In addition to
arm strength and the ability to turn on a 95-mph fastball, one thing that used
to separate big leaguers from the rest of us was access to video of anything
they ever did on the field. Since at least the 1980s, a hitter who wondered how
he fared against lefties named Randy on Tuesday nights needed only ask to have
a custom-made highlight reel appear in his locker. Fans can now do the same,
thanks to the MLB.tv package on MLB.com, one of the coolest tools--and best
bargains--on the Web. For $14.95 per month or $74.95 for the whole season,
subscribers can watch every game, live or archived, and conduct customized
searches of the MLB.tv vaults. (A few clicks calls up, say, every steal of
third by Derek Jeter in 2006.) There's also an impressive library of milestones
and classic games; Red Sox fans can relive the '78 playoff loss to the Yankees,
then brighten up by watching Roger Clemens's 20-strikeout games. And new this
year: MLB.tv's Mosaic feature (above), a godsend for fantasy owners. It lets
fans watch six games at once, so they can make sure their teams are
winning--and the rest of the division is losing.
