As I type this I have my iPhone propped up against a phone and my headphones plugged in while I watch, out of the corner of my eye, the beginning of the 8th inning of a game between the Detroit Tigers and the St. Louis Cardinals. What I’m amazed to announce is that the video I’m watching via WiFi on my first gen iPhone is stunning. Crystal clear video, high quality audio, and screen images that are as good as or better than any of the video I’ve seen on the MLB.com web site.
Baseball, live on your iPhone
I shouldn’t say I’m surprised, every new iteration of the MLB At Bat application from Major League Baseball has been a stunner. From last year’s initial release that only allowed you to have Gameday updates of games and some video after the fact, to this year’s release of a version that allowed you listen to every game in the majors for a about $5 less than it cost to stream Gameday Audio from the MLB.com site.
Excellent video quality
The video quality on the application is such that my son thought it looked “hi def.” It’s not, but it is quite good and definitely something that you won’t have a problem watching for a couple of hours while the game’s on. I did find the video coming from St. Louis to be a little dark, but I don’t think this has as much to do with the quality of the feed as it does with the lighting at the Card’s stadium. The program also lets you rewind the video by 30 seconds to you can re-watch a play you just missed. Once you’re done you can easily skip ahead to the where the game is now.
MLB At Bat lets you easily skip back 30 seconds
There are some limitations, you’re subjected to the usual local blackout restrictions and, for now, you’re limited to watching only two games selected by MLB.com per day. But this is a huge free update to an application  that was already pretty top drawer.  I expect I’ll have to pay for this content next year, and I wonder whether or not the All Star Game and post season play will be available for viewing. But for now, I feel like I’ve been given far more than I ever expected for my initial ten bucks.