My baseball withdrawal starts slowly, after the playoffs I need a break to get back to real life. Then we have the end of season awards; manager hirings and firings; free agents being courted and signed, and finally the winter meetings. But what comes after the winter meetings? baseball news slows, a few more free agents sign but trades tail off until February. This is the time when my cravings start to dig deep, when I look to see where can I get a fix? But there is nothing out there for me, two long months until pitchers and catchers report, three and a half months until a meaningful game is played.
I have tried several remedies for my winters cravings. I started by taping the playoffs games I missed to watch in December but that left me unsatisfied. I remember the winners, the scores, the key events, and when I sit down to watch a playoff game it just doesn’t get me involved like a real game, my memory of the playoffs is too strong. This year I happened on a new solution. I have subscribed to extra innings for the last two years and I think it is great but obviously those games parallel the season, there is no extra innings in December. But this year, in August, my DVD player died and I replaced it with a DVD recorder. I recorded about ten games in August and September, at random, and I tried hard not to pay attention to the scores. Although I say I recorded games at random I did have some methodology to my recording. I looked to tape games that had a specific interest for me, as opposed to watching a Kansas City versus Tampa Bay match-up. By coincidence the first game I taped was an AJ Burnett start, a dominating performance on August 6th against Arizona. I taped a Dodgers game, just so I could listen to Vin Scully talk his way through a game, nothing says baseball like Vin Scully’s smooth vocal tones coming from your TV or radio. Of course I had to tape a start by Felix Hernandez, the wonderkid. I taped a Brewers game, one where they faced Jake Peavy. Milwaukee has a lot of up and coming kids, Rickie Weeks, JJ Hardy, Prince Fielder, and of course Lyle Overbay, a Brewer at the time.
Because I purchased the DVD in August, and because I have to find quiet times to tape games when my kids aren’t dominating the TV, I only recorded about ten games and I quickly realized that ten games to carry me through the winter just wouldn’t do the job. Stage two of the cure was a recent discovery, MLBTV.com. For ten US dollars, actually $9.95, you gain access to every game played in the 2005 season. Do you want to see Lyle Overbay, AJ Burnett or BJ Ryan play? You can. I am in two DMB leagues and the rookies will be drafted or auctioned in February. If I want to see the difference between Matt Cain, Francisco Liriano, or Felix Hernandez, I can look up the dates they played in Yahoo’s game logs, then go to MLB and watch. I have done that and those guys are good. Liriano does remind me of Johan Santana. Cain looks really good too. MLB also has a condensed version of every game, so pick a game at random and you can see all the key plays in about ten minutes, it’s like taking a Tylenol, fast, effective relief for your baseball cravings.
My winter baseball withdrawal is under control. Nothing beats seeing a game in person on a warm summer day, but when it is –10 outside, and there is no baseball on TV for another 90 days, MLBTV is sweet. Is Conor Jackson better than Hanley Ramirez? I wonder how Anthony Reyes looks? Gotta go.
