MLB Extra Innings / MLB TV, Please let us know what you think about it

[SeriesFinale]

The only think I can think of is that you get game broadcasts only... so no pregame or postgame stuff. But if, say, an interview is done on-field or in the dugout prior to the broadcast switching to its postgame stuff, then you get to watch that.

This was a little frustrating most of the year, but absolutely maddening on September 28th last year.

 

I really wish I'd been able to watch all the post-game interviews and reaction with the Brew Crew winning that game and then the Wild Card. At the least I got to watch the Marlins beat the Mets (and following all those WC competitors' games down the stretch was great, too).

[homer]

I ordered MLB.tv since I travel for work. It's pretty nice. When I'm home, I can hook the PC up to the TV and watch it on the big screen. Resolution wasn't so great but beats watching on a lap top. Maybe with increased definition this year that will improve.

[BrewFlame]

I live in Canada, and have been using MLB.TV since '03. Until then, I could typically only see the Brewers when they would play the Cubs, Mets or Braves, or the Blue Jays in the AL days, save the occasional random broadcast that one of our national sports channels would show (maybe 2-3 games per year).

 

In the early days, it would freeze up a lot, but it has improved greatly since then. Last year, I can only think of a couple of instances when it froze up, but it was rare.

 

I would say that the picture quality is nowhere near that of a standard defintion broadcast, but it is still decent. I typically put it on full screen and sit back far enough from the monitor, and it looks pretty good, better than it did 6 years ago. The one thing I really don't like is that while the games were archived, they are not available till 4am the next morning. This means that if I am not home for the live broadcast, I can't tape it or watch it later that evening. This would be really use for games in the Eastern time zone, which usually start at 5pm here.

 

The other thing that kind of irritates me is the way they handle commercials. In the first couple of years, we would get the actual commercials of whatever feed we would receive, so it was like you were actually watching in that market. Now you ether get dead air (which I really hate), or a rotation of about 3 or 4 MLB produced ads. With MLB.TV, you can't really channel surf, which is what I would normally do, which would be another advantage of Extra Innings.

 

Unfortunately, the cable company here does not offer Extra Innings, so that is not an option. If it was, I would definitely switch to that. But MLB.TV is sure nice compared to the old days of having to watch nothing but Blue Jays broadcasts.

[brewerjamie15]

I get MLB TV each year. I've had it for maybe 6 years. I'll get it again. It's nice to come home late from work and watch a West Coast game if the Crew is done playing.

[1992casey]

On DirecTV I think ExtraInnings is free for the first week of the season, and for the first week (or 4-5 days) after the All Star break.

 

Yep. It's also free during those weeks on the other systems that offer it.

 

I'm trying to piece together a national broadcast schedule to determine whether or not it is worth getting MLB Extra Innings.

 

For comparison's sake, here are the non-WGN national games.

[nodakfan17]

For comparison's sake, here are the non-WGN national games.

 

Thanks for the link- I noticed that some of games dates were not consistent with the broadcast schedule on the Brewers' website: http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/schedule/index.jsp?c_id=mil&m=4&y=2009

 

 

Does your cable give you MLB Network? They will carry 26 games this year, one a week I guess, but no schedule has been published.

 

I wish. They offer a sports tier for $4 / month that includes both the NFL and NHL networks, but no MLB network. I would pay $4 each month for the MLB network alone.

[RobDeer 45]

Can anyone give an update on how the MLB.tv is this year? I had issues during the free preview but the HD picture looked great. Have they worked out the kinks?

[Bluechip]

RobDeer, I had problems the first week of the season with choppiness, but ever since then it has been great, other than last night. Last night none of the 7:00 PM games worked until a few innings into the games. Overall I am happy with with the quality though. I have a decent computer and a great internet connection, so I am able to watch on the highest picture quality available. If you have a poor internet connection then that isn't going to be an option because it will be too choppy, so it might not be worth the cost.

 

My only other complaint is that MLB.tv Premium was advertised as having the ability to synch the radio broadcast with the the video broadcast, which I was really looking forward to. Unfortunately, that feature has not been added yet despite the the fact that it was a major advertising point before the season, and MLB.com support says there is still no timeline for when that feature will begin working. As somebody else mentioned earlier, customer support is terrible so there will be times when you are stuck paying for something that isn't working properly, but overall I've had a good experience since about the second week of the season.

[TooLiveBrew]

Question for others with Extra Innings:

 

Am I the only one that remembers MLB advertising that this season all home & away broadcasts would be available?

 

 

I was excited about being able to listen to BA & Rock as much as possible, but the setup in terms of broadcast selection/availability looks identical to last year (read: poor) so far.

[I Heart Brewers]

I just got a new HD TV so I was thinking of ordering MLB.tv to go from my laptop to the TV. My question is, what is the picture like? It says HD quality on some games, but I'm assuming that depends on some factors, one being the speed the connection, but do you have to have an HD screen for your laptop or PC? I'm going to be plugging it in via the VGA cable to my LCD TV, but I want to be sure that if I could get and HD feed it will broadcast that on my TV even though my laptop doesn't have an HD monitor. I do have a fast connection so that shouldn't be a problem.

 

I would call MLB but based on some comments here it sounds like customer service there is lacking.

 

Any thoughts are appreciated.

[eanelson4]

I heart brewers:

 

This is almost exactly what I do, and it looks fantastic. I have my PC hooked up to my 40" LCD 1080p HDTV with a DVI --> HDMI cable. The quality is awesome.

 

The one problem that I have found this year with MLB.tv (no problems last year) is that it has a flaw in the code that causes the NexDef player to dump memory. If I am only watching one game at a time, this is no problem. However, they added the feature where you can watch up to 4 games at once this year, and I love to take advantage of this. After usually an hour or two of watching 4 games, I will get some errors that pop up saying no memory available. When this happens, you will no longer get HD quality until you restart the NexDef player. This MAY be due to my comp, but I remember seeing a support post about this and they haven't fixed it yet. In order to fix the problem, I need to restart my computer so it will bring up a fresh NexDef.

 

Yes, the speed of the connection largely factors in on the quality of the picture. You said that your speed is nice, so you shouldn't have a problem. If you are watching on full qualtiy, as I said earlier, the picture is fantastic. The other "problem" (I don't mind) with HD quality on MLB.tv is that it has a minute or two delay from real time.

 

If you have any other questions about MLB.tv, let me know. I have had it for the last two years and have been extremely satisfied (even with the stupid memory dumping problem). The quality is right there and the ability to access it from any computer is a major plus.

 

One last thing. If you have some buddies that want it as well, just split the cost with them. You can have multiple computers logged into the same account at once, so this can make it cheaper.

[jhart05]

"I wish. They offer a sports tier for $4 / month that includes both the NFL and NHL networks, but no MLB network. I would pay $4 each month for the MLB network alone. "

 

That stinks. I'm not trying to rub it in, but I love MLB Network. Every night they are updating you on the games being played and if there is a key point in a game, they take you there live. Almost as good as having the Extra Innings package.

[GormanHarvey]

That stinks. I'm not trying to rub it in, but I love MLB Network. Every night they are updating you on the games being played and if there is a key point in a game, they take you there live. Almost as good as having the Extra Innings package.

 

Totally agree jhart. I was seriously contemplating ordering MLB E.I. until the games started and I got a look at what the MLBN is all about. The live look-ins are great! I absolutely LOVE it (minus Mitch Williams. He = buffoon)

[jhart05]

Mitch?!?!?!? You don't like Mitch? "For Me..." http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

I actually like the combo of him and Reynolds, and either Vasgersian or that other guy (I can't remember his name right now). They seem to have the most fun in doing those nightly shows.

 

 

I liked the bit where, I think was Jimmy Rollins, was doing Rickey Henderson.

 

"You got no chance today son....This is Rickey...Oh, Ricky like that...Oh Rickey..." That was hilarious.

[GormanHarvey]

J Ro doing Rickey was hilarious.

 

I don't like Mitch because he claims Braun can only hit off speed pitches and seems to think the Brewers untuckem is classless. Does he even remember his reactions to big strikeouts??

 

"For me, last time I checked, you Mitch are clueless and Braun can hit pretty much any pitch he wants."

[GormanHarvey]

p.s. the "other guy" I think you are referring to is Joe Magrane

[jhart05]

No, I know who Magrane is. I mean the other "host" or whatever they call what Vasgersian does. (I looked up his name: Greg Amsinger.)

 

I sent an email into the D-list yesterday because they were talking to Trenni. Asked them to, ask her, if she would be kind enough to inform her colleague's over there at MLB Network, the reason why they Crew untuck'em.

 

She said something about she did already have that talk recently with Reynolds and a couple of other guys over there.

 

Maybe at least they will stop making such a deal about it. Now, for the "holier than thou" Cardinals clowns, well, they are a different story. They're too busy up on their high horse, with their noses in the air to bother with such a low class team and city like Milwaukee.

[GormanHarvey]

That is cool that you emailed the D List and that Trenni already let HR know about it. He really doesn't seem to have a problem with it...as he says, "That's their thing!" Gotta love Harold!

 

I'm not a huge fan of Amsinger nor do I despise him, but I do like the job he does on Quick Pitch, which I think is an ingenious idea

[EdgarDiazRocks]

Question for others with Extra Innings:

 

Am I the only one that remembers MLB advertising that this season all home & away broadcasts would be available?

I don't recall that, but there have been double feeds several times this year, thankfully once during the Reds series. While Arizona is the MOST unwatchable, Cincinnati isn't far behind.

 

And it's worth the price just to be able to flip around and suddenly hear Vin Scully again . . . . ahhh . . . . .

 

As for MLB Network . . .LOVE IT! might be a little TOO ESPN-y at some point but at least they got the right ex-jocks so far. Joe Magraine has one of my favorite baseball anecdotes of all time. When asked what the best pitching advice he ever got was he replied, "when I was in the low minors an older pitching coach came out to the mound, snarled at me and said 'Throw strikes! Babe Ruth is DEAD!!'"

[TooLiveBrew]

To me the worst announcers are (in semi-particular & ordered from 'worst' to 'less horrible & Sutton-y')...

 

ARZ

 

 

 

 

CHW

CHC

PIT

CIN

SEA

STL

 

 

Those are all pretty bad. For announcers that have seemed strong (imo) not only this season but also last... and in no particular order this time...

 

FLA

HOU

BOS

NYY

NYM

MIL

SFG

OAK

BAL

 

Just bc I think they take too much flak sometimes, I will again say that BA & Rock are about as good as it gets in MLB. We are very lucky imho.

 

 

EDIT: I should clarify that these are unscientific rankings in terms of announcers, not broadcasts as I'd previously typed.

[homer]

I have MLB.tv. I connected my lap top to my TV via S Video Cable and when I have the game on full screen it's like watching it on regular TV. Very nice! The one complaint I have is that if I want to hear Uke call and game yet watch it on TV the feeds come through at different times. So I'll hear Uke make a home run call before it happens on TV. For that reason, I usually just watch the game with the BA and Rock announcing.

[eanelson4]

TLB - you are 100% correct. the ARI broadcasts are terrible. Sutton isn't very good at play by play and Mark Grace is a joke. He has to be one of the worst color commentators in baseball.

[joepepsi]

I watched the Orioles-Royals game on MLB last night. I figured their broadcasts would be picking up one of the team's regional sports networks. But they had Victor Rojas and Dan Plesac doing the PbP. I like Plesac on the studio show, and his comments were well thought out during the game, but his voice was like a drone. They might have been picking up the MASN feed and just adding their own graphics. Maybe an extra camera. At one point they cut for split second to Gary Thorne doing a stand up in the booth, then back out to a wide shot of the field.

 

All in all a pretty good job though. They are carrying live games on most Saturday nights as well.

Every night they are updating you on the games being played and if there is a key point in a game, they take you there live. Almost as good as having the Extra Innings package.

MLB network is the overriding reason I didn't get ExtraInnings this summer after having it for 4 years. Well, that and the fact my wife has been laid off from 2 jobs in the past 8 months!

[AZBrewCrew]

Add me to the crowd of finding the ARI broadcasts absolutely intolerable. Seems alot of people out here in Phoenix think of Daron and Mark as some kind of heroes bringing the carnival atmosphere to the game. Their antics are just downright annoying, they said they wanted more signs of the stands so now you see people with signs that say "CAR" on them for when there is a stop in play, Mark Grace says every strike is "gas". The "Redheads" is a spinoff of the Buckethead Brigade. Anyways,back on topic. I've had EI for 3 years now, it is nice that they have finally added the home and away feeds to the package so there are minimal games where I have to watch the opposing teams PbP. The MLB Mix channel (i think its a directv thing) is pretty cool as well, shows 6-8 games all on one screen and you can select the audio you like. I also have mlb.tv premium for when I travel, and I will say it has gotten alot better the last couple of years, but I have had similar issues as a previous poster with regards to the NextDef codec. One other note, on the games where I cant watch FSNWI, I just listen to Uke on gameday audio through my home theatre. Ive noticed that it almost syncs up perfectly with maybe a 3-5 second delay at most. Seems in years past it was a 30+ second delay in the tv feed and gameday audio. Anyone else notice this??

[TooLiveBrew]

I've had EI for 3 years now, it is nice that they have finally added the home and away feeds to the package so there are minimal games where I have to watch the opposing teams PbP.

 

Interesting. While I see dual feeds occasionally, it's been pretty rare for Brewers games so far this season (not rare for MLB games as a whole, though). Do you have EI through a cable company? DirecTV? Dish Network?