I want to thank anyone who has read the blog to this point, whether you liked it or didn't. Obviously, I'm not expecting this to take off to Deadspin or Onion A.V. Club level proportions, but it is validating when people simply read what you've written. So anyone that's taken the time to do that; thank you.
The main reason for this post is because I recently started receiving the new MLB Network in my cable package. I've been looking forward to this for quite a while. Though I love each of the four major sports for various reasons, baseball takes the cake for me. I enjoy the pace of the game, I like the strategies involved, and in a way, I like how "quaint" the game is. Whereas football is an incredibly fast, violent and ruthless game (which also has its merits, don't get me wrong), baseball is methodical, there's no time limit, and in general, the better team wins each game.
I'm also a lover of history and statistics, and nothing beats baseball for that. The game's been around since the mid to late 1800s, for Christ's sake! There were once professional teams based in Worcester and Providence! Any professional sport that once housed a team in Worcester, Massachusetts, has my undying respect and admiration. And this isn't to mention all of the great players and historic moments in baseball history.
Baseball is the only sport where I'll root for another team because they once had a great player that I've never even seen play before. For instance, watching an NFL game, I wouldn't arbitrarily root for the Steelers because Terry Bradshaw played for them. Who cares? "The Steelers are fucking lame", says I. But in baseball, I'll root for the Giants because Willie Mays and Willie McCovey once played for them. For some reason, that resonates with me.
So to get back to the point of the story, I was anticipating the MLB Network with baited breath. And then I got it. And then I was moderately to incredibly disappointed.
Let me explain. The network is centered around a show called "Hot Stove", which is basically the MLB Network's SportsCenter, at least for right now. Perhaps when the season starts they'll have another nightly recap show, but Hot Stove discusses the daily happenings on the free agent market and so on and so forth. The production is very glossy and professional, but unfortunately the panelists aren't. Harold Reynolds is a professional who once worked for Baseball Tonight until he was fired for groping a lady co-worker's ass, but the rest of the crew has an aura of "I don't really know what I'm doing here". Al Lieter constantly stumbles over his words, and there are a couple of other no-name relievers from the 80's who provide insightful commentary. Though the program does include ample-bosomed former NESN correspondent Hazel Mae, that is easily cancelled out by the recent off-season addition of legendary bonehead Kevin Millar. Overall, this program ain't that good.
MLB Network does have some good going for it. Bob Costas hosts a program (of which there has been one episode so far) that takes a look at legendary performances in the history of the game and has an interview with the person who achieved them. The only episode so far has been a sit-down with Don Larsen wrapped around the airing of his perfect game in the World Series against Brooklyn. Terrific. This is exactly what I'm looking for.
Also, a program called Prime 9 counts down the top nine things on a given show (for instance, top nine center fielders, top nine World Series winners, etc.) An idea that's been done 1,000 times, but list shows are always fairly entertaining.
What I don't like, at least so far, is the actual games being shown on the network. So far they've aired and re-aired (I'm talking nearly every time you turn on the channel) game five of the NLCS last year between the Phillies and Dodgers, and various games of last year's World Series between the Phillies and Rays. Honestly, who cares? No disrespect to the Hoss, who is a big Phillies fan, but we just saw this. How about the 1973 All-Star game? Game 7 of the 1960 World Series? Something different? I imagine we'll get to all that, but it would have been nice to come out of the gate with it.
So overall, the network has great potential and I feel like it will eventually be awesome. But for now, every time I flip over expecting to see Willie Stargell take a dump on a ball, I'm left sorely disappointed.
John Lacey
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