Dear MLB Advanced Media

[phutatorius]

Dear MLB Advanced Media:

So no audio today for the Indians/Jays game? Terrific 1-0 shutout win for my Tribe over Toronto, but I can't get any play-by-play, I'm assuming you’re "upgrading" the system.

Funny how the Yankees and Red Sox games were alive and well on my iPhone.

You know, it's not just the outrageous payroll disparities that make it so difficult to continue to follow this sport. It's the lack of respect for small market baseball across the entire industry — from the game selections for national broadcasts to the Saturday afternoon blackouts to that Friday night where you can't get the Tribe game, but you can listen to the "important" teams play.

Thanks for nothing. Would probably be too much to ask for a refund of the money I’ve spent on Gameday Audio and the MLB At Bat app. How about you send me a David Ortiz T-shirt and we call it even?

[bookelly]

All of you subscribers should send an invoice for $.50 or whatever to the league for a refund for this day. Just to piss them off.

FYI - if it happens tomorrow check your MLB channels on your TV as the games this weekend are free.

[phutatorius]

Noteworthy today that the Tribe game was the "free game of the day" on the At Bat app. Fortunately, I was out of 3G range for the afternoon.

[Dnthateonthepronk]

Got an email coupon today from MLB for 40% at the MLB.com store as an apology for not getting the game on Friday

[Am I Here Again?]

And I didn't. Hmmmm... Guess they knew I wouldn't buy anything anyway. :-)

[Adverb Harry]

Dear MLB Advanced Media:

So no audio today for the Indians/Jays game? Terrific 1-0 shutout win for my Tribe over Toronto, but I can't get any play-by-play, I'm assuming you’re "upgrading" the system.

Funny how the Yankees and Red Sox games were alive and well on my iPhone.

You know, it's not just the outrageous payroll disparities that make it so difficult to continue to follow this sport. It's the lack of respect for small market baseball across the entire industry — from the game selections for national broadcasts to the Saturday afternoon blackouts to that Friday night where you can't get the Tribe game, but you can listen to the "important" teams play.

Thanks for nothing. Would probably be too much to ask for a refund of the money I’ve spent on Gameday Audio and the MLB At Bat app. How about you send me a David Ortiz T-shirt and we call it even?

Gotta agree with you 100% here. MLB has a serious marketing problem. There are really only a handful of teams they promote, with the big two obviously being the Bankees and Red Sux. Hardly saying anything that hasn't been said before, and this topic has been addressed ad nauseum by everybody, myself included, too many times too count that it's really not even worth hashing it out again, because it's not going to go anywhere productive.

But the fact remains, MLB really has put all its eggs into just a couple baskets and virtually ignored the rest of the league. TBS should rename their weekly telecast "Sunday Afternoon with the Yankees," because they are practically the only team shown on that channel. Almost every team has at least one marketable "star," so start by showcasing some of these good teams and players who happen to not reside in the AL East.

You've got two young, exciting teams in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati duking it out and tied for first place, but let's show the fourth-place joke that has become the Boston Red Sox because they're more "known." They're more known because the powers that be are afraid to show anything else. Yes, they're a bigger market, but that doesn't seem to matter in the NFL. Why can't MLB model that type of marketing? You can't fix it over night because of the damage that's been done, but it needs fixing. Get started. Half the teams in baseball are an afterthought right now. How is that good for the game?

The odds are so stacked that it's not even worth considering, but I would love an all small market Series (Pittsburgh and Cleveland!) just to see MLB freak out about the lost revenue and ratings, when they're to blame for allowing these small markets to play in obscurity in the first place.

Done ranting.

[Am I Here Again?]

........but let's show the fifth-place joke that has become the Boston Red Sox because they're more "known.".....

There ya go, fixed! The one joy in my life when the Tribe loses: The Red Sux are much worse, can't get out of their own way, and the fans are gnashing their teeth. Joy in Beanville for me!

I read this column in our local rag today and one sentence really struck me as what is wrong with the game. It's in the subsection LaHair as a Yankee? (he's from Worcester, the "big city" closest to our little town)."After all, this is a business that pays commissioner Bud Selig about $1.83 million a month, and pays a rookie umpire $1,900 a month. Since it began in 1869, the underlying theme of professional baseball has always been: If it’s possible to take advantage of someone, it will be done." Selig wants the money train to keep on rollin', and the big markets are what bring in the big bucks. Follow the money...

[Dnthateonthepronk]

And I didn't. Hmmmm... Guess they knew I wouldn't buy anything anyway. :-)

I wont either I'm not falling for that trick where I spend money I normally wouldn't spend because now I have this terrific coupon which would be a shame to go to waist. Took me 29 years but Im finally wising up.......especially afetr 7-11 suckered me in on FREE SLURPEE DAY yesterday

[gotribe31]

MLB at bat is still head and shoulders better than the NFL "option." No, sorry, I don't want the shitty Direct TV service that comes as a requirement for subscribing to NFL Ticket, thanks very much. At least MLB opens itself to all cable providers as well as providing an online option. I agree that the Fox blackout is frustrating and bullshit, but at least there's an option for the majority of the games.