I'm A Bit Disappointed in the MLB Coverage

This morning marked the official start of the MLB season- the Japan series. The Mariners took on the A’s in Japan, and the game was scheduled to start at 5:00 AM, Central Time. Around 5:30 this morning, I turned on MLBNetwork to watch the game, but it wasn’t on. Instead, I was watching a re-airing of the Mets-Braves game from yesterday. My trusty “red button” icon came up to check scores, and I found out the game was not airing live. What’s up with that?

I remember when the Red Sox played in Japan in 2008. I remember waking up at 5:00 those two mornings, flipping on the television to ESPN, and watched a little of the game before having to get to work. It was an early two mornings, but I enjoyed it. It was the Red Sox, it was baseball, and it was live. What’s not to enjoy?

So, this morning I was expecting the same giddy feeling… the feeling I always get at the start of a new season. However, there was no game. It was airing on one of the DirecTV “Extra Innings” channels (and I could’ve gotten it with my MLB.TV subscription), but not on ESPN or MLBNetwork. MLBNetwork was re-airing the Mariners-A’s game at 8:00 AM Central time this morning. I don’t understand that.

I know ESPN isn’t as baseball-centric as it once was, one of my many problems with the channels (I get quite a few of them). They’re doing better, showing a few more interesting games this Spring Training, but why not air the live game? Same with MLBNetwork. This channel is exclusively for baseball- that’s it! Why not show the live game?

Lucky for me, the game today went into extra innings. When I arrived at work at 7:35 (work doesn’t start til 8:00 but I like to get there early and get some things done before the phones start to ring and people come in), it was in the 10th inning. I loaded my MLB- At-Bat app on my iPhone and watched the last two innings while I did some work. This is exactly why I’m happy to have the MLB subscription- I can watch the game anywhere I choose.

For the record, the Mariners won 3-1. The winning run game on a Dustin Ackley single to center fielder Yoenis Cespedes, scoring Brendan Ryan. Felix Hernandez gave up 1 run in 8 innings, striking out 6 with 0 walks. Ichiro was 4-5, Reddick was 0-4, and Cespedes was 1-3. Since I didn’t get to watch the whole game, that’s all I have.