I’m just going to throw this out there so in a couple weeks we can all see how my psychic abilities (or lack thereof) are:

Rangers over Yankees in 6 games.

Phillies beat the Giants in 5 games.

Rangers win the World Series in a tense Game 7.

I posted last month at how I was kind of disappointed with MLB.tv.  Well, it was really easy to cancel my subscription.  All I had to do was e-mail them, and they set the subscription to automatically cancel after my month is over (May 10).

The main reason I cancelled is that the blackout restrictions prevent me from watching any games that matter to me.  That means no Nationals or Orioles games because I live near Washington D.C..  I know most people can watch their local games on TV, but I’m one of the growing number of people in America who chooses not to pay $70 a month for cable television.

MLB.tv is a great service if you’re living far away from your favorite teams.  However, for people like me, I would recommend the MLB.com At Bat iPhone/iPod/iWhatever app.  It’s $15 for the entire season and lets you listen to the live radio broadcast of any game while following a simulated game and live box score.  Highlight videos are posted during the game so you can watch all the best moments.  You can watch one featured game per day.

So while I’m not going to touch MLB.tv again unless they change their blackout policies, I’m very happy with the At Bat app and will buy it again next season.

I finally broke down and gave MLB.tv a try.  I figured I could catch a few Nats games throughout the season while I worked at my computer (I have 3 computers and 4 monitors at my desk because I’m a nerd who works at home…).  Being able to watch every one of your favorite baseball team’s games in a season is very appealing…

…what a huge disappointment!

I’m glad I only paid $20 for one month of access.  First of all, it looks like every single Nats game in the season will be blacked out because they’re my local team.  What’s the point then?  They’re cutting out their biggest fan base for MLB.tv just with that limitation!  Not only that, but they also black out any other game that is worth watching (i.e., is available somewhere on TV, but I don’t get cable TV).

Then they say, “dude, don’t worry about the blackouts, we’ll give you the broadcast once it becomes old news.  And besides, we’ll give you the radio broadcast live!”.  But if I live in the local broadcast area, I have the radio broadcast available to me for free anyways!

Then once I do find a game that will work, I’ve been having a lot of problems with actually starting the stream.  Many times it will just stall for several minutes.  HD access does not work with Windows 7, yet they keep rubbing it in my face with constant popups asking me to upgrade.  It doesn’t work with my Netflix Roku player yet.  They want an additional $15 for me to be able to access the crappy service from my iPhone.

TOTALLY NOT WORTH $20/MONTH!

Is anybody else disappointed with MLB.tv?  Or am I just being a cheapskate for believing it’s a ripoff?

One of the most often cited problems in the baseball card collecting hobby is “Junk Wax”.  Back in the 80′s, baseball cards got so popular that the card companies cranked up production to unsustainable levels.  It seems like everyone who was a kid in the 80′s has a huge collection of baseball cards sitting in their parents’ basement storage.

You see, there is a common misconception that baseball cards appreciate in value as they get older.  Not the case with junk wax.  These cards are so plentiful that they actually depreciate as people remember their childhood collections and try to unload them on the market for cash.  In fact, collectors today have trouble selling their late-80′s and early-90′s junk wax cards even for a penny a card!

This is a classic business school example of massive supply + low demand = low value.  There’s really only two ways to increase the value in this situation.  That is, either kill the supply or increase the demand.

What I’m proposing is that card companies should offer buyback programs to the public (a.k.a. “recycling programs”).  A company like Topps can drastically reduce junk wax by allowing collectors to resell unwanted cards back to the company for a penny each.  The money could be returned to the collector in the form of a voucher towards the purchase of new cards (which pretty much ensures that people will continue to buy new cards).  All cards that the card company receives as part of the program would be destroyed.

Of course, the biggest bottleneck in implementing such a card recycling program would be in the logistics.  Shipping costs might prove to be prohibitive (perhaps a deal can be struck with the post office or non-profit collection organizations?).  Also, some personnel would have to be hired and equipment purchased to ensure proper destruction of the cards and payment to collectors.  But think of the possibilities… a rebate for unwanted base cards? more publicity and demand for new cards?  a world without junk wax?

As reported by Sports Cards Uncensored, Topps is finally taking action to prevent autograph counterfeiting of their cards.  Topps will now update their autograph procedures to include serial-numbering autographed cards with a foil stamp.  While this is a good first step in preventing fake autograph cards, I think more can be done.

Why not use technology to their benefit and actually make a database of legitimate autographed cards for the public to use?  Even better, why not scan every autographed card before they go into circulation and post the images into the database?  Topps could also do the same with relic cards to prevent fake patches and jerseys.

It’s not hard or expensive to set up such a database.  They could hire a team of high school interns to do the scanning at minimal cost.  If you don’t believe me, check out Fake Patch Report, or even my personal database where I have entered over 8,000 cards and scanned nearly a thousand already, just on my spare time.

It’s always sad to see baseball’s greatest players be forced to retire because no team wants them, even though they still want to play.  That’s why I was excited to see that Pedro Martinez got another chance today with the Philadelphia Phillies, and he did quite well too.

Although Pedro’s nowhere near as un-hittable as he was 10 years ago, he pitched 5 solid innings and struck out 5.  The game’s not over yet, but with the Phillies leading the Cubs 12-3, I think this one’s in the bag.

Keeping baseball’s greatest players out of retirement might not win ball games, but it goes a long way in rebuilding the interest in baseball that was lost when greed and steroids got in the way.  I’m glad players like Ken Griffey Jr., Randy Johnson, and now Pedro Martinez are still being allowed to play, and I hope they can continue playing as long as they have a passion for playing the game.

UPDATE: Pedro got the win, bringing his career record up to an impressive 215-99

I’m sure that if you’re reading this right now, you’ve already read the news about Topps getting an exclusive MLB license for 2010 and beyond.  Since I only collect Topps, this is good news for me, but I know there are a whole lot of Upper Deck fans out there who wouldn’t touch a Topps product unless it was chopped up and framed in an Upper Deck card.

The biggest complaint I see about this deal is that Topps will no longer have any competition.  We Americans understandably have a lot of trouble seeing how no competition can ever be good, but look at it this way for a moment.  Competition is only a good thing when there is high demand, and high demand is something the baseball card hobby has been lacking for a long time.

Now imagine a small town with a population of 100 and only one restaurant.  That one restaurant isn’t pressured to do anything innovative, but it wants to do everything it can to keep the 100 people in town happy with it, or else everyone will simply stay home and cook.

If a second restaurant moves into the town, there can only be a few results and none are good.  1) everyone goes to one of the restaurants and the other goes out of business, or 2) some people frequent the old restaurant and some the new, making neither restaurant successful, or 3) people just don’t go to either one and they both go out of business.

Get where I’m going with this?  Right now the baseball card hobby is like a ghost town with two restaurants.  With the exclusive Topps deal, they can now work on getting at least one company to become strong and hopefully lure more customers back.  Once the demand is there (if ever), I’m sure MLB will do the right thing and allow more companies to join in.

This is a good thing for the hobby.  A monopoly is only bad when there is high demand and few choices.  I mean, who really cares if you’ve gained a monopoly on neon-pink male swimwear?

Say it ain’t so Manny.

Last year I began collecting Alex Rodriguez cards… then he was busted for steroid use.

This year I began collecting Manny Ramirez cards… and the word is that he was just busted as well.

Are all the good players today druggies?

I really hope Pujols, Santana, and Ichiro aren’t involved in the stuff.  That might just make me stop following baseball for another 15 years.