There are nearly 1.4 million permanent residents in Hawaii. With tourists, the population swells. Going to Hawaii during the baseball season is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing because you catch a game before dinner. If you are a Giants fan, with a radio affiliate out of Honolulu, you have daily contact with the sport. That is IF you are a Giants fan. The bad is that if you are not a listening Giants fan, all games on MLB TV on the West Coast are blacked out via digital. You can’t watch one of the most amazing seasons a team has ever had, such as the Dodgers. You couldn’t see Kershaw silence the Phillies on Saturday. You couldn’t watch the Giants, the A’s, the Padres or the Mariners play because their games at home are blacked out on MLB TV via digital.
But if you are a Brewer fan, which are far and few between in Paradise, and you are playing in Arlington for one of the rare times, earlier in the week, you can see the game but cannot hear it. That can also be a blessing if you don’t want to hear the team’s PR announcer, Bill Schroeder. But you do get audio during the commercial breaks. Good job, MLB.
And if you try to watch the game on your mobile device, even if you are a subscriber on the digital band, you have to pay for access.
So, if you are a Dodger fan, get ready to shell out and NOT be able to listen to the tones of Vince paint a vocal picture of a game as only he can.
But I’m a Brewer fan. I get to watch in silence the ‘Silent Game’ where the Crew is ahead going into the seventh, 4-1 and watch Gonzalez and Badenhop blow another save and loose the lead in one inning.
Yet this is not about the misery of the Milwaukee AAA team playing in Miller Park this season. It is about baseball and how they tread the 50th State. It is insane to treat a million plus who are six to seven hours away and not be able to watch a team they like on the West Coast.
What in the sanest mile could come up with this dumb idea. No wonder the Islands like football more than baseball. Bud…wake up. There are a million people who might like to have a choice of watching their favorite West Coast team digitally via MLB TV.
So Bud. Get off your throne, fix what you can by giving these folks a reason to get the game and be able to watch the team of their choice. Or are you too busy taking victory laps for your A-Rod PED exposure or the suspension of Miguel Tejada as part of your ‘Legacy Plan’.
Play Ball!
overtheshouldermlb 