- such as vice president Jim Duquette or manager Sam Perlozzo -- from taking callers' questions when they appear on his nightly talk show.

The Orioles say the policy is designed to enhance the programming for its radio rights-holder, CBS Radio. On flagship station WHFS (105.7 FM) and CBS' all-sports ESPN Radio 1300 (WJFK, 1300 AM), no such prohibition would apply, the Orioles say.

This is a policy they never enforced before:

''The club has always had its policy,'' said Greg Bader, Orioles director of communications.

Not so, said Jeff Beauchamp, vice president and station manager of WBAL, which was the Orioles flagship for the previous 19 years.

''It's never been the case for the past 20 years,'' Beauchamp said.

Stan Charles, a regular sports talk host in Baltimore on five radio stations from 1981 to 2001 -- with only four of those years on the Orioles flagship -- said he never experienced such a restriction during his time on the air.

The more I read about the Orioles, the more I'm convinced they're one of the worst run businesses in baseball. It's only the fact that they are able to afford some good players that they're not at the level of Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh and Kansas City.

Maury Brown brings us the latest on the DirecTV deal. There's a rumor the length of the exclusive is going to be shortened to three years.

A reader contacted Comcast about MLB Extra Innings:

I just called my cable provider (comcast) to see if they would tell me anything about extra innings. After first telling me that comcast still provides extra innings, I got the operator to check and see if I would be able to order it. Suddenly she found and started reading me a statement saying that extra innings was now exclusively available on direct tv and that comcast would no longer provide it. Unwilling to accept the truth, I asked her if the statement came from comcast and she assured me that it did. I was holding out hope that the deal wouldn't go down but if comcast is publicly saying it will, it almost certainly will.

This seems to jibe with Maury Brown's post from yesterday.

Bud Selig spoke on ESPN Radio this morning, and a reader sends this summary:

While being stuck in a truly nightmarish traffic jam this morning, David, I had the opportunity to hear Bud Selig tell Mike Greenberg on ESPN Radio that though the DirecTV deal is not yet done, still Mike would be surprised how very few people are effected by this loss of programming. Selig said that some committee incuding folks like Tom Werner had studied this potential deal and concluded it was the right thing to do. Should've known the Red Sox were involved in some way!:)And then of course, Bud went on to tell us again that there's lots of baseball available for viewing[just not the out-of-market team of your choice, cable subscribers]. He also said that when the deal is finally done, he or Bob DuPuy will come back on ESPN and discuss it fully with them. And of course, he was noncommittal on just about anything else mentioned. And he reiterated that we still have 3 more years of his "reign."

I would actually be surprised if Werner was in favor of this deal. I don't think John Kerry would come out against the contract if his supporters in the Red Sox organization were for it.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up in a little while at 8 PM EST. You can leave questions during the show in the TPSRadio Chat Room at Stickam.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EST. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

You can stop by the chat room at TPSRadio during the broadcast and leave a comment. We're now using Stickam for the chat, so there are no logins required. Also, feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

Dave Yeager and I corresponded over the weekend about the pending DirecTV deal that will give the satellite company an exclusive on MLB extra-innings. The contract would hurt Phillies fans particularly hard, since Comcast has an exclusive on the team's games, and doesn't make them available to DirecTV at all.

Dave sent me this article from Yahoo Finance today, which is the best I've seen at explaining the reasons for the deal:

If MLB has done nothing else right in the past 50 years - and let's be honest, the only other thing they've done right in the past 60 years was integrating the game - they've done the Web right.

Late in 2005, MLB scrapped the idea of taking Major League Baseball Advanced Media public. The reason, according to published reports, was that team owners did not want chests full of cash on their doorsteps as they were in the midst of negotiating a new labor contract. That excuse is no longer valid because MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association reached a new five-year agreement last October.

With the labor contract out of the way, MLB can now focus on taking Major League Baseball Advanced Media public. One of the key assets of the company is, of course, its MLB.TV product. See where I'm going?

By shifting the Extra Innings package to DirecTV, MLB has now vastly expanded the market for its own offering. Fans like myself who have cable and no interest in switching to satellite television, are left with only one alternative to watch out-of-market games: MLB.TV.

Thus, by contracting the market for Extra Innings, MLB would b