All audio ST game on the MLB network

[scorekeeper]

What a great experience! I’m watching an Indians/Diamondbacks ST game right now, and its blowing my mind! They’re doing an “All Audio” game on the MLB network, where there’s no announcer, but rather more than 60 microphones all over the stadium. I swear, its as close to being at the game as you can be, and maybe even better. You can hear the players singing songs in the field, and all the comments that take place you wouldn’t be able to hear if you were in the stands.

You never realize how little a regular broadcasting crew adds to a game until you can watch it like this. It’s a real treat!

[powermatt99]

The broadcast crew is only there to make the sport appealing to non-fans and those who think baseball is only played from the time the ball is pitched until the ball is returned to the pitcher. I usually cringe at the things the broadcasters say. I especially hate when they begin a sentence, "Now all you youngsters watching..."

[Megunticook]

I especially hate when they begin a sentence, "Now all you youngsters watching..."

My kids (5 and 10) laugh at Jerry Remy when he calls the Red Sox games, and I mean laugh AT not WITH. They would much rather just hear the sounds of the game.

I missed that DBacks game but went and watched the highlight reel and thought it was great (especially Kipnis singing while on the field). Some of the dugout comments were priceless. Gives you a good sense of the camaraderie that makes baseball so great.

Thing is, there really is no reason to have commentators on televised games. It's an anachronism from the days of radio, when a good announcer was both knowledgeable and entertaining, helping you imagine the action. In fact, my kids and I actually prefer to listen to a game on the radio than watch it on TV. I actually find the camerawork and production on most ballgames to be pretty poor, you get no sense of the game as a whole.

I was at a AA game with the kids one night and sat right behind the screen in the first row. It was great, you could hear the catcher talking to the pitcher or the other infielders, you could hear the guy on deck talking to the guy who just crossed the plate, etc. Great experience.

[shake-n-bake]

Long time, good announcers bring something extra to watching games on television. Nothing beats being at the ballpark, but when I watch our team on TV I enjoy the entire group of announcers, ex-players that frequent the booth, as well pre-game and post-game analyzers that break the games down. With so many games, year after year, they have endeared themselves to our family.

One of the really great people in baseball, long time announcer for the Mariners, Dave Niehaus died last year during the off-season. He was an institution in Seattle. There from the franchise's first pitch. My whole family balled our eyes out when they honored him before the team's opener.

"Get out the rye bread and mustard grandma......it's grand salami time!" Guy was a gem.

[scorekeeper]

Shake,

I don’t disagree that there are a lot of folks like yourself who are completely entertained by announcers. Heck, I like the guys who announce for my favorite team too. That’s exactly why they’re hired, and paid pretty darn well too.

All I was stuck by, was how much the experience of not having to hear the constant blah blah blah, good or bad, made my experience so much better, and so much more like not just being at a game in person, but in my case, scoring that game as well. I know a lot of folks don’t believe it, but scoring a game properly and watching a game for entertainment are two very different things. A scorer has no choice other than to pay pretty darn close attention, unlike some folks who can go to the head for a half inning, or forget about the game in order to tell a story or talk about business.

That’s what the experience was like for me. I actually had to pay attention, just like I was scoring the game, and I found it enjoyable. I recorded it, and my son, who’s a JV coach, watched some of it when he got home. He said it was a lot like being a player or coach, with all the different things going on. Those people don’t have anyone watching the game and telling them what’s going on. They have to think for themselves.

[azmatsfan]

When watching some of the old TV broadcasts of MLB games they show on the MLB network, I realize how little the announcer used to say. They would let the action on the field do the talking. It was really nice to watch the game without constantly being talked at.

[The Flush]

I can enjoy almost any level of baseball when I am at the game, but it is hard for me to watch more than an inning or 2 of even MLB on TV.

[Megunticook]

I know a lot of folks don’t believe it, but scoring a game properly and watching a game for entertainment are two very different things.

I've kept score at every professional game I've seen since my dad showed me how during my second game at Wrigley field when I was 12. Scoring is great, it keeps you focused on the field and more attuned to the tactical aspects of the game. I talk with the people I'm with, and get up to do stuff between innings, but when the pitcher's foot goes on the rubber the chit chat is over and I'm totally locked into the game so I don't miss anything.

To me scoring makes the game more entertaining. I very rarely see anyone keep a scorecard anymore.

I must admit I enjoy hearing insights from former players during a game--I would love to sit down and take in a game with Cal Ripken, for example. But I don't really care for the TV baseball experience that much--yes, there are a very small handful of sportscasters who are decent (Vin Scully and Jon Miller come to mind) but the majority get annoying when they keep chatting without actually saying anything substantive.

[shake-n-bake]

I can enjoy almost any level of baseball when I am at the game, but it is hard for me to watch more than an inning or 2 of even MLB on TV.

No! Blasphemous! No, you're right about nothing beats being there. A day at an MLB park is like a vacation (just about as expensive too). We go to minor league games, and college games, and HS games. Heck, we've even gone to some of my son's friends' youth games. Beats doing honey-do's.

[The Flush]

Last week my son and I went and watched Case Western and Oberlein (?) play a double header. I think we were the only non family members there. We froze our butts off, but enjoyed our first games of the season. My son ran stadium steps between games because he said he wanted to start getting in shape for his upcoming season. Never mind that he has been playing indoor soccer since November and is already in decent shape.

[songtitle]

He said 'soccer'