With baseball wiped off of the Olympic slate for the 2012 Olympics in London, MLB President Bob DuPuy and player's union chief Donald Fehr went before the IOC Moneay with International Baseball Federation president Henry Schiller to plead baseball's case for reinstatement to the games by 2016. Their presence at the meeting was undoubtedly to calm the IOC's concerns that Major League Baseball isn't supportive of the Olympics.
In fact, the Chicago Tribune's Phil Hersch is reporting some interesting concessions that MLB says they're willing to make to accommodate the Olympics. Among the more interesting is that they say they won't schedule major league games on the day(s) that the medal games are played and that they'll make a "representative number of the best players available" to play in the proposed five-day Olympic tournament.
MLB's television blackout rules have long been a source of frustration for baseball fans unfortunate enough to live on the fringe of a major market.
Baseball fans living in Las Vegas, for example, are unable to watch the A's, Dodgers, Angels, Diamondbacks, Giants or Padres even if they subscribe to Extra Innings on cable. And if you live in Iowa, well, there's a good chance you'll be blacked out by the Brewers, Cubs, White Sox, Royals and Twins even if you purchase an MLB.tv subscription.
It makes absolutely no sense. There's no one in the world more greedy than a professional team owner -- these are the guys who invented the six dollar hot dog -- and yet they're turning down hoardes of loyal fans who'd like nothing more than to hand over hundreds of dollards just to watch their favorite team.
But wait! Baseball has seen the light! From MLB.com:
Baseball's current rules on territorial television blackouts were drawn up in the 1960s, long before the dawn of MLB.TV and the Extra Innings package.
Those rules have become archaic, and Bob DuPuy, MLB's president and chief operating officer, presented a plan to MLB's executive council on Wednesday that would alter them considerably for the 2009 season.
Well, this is progress, right? Perhaps, but don't get excited just yet. DuPuy was saying the same things back in May ... of 2007. Serious changes are long overdue, but you can give up getting any bonus coverage on Extra Innings or MLB.tv this year -- DuPuy said the earliest any change would be implemented was when the owners meet in November.
A lot of people took issue with Scott Boras' handling of the announcement that Alex Rodriguez would opt-out of his contract with the Yankees. Bob DuPuy, MLB's chief operating officer, was one of those people, releasing a statement chastising Boras for the timing. From the AP:
"There was no reason to make an announcement last night other than to try to put his selfish interests and that of one individual player above the overall good of the game," DuPuy said. "Last night and today belong to the Boston Red Sox, who should be celebrated for their achievement, and to the Colorado Rockies, who made such an unbelievable run to the World Series."
The words didn't fall on deaf ears, as Boras' secretary Boras put together a hollow thoughtful statement of his own:
"I apologize to the Boston Red Sox and Colorado Rockies and their players, Major League Baseball and its players, and baseball fans everywhere for that interference," he said in a statement. "The teams and players involved deserved to be the focus of the evening and honored with the utmost respect. The unfortunate result was not my intent, but is solely my fault. I could have handled this situation better, and for that I am truly sorry."
And by sorry, he means "not sorry at all, and I'd probably do it again." It's easier to ask forgiveness than permission, right? What Boras did was sneaky and underhanded ... and in the absolute best interest of his client. It's his job to build the hype surrounding Rodriguez, and the fact that some people wanted to talk about A-Rod's plans instead of the World Series is proof that he's doing his job. Yes, there is a little bad P.R. involved with this kind of move, but Boras can position himself to absorb most of the blame, protecting his client. As much as everyone in the media likes to pile on the guy, can you honestly say he wouldn't be your top pick to negotiate your next salary? I didn't think so.
Commissioner Bud Selig's schedule will preclude him from being there until later in the week. In his stead, Jimmie Lee Solomon, a Major League Baseball executive vice president, is slated to be in attendance Monday and Tuesday, and Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, an MLB advisor, is slated to replace him Wednesday and Thursday.
Surprise surprise, Bonds hasn't received congrats from the commish on 755 either:
Bonds shrugged when told that the Commissioner probably won't be in attendance the next few days. Bonds never heard from Selig directly after the game, although the Commissioner released a congratulatory statement. But Bonds said he did speak to Ken Griffey Jr. and had voice messages from his godfather, Willie Mays, and Alex Rodriguez, who earlier Saturday hit his 500th homer at Yankee Stadium.
There was no message from Aaron, either, Bonds said.
Sound to me like there's a pretty good chance Selig won't be there when Bonds breaks the record, and my guess is, that's fine by Bud. Let the criticism rain.
On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups
San Francisco Giants (43-57) vs. Florida Marlins (48-55)-ESPN 10:15PM Est.
Seriously, Barry, this is getting old. Yes, I'm enjoying all the banter between you and Bob Costas as much as everybody else, but I'm getting tired of waiting. I'm an impatient man, Barry. I'm getting tired of waiting for you to hit a couple more home runs. I mean, you've hit 753 of them in your career, why the hell is it so hard to hit three more? Do you just like all the attention? Are you afraid that once you break the record nobody will care about you anymore? What is it, man!? You're going to be facing some guy named Rick Vanden Hurk today, and I think Vanden Hurk is Dutch for "batting practice fastball." If you can't hit at least two home runs off of this guy tonight, you should probably just retire now and forget the record. You don't want to disappoint Bob Dupuy do you? He's such a sweet man!
We know Bud Selig has said he will try to be there when Barry Bonds breaks Hank Aaron's home run record. At the time that he made the statement, Selig specifically said that he would not skip his commitment to be present for Hall of Fame weekend in Cooperstown when Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. get inducted. The weekend has come, and Selig has made a call to the bullpen, asking Bob DuPuy, MLB's President and COO, to come in for relief.
The good news is on Selig's end that he has sent a high ranking official to attend Barry's games in his place. However, dispatching DuPuy to San Francisco does not entirely mean that Selig is in the clear. It's been over a week and Barry is still stuck on 753. At this rate, it appears unlikely that Bonds will break the record over the weekend, which is probably what Selig was secretly hoping for. Bud has said he plans to be there in Los Angeles on Tuesday if Bonds has yet to break the record by then, which is what I'm guessing will be the case.
And I'm not the first one to say it. Jeff Passan at Yahoo! Sports (making fun of that exclamation point will seriously never get old) tackled the issue yesterday, and he agrees.
This has long been a problem for Major League Baseball's fans, especially for slightly out of market fans whose games come through regional television sometimes, but not always. This can be incredibly frustrating for oh, Cubs fans in Indiana, or Braves fans in Louisiana. You get the point.
The good news? Passan reports that the MLB is starting to take a hard look at blackouts and the problems they cause:
MLB president Bob DuPuy [pictured right] plans to officially address the blackout troubles in front of the sport's powerful executive council two weeks from today at the quarterly owners meetings in New York. How seriously the eight-man council treats the concerns will go a long way toward proving whether baseball is serious about rewriting its archaic rules or simply raising the issue to muzzle all of the fans who are not allowed to buy the product baseball is selling.
... Well, in theory at least. The reality is much different. Some areas are blacked out from 40 percent of the games on a full schedule. No one in Iowa can watch the Brewers, Cardinals, Cubs, Royals, Twins and White Sox. Las Vegas has its own hexagon of darkness with the A's, Angels, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Giants and Padres.
Think about that. Baseball, which has made billions of dollars through MLB.com and its national television packages by knocking down the barriers that prevented mass consumption, is more than happy to ignore its own Great Wall.
Unfortunately, those rules don't make sense anymore, as Passan says. It's time for the MLB to move out of the Dark Ages like the rest of us, and open up the game to fans who seem to be desperately craving it.
Remember those last-minute negotiations between the cable companies and Major League Baseball we talked about yesterday? Turns out they're not so "last minute" at all -- MLB has done away with the deadline they set, which, if you read between the lines, suggests progress is being made toward preventing 'Extra Innings' from being exclusive to DirecTV. From The Biz of Baseball:
MLB President & COO Bob DuPuy said late yesterday, "We will continue discussions until we reach a deal or it becomes apparent we cannot."
"It is opening day. The baseball season has begun and we're still waiting for the business guys to get the show on the road and meet their obligation to the fans. Many fans are now denied access to their favorite team because executives haven't resolved relatively minor business differences. That is wrong. I want to see an agreement that is good for fans and consumers. The parties must push ahead with discussions and must not abandon baseball's greatest fans, who have been thrown a curveball."
A "curveball?" If he's going to grandstand, I wish he'd at least spare us the metaphors.
IN Demand cable customers hoping to subscribe to Extra Innings this year had a brief glimmer of hope earlier today that MLB's out-of-market baseball package wouldn't be exclusive to DirecTV:
In Demand, owned by affiliates of the companies that own Time Warner, Comcast and Cox cable systems, said Wednesday it was agreeing to the terms and that its partners would carry The Baseball Channel when it launches in 2009 to at least the same number of subscribers who will get the channel on DirecTV.
Unfortunately, that rosy announcement from the cable companies wasn't met with the same enthusiasm in the MLB offices, as MLB COO Bob DuPuy (pictured right) indicated that iN Demand's proposal fell far short of the terms originally set forth in the proposal:
"The communication sent to our office today by iN Demand is not responsive to that offer," he said. "In spite of their public comments, the response falls short of nearly all of the material conditions (among them requirements for carriage of The Baseball Channel and their share of the rights fees for Extra Innings) set forth in the Major League Baseball offer made to them on March 9."
How exactly iN Demand failed to meet the terms isn't clear at the moment, just like it isn't clear why MLB is bending over backward to alienate potential customers who want nothing more than to pay $189 to watch more games this year.
If the prospect of not being able to watch your favorite team from afar is upsetting to you, one FanHouse commenter has pointed out that you don't just have to sit there and take it. No, you can sign an online petition. I'm not sure that the 30 seconds or however long it takes to type your name will actually make you feel any better, so you might want to follow that up by placing a call to your local cable provider, letting them know one last time that you're not satisfied with the prospects of losing baseball this year.
Remember the uproar over Major League Baseball's decision to offer their Extra Innings package exclusively to DirectTV? Well, it turns out the package isn't exclusive ... yet, at least. An agreement between MLB and DirectTV was announced via a conference call yesterday, with the two parties revealing that In Demand (the leading cable provider) and the Dish Network (DirectTV's largest satellite competitor) have until the end of the month to accept a deal that would make Extra Innings, as well as the upcoming MLB Channel, available to their customers.
HOWEVA, before your digital-cable-receiving self gets all excited about not missing your out-of-market games this season, it doesn't look like In Demand or the Dish Network will actually accept the agreement:
However, the president of In Demand, Robert Jacobson, speaking to the Associated Press, sounded pessimistic about reaching an agreement because of "conditions for carriage that MLB and DirecTV designed to be impossible for cable and Dish to meet."
With baseball wiped off of the Olympic slate for the 2012 Olympics in London, MLB President Bob DuPuy and player's union chief Donald Fehr went before the IOC Moneay with International Baseball Federation president Henry Schiller to plead baseball's case for reinstatement to the games by 2016. Their presence at the meeting was undoubtedly to calm the IOC's concerns that Major League Baseball isn't supportive of the Olympics. 
MLB's television blackout rules have long been a source of frustration for baseball fans unfortunate enough to live on the fringe of a major market. 
A lot of people took issue with 
The Giants have a four game series with the Nationals in San Francisco that begins tonight, and funny enough, the 
We know 
And I'm not the first one to say it. 
Remember those last-minute negotiations between the cable companies and Major League Baseball we talked about yesterday? Turns out they're not so "last minute" at all -- MLB has done away with the deadline they set, which, if you read between the lines, suggests progress is being made toward preventing 'Extra Innings' from being exclusive to DirecTV. From 
IN Demand cable customers hoping to subscribe to Extra Innings this year had 
Remember the uproar over Major League Baseball's decision to offer their Extra Innings package exclusively to DirectTV? Well, it turns out the package isn't exclusive ... yet, at least. An agreement between MLB and DirectTV was announced via a 
