Decisions

Saturday afternoon I was really jonesing for some Pirate’s baseball and came this close to an impulse buy of the MLB Extra Innings baseball package from my cable company, TWC. What can I say – it’s in the blood. My team is playing well, winning close games with pitching, defense, and a sprinkling of speed to offset the anemic sticks. The bullpen looks incredibly strong this year and the starting rotation a good bit deeper. Anything can happen, but I just don’t see a complete collapse occurring this year. The division is considerably weaker than last year’s edition – and the schedule, really front-loaded this year with strong teams, thins out a bit over the next couple of months.

I said “impulse buy” because a half-season reduced-price Extra Innings package has typically been offered during the All Star Break. The full-season price this year was $199. Each April I go through the annual deliberations of whether to buy the full-season Extra Innings Package or to let the season play out and pull the trigger with the half-season offering. I have a pretty dodgy track record with this decision.

For example, last year, I decided to “wait-sand-see”. So I missed out on the incredibly exciting first-half of Buccos baseball, when the team was the talk of MLB. Those awesome series against the Phillies and Red Sox? Followed by Your Faithful Servant using MLB Network cut-ins and the ESPN Game Cast on the laptop. I definitely had the fever last summer, so, naturally, I purchased the half-season package on July 19, when the Pirate’s record was 51-44. That day turned out to be the high water mark of the season. They finished 19-48. Argh! I should have just taken that $139 and flushed it down the toilet.

I spent yesterday mulling over my dilemma – whether to buy the Full Season Package now or wait for a month to get the Half Season Package – when it occurred to me that I had created a false choice.

What I really wanted (more flexibility) was already available in the form of a monthly subscription that is offered by MLB.TV, which can stream MLB games to a variety of devices. I could pay for my healthy obsession a month at a time – no need to roll the dice at all. If the collapse of 2011 is reprised, I can just cut that cord immediately – no sense paying ahead of time paying for meaningless September games that I don’t even end up watching. Duhh!

Only one hitch here though. My streaming Blu-Ray player (the Sony BDP-N460 blogged about in Little Toys for Little Boys), doesn’t support MLB.TV. Sigh. The N460 has served me well. I bought it 2.5 years ago and use it a ton for Netflix and physical Blu-Ray/DVD watching, but if I go the MLB.TV route, that means I will need a player that supports MLB.TV. Yet another streaming device.

So, in summary, I already forked out some cabbage less than three years ago for the streaming capability in the N460 and now I need to pony up some more cabbage for redundant streaming capability in a device that supports MLB.TV. Feeling a bit stupid about that purchase right now. The kicker here is the Sony PS3 console does support MLB.TV. I have to believe that internally the N460 and PS3 share a lot of the same hardware and software (they have the same XMB UI). Would it have killed them to have a consistent set of supported content?  Recall also that the N460 also required the purchase of a wireless bridge as that player only supported hardwired Ethernet and my router is upstairs in my bedroom. That is adding insult to injury.

So here are my choices:

1. Stick with ESPN Extra Innings on TWC and immediately fork out $199 for the rest of the season. Known picture quality and sound. Low risk. No equipment upgrade. Immediate gratification.
2. Stick with ESPN Extra Innings on TWC and wait until the All-Star Break and pay the $139 or so then. Same advantages as option 1. Delayed gratification.
3. MLB.TV. Monthly subscription providing smaller outlays of cabbage and reducing risk around the performance of the Pittsburgh Baseball Club. Requires investment in new streaming player – which drags along research of streaming players, compatibility with existing router, and value assessments.  Need to close on decision on specific MLB.TV subscription plan. Unknown quality of MLB.TV streaming as well. Oh, and have to swallow pride and look at two Internet streaming devices in my equipment cabinet.

I am going with door number three. Wish me good luck. Clock is ticking. AJ Burnett vs Bruce Chen. Sunday 1:35 PM. PNC Park.