Just got the 2020 mlb.tv renewal notice from mlb.com. I loathe the current Astros situation but have loved being a fan since 1978. Watching the team this year could be brutal at times because of the reception they will get everywhere (and possibly the lukewarm reception they’ll get in Houston) and also because of the disappointment I feel about some of the players and certainly the management. But, watching the Astros and being a fan has been such a meaningful and positive part of my limited free time for such a long time, I am unsure about stepping back in response to that loathing.
I’m going to want to watch/listen to every Yankee game and A’s game and probably everyone else game, so I might as well admit it.
On the other hand, last season I just found I preferred listening/watching a game on Game Day following along with OWA GZ so I might drop my MLB Extra Innings package which costs a fortune.
If you’re really torn, you could start with the radio subscription ($20) and wait for awhile to see how your feelings evolve. MLB tends to run pro rated specials on TV throughout the year, and they would probably let your radio cost apply to the upgrade cost on a pro rated basis.
Nothing on the radio beats baseball on the radio. Nothing on TV beats baseball with game noises only, which I am definitely going to be religious about this year.
Although I have to say that given where we’re likely to be in a couple years with in-game commercials and advertising on uniforms and the dumb-dumb three-batter rule and the increasing coziness with gambling and what that’s going to look like and the increasing length of games inflated with inaction and the three-true-outcomesization of everything, I was feeling borderline about my enthusiasm to begin with.
To say nothing of the fact that–speaking only for myself, of course–it hasn’t been as fun to be a powerhouse as I thought it would be, given the elevated pain of defeats when victory is expected and the decreased sweetness of victories.
A couple hours ago I was telling my wife that it really might be a year off of baseball. But reading the Chronicle’s compilation of player comments did a lot for me personally, and one thing this year will not lack is drama, and it is hard to resist the allure of a season in the life of a historically talented team who will be loathed everywhere it goes…
I am an Astros’ fan through thick and thin, and I am more than ready to watch this team kick butt and take names this season. I’m sick of the self-righteous attitude and comments coming from players and coaches in other organizations concerning a widespread problem across MLB. Who cares what they think, anyway?
I’m not torn. Fuck the rest of the world. And the players. I was a fan of the Astros long before these dicksteppers came along, and God willing, I’ll be one long after they’re but a memory. They’ll get my replica ring when they pry it from my cold, dead hand.
It’s an easy decision for me. I’m not giving MLB dollar one until Manfred resigns, they investigate/punish other teams with equal severity, or they give back the Astros’ draft picks.