Thursday, August 04, 2005
How to Watch King Felix Today
Felix Hernandez makes his major league debut in less than 2 hours, but if you are in the Seattle area there is no way I know of that you will be able to watch it. There is no television coverage from either Seattle OR Detroit, so don't bother calling your local sports bars.
If you are not in the local Seattle area, you can watch the game on MLB.tv. This is NOT available in the Seattle local viewing area unless you know how to get around MLB.com's ability to block IP addresses. If you are purchasing mlb.tv just for this game, you have two options to pay for it.
1) You can pay $3.95 for the day (or more for monthly or annual subscriptions)
2) You can follow this promotional link and sign up for 4 trial issues of Sports Illustrated and get two weeks of MLB.tv free. You do have to remember to cancel your Sports Illustrated subscription or else you will be paying $49 for a year of SI.
According to the Tribune, FoxSports tried to get this televised once they heard who was pitching but could not line up sponsors in time.
The Mariners should have sponsored the entire game as a treat for fans who have had to suffer through the 2004-2005 seasons. They could have just run all their commercials from the past 10 years, mixed in with highlights from the 1995 season. Would have been a PR coup. Sigh.
I live in Austin, where I will be watching on mlb.tv. If you are looking for a running commentary, I will be joining a thread at Sportspot, hope to see you there.
If you are not in the local Seattle area, you can watch the game on MLB.tv. This is NOT available in the Seattle local viewing area unless you know how to get around MLB.com's ability to block IP addresses. If you are purchasing mlb.tv just for this game, you have two options to pay for it.
1) You can pay $3.95 for the day (or more for monthly or annual subscriptions)
2) You can follow this promotional link and sign up for 4 trial issues of Sports Illustrated and get two weeks of MLB.tv free. You do have to remember to cancel your Sports Illustrated subscription or else you will be paying $49 for a year of SI.
According to the Tribune, FoxSports tried to get this televised once they heard who was pitching but could not line up sponsors in time.
NO FELIX ON TV: Today's Felix Hernandez start, probably the most anticipated pitching debut in Mariners history, must be enjoyed the old-fashioned way (in person, on the radio) or in a very new-fashioned way (MLB.TV, via MLB.com), without an option in between.
With an unappealing 10 a.m. Pacific start time -- on a Thursday -- Fox Sports Northwest had no plans to televise the game. Neither did Fox Sports Detroit, presumably for a similar reason.
That left FSN officials working feverishly after the announcement that Hernandez would make his debut.
"We spent the last day or two working with the team, trying to get enough sponsorship and move programming, but the logistics were too difficult in the end," said Mark Shuken, FSN's vice president and general manager.
"It was on the schedule as a 10 a.m. game, and it was just too late to put everything together."
The Mariners should have sponsored the entire game as a treat for fans who have had to suffer through the 2004-2005 seasons. They could have just run all their commercials from the past 10 years, mixed in with highlights from the 1995 season. Would have been a PR coup. Sigh.
I live in Austin, where I will be watching on mlb.tv. If you are looking for a running commentary, I will be joining a thread at Sportspot, hope to see you there.
