The MLB Gets Cooking on Satellite TV

It’s easy to notice that spring is in the air. You don’t necessarily have to look for signs in the weather, among the plants, or in the return of the birds from their long winter’s journey. Each of these could do the trick, but in the case of early spring, with its recurring rainstorms and drastic temperature shifts, nature can sometimes be deceiving. When comes to human nature — specifically that of the baseball fanatic — it’s harder to disguise the harbingers of spring. Keep your eyes and ears peeled. The bloodshot eyes, the hoarse voice, the distracted air: it’s probably not swine flu. It’s merely baseball fever.

With satellite television dominating the sports scene these days, baseball fans are getting into the act on Opening Day and staying tuned throughout the mind-boggling 162-game season. Seen in stunning high definition clarity, America’s pastime has finally gotten its due on the small screen. The MLB Extra Innings package has turned some households into an everyday Sports Center. While you can your fill of that legendary program on ESPN HD, it’s more about the around-the-clock baseball watch than anything else.

Baseball is the great race. It can be seen as a marathon (one popular analogy), but it can also be seen as a series of shorter races. In the winter, there is the “arms race,” in which teams try to improve their organizations’ chances by signing new talent. There is the race to come out strong and stake a place within a division (a psychological advantage). There is the race to make up lost ground after a bad start. There is the race to get your team clicking by the All-Star break. Once the trading deadline has passed, by the end of July, it is a dogfight to the finish for every team left with a chance: it’s the classic pennant race.

To each fan his or her own definition, but for Yankees and Red Sox fans, the race begins when these two teams do battle in their first series. Over the past few weeks, the enduring rivalry has begun its new chapter. With the Yankees christening a new $1.3 billion ball park in the Bronx, the stakes were raised — if this is possible — for baseball’s most storied franchise. Trying to return to form after missing the playoffs for the first time in 14 years, the Yankees have something to prove. In the case of every team that plays them on a nightly basis, there is an opposite point to prove: that all the money and rich history won’t make a difference in 2009. It’s one of baseball’s juiciest sagas, and a new twist seems to come every day. As Alex Rodriguez, New York’s scandal-ridden slugger, prepares his return to the game, the drama has already reached a fever-pitch.

Isn’t it just May? Certainly, but don’t tell that to Mets or Phillies fans. This terrific new rivalry took on a special character last year when the Phillies won their first World Series title in almost thirty years, leaving the Mets out of the playoffs along the way. Redemption? Payback? You can believe they’re both on the Mets’ menu. There’s never a dull day in the baseball season. With a satellite TV package, you won’t have to miss a single inning.