Dear MLB

Why is it, Major Leage Baseball, that you go out of your way to insist that I do not become more than a casual fan of your product? I like baseball, truly I do, and I want to be a fan. I played quite a bit when I was a kid, and was a hardcore fan from the ages of about 9 to 14 or so. When I lived in Arizona, the Diamondback games were broadcast on over the air television, allowing me to see a good number of them and become a genuine fan of the team representing my new metro area. I realize that's an unusual arrangement, and I understand that you normally make more money when you sell it to a cable channel instead. Hey, that's fine. I know you want to make money. But I will let you know that after I started watching the D-Backs on TV, it caused me to attend probably in the neighborhood of a dozen games or so in person per year and spend my money in your tax-payer funded ballpark.

So now I live in Washington, DC, and I thought it might be nice to become a fan of my new local team, the Washington Nationals. Even though they're not very good, I like to support the hometown guys. Of course, they're not on over the air TV regularly. I tell you though, it would sure be nice if you'd put an occasional game on the WB or something. It's awful hard to get into a team when you've never even heard of any the players, and its asking quite a bit for me to seek out games on the radio. As a result, I made it to one game last year. It was fine, but I wasn't clear on the context of the game. I didn't know who the regular starters were, didn't know the pitcher, and didn't have much an idea how the Nats season was shaping up to at that point. I'm not particularly bitter about this, I just want to you know that I'd like to be a fan, but I won't work for it. You're going to have to make it easy for me.

But, I am bitter about the National League playoffs this year. The D-Backs, a team that I still cheer for, were in the playoffs, as you know. Hey, I was excited! This was a good reason for me to tune in! And you put the games on TBS. Really? This is Major League Baseball, that can't get enough interest from a network for its playoffs? I don't get cable for a couple of reasons: one, it's expensive, and while I'm not destitute, TV is not a necessity; two, if I had cable, I would spend all my time watching TV, and I want to avoid that. So not having cable not only means that I can't closely follow my hometown team, but it also means that I cannot watch any of the National League playoffs prior to the World Series, along with the first series on the American League side. I hear the D-Backs played in a half dozen or so post-season games this year. I'd have liked to watch those. I'd like to be fan, if you'd only let me.