MLB.TV auto-renewal

I had the second (higher speed) level of mlb.tv and there was a noticable difference between the picture I got on my 36-inch TV from mlb.tv and the picture when it was an ESPN, WGN or TBS game.

 

I enjoyed MLB.tv the one year I had it (2006).

However, they tried the auto-renew bullshit on me for, I believe, Arizona Fall League games. When I got the credit card bill, I called them and told them that their auto-renew policy just cost them a potential long-term customer.

I plan to stick to it, too.

 

They were gonna block me from six teams, I think.

Suck donkey dick, mlb.tv.

 

The block the Rays and the Marlins for me.

I can live with that. ;D

 

Some might consider that a courtesy on their behalf.

 

I guess I was lucky on mlb.tv. At least when I was home, the games that were blocked on mlb.tv were available to me on TV through Dish Network.

 

Maybe I'll give it a whirl. Like most of you, I live like 800 miles away from my team (Tigers), and I'm not sure if I can make it through the summer otherwise.

 

MLB.TV was awesome for me ... when it worked properly. I had some reliability issues last season. I signed up when it looked like the exclusive DirecTV deal was going to happen and stuck with it when inDemand got onboard. I grew tired of having five minutes of flawless performance and then having to re-stream. I'll probably sign up for one month to see if the service is any better (and if Mosaic is actually improved). If not, I'll just get the Extra Innings package and call it a day. Besides, my appetite for on-demand content and watching wall-to-wall baseball tends to wane by the end of April and disappear completely by the middle of May, traditionally the dates when my beloved White Sox fall from contention and then are mathematically eliminated.

If mlb.tv worked the way it should (and if you're like me and have an ancient cathode-ray tube TV that weighs a few metric tons and predates the high-school athletes in your area) then it would be a no-brainer. I hear there's a 'superfan' option with additional channels, including some HD. So if HD is your thing, Extra Innings is probably the way to go.

 

I think I am going to sign up for the MLB Radio this year. That would work better for me in the office. Just throw in the ear phones and hopefully get to listen to road team's announcers rather than Sterling and Waldman.

 

You can listen to it on your phone?
How does that work and do you have to have a special phone?

 

It works well for me. I like to watch the west coast games (and the NL West quality makes it better, not to mention listening to Vin Scully).

The workaround on avoiding the blackouts also helps get the local teams.

I'd recommend it, especially if you have an extra monitor. Way I did my display is hooked an extra flat panel monitor up to the laptop, did an extended desktop and moved the media player window there and it was as clear as the TV.

I had the 800k option, which was clear as a picture too. Obviously if you watch up close its not going to be great, but if you're able to watch from a 3-5 foot distance, its pretty cool.

A couple of other tidbits. Do the monthly option. You can cancel anytime with that. They will not refund any prorated amount if you do the season subscription.

Also, they will likely offer a 7-10 day trial in April for it, so you may want to try it then and then subscribe.

 

Oh goodness Buck get the XM. Better than listening to a game on your phone, trust me.

As for mlb.tv, I had the worst time with it in press boxes. It was almost unusable in those settings. At home it was pretty good. But I wasn't thrilled that it was so damn hard to get a good signal in multiple press boxes.