Baseball Streaming: Apple TV + Friday night games are messed up, but Peacock Sunday morning games are fun

Right to broadcast one of the four major sports in North America in 1994, ever since Fox displayed a scorebox in the upper right corner of the screen in the first year of broadcasting NFL games. All networks that have won have always tried to do something else. Sometimes it works (Fox Box above), sometimes it doesn't (Fox's sparkling hockey pack, anyone). Viewers know what enhances the viewing experience and what is essentially an eye wash.

For the first time, streaming has joined the battle. Apple TV +has exclusive rights to two Major League Baseball games on Friday night, andPeacockstreams exclusive MLB games every Sunday morning. (Yes, read it correctly). There was no further difference in how each presented this week's game. This was shown to me in early June when both games in the three-game series between the New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers were broadcast.

Apple is a network that is trying to do something radically different and can be seen in every section of its broadcast. This is surprising given that we are using the producers of traditionally oriented MLB Network. It starts with very clear 4K images and clean Helvetica-powered graphics that basically mimic iPhone text.

The biggest change is in the booth, two of the three stations in the East Coast game are women. Melanie Newman is live and analysts are sports writer Hannah Kaiser and former MLB player Chris Young. .. (Stephen Nelson, Hunter Pence, and Katie Nolan work in West Coast games.) Newman is the only one of the three with booth experience playing the Orioles live. Displayed during the broadcast.

One way the broadcast team knows they aren't confident in themselves is to keep them from breathing the game in quiet moments. The chatter I saw during the match was stuffy and not as good as the first match the team played in April. Young analyzed every pitch, every swing, every foul ball. And when there was nothing to analyze, the three talked about everything, like sitting on the couch watching a game from home.

At least we think all three were talking. To be honest, Keeser and Newman's voices were so similar that it sounded like Newman was talking all the time. Some of the replays made a difference, but when I played the game live, when I generally turned my attention to either action or phone, it actually sounded like two voices.

Then she did a good play-by-play job, but there was Newman who didn't seem to have a sense of tone. You see, playing by players in national games projects to the audience that the game is exciting and is supposed to play things along the way. It can be frustrating for fans who are accustomed to more locally focused broadcasts. That's why former Fox legend Joe Buck has been criticized for years just because he was excited when either side did something.

But by the end of the five innings, the Yankees were leading 12-0. But when he finally played a few against the filthy Gerrit Cole in the seventh inning, Newman said, "The Tigers ... have found it in the seventh inning." not really. Sure, they finally got some hits from the call, but still lagging behind12-0. And Cole got out of that "jam" without a run score. Newman seemed to liven up a story that didn't exist in that tone.

Another innovation is the random stats that appear in the bottom right corner of the screen. .. "RBI Probability" or "Reach Base Probability" (seen above during recent Mets-Angels games). It may be useful if the broadcaster explains to the viewer. Not all viewers are familiar with the more ambiguous corners of Sabermetrics, their meaning, and how they are calculated. However, no explanation is given and those statistics are meaningless.

Finally, with a fairly brutal Apple product placement, sideline reporter Brooke Fletcher and her West Coast counterpart Heidi Watney aren't just earpieces, Apple's huge and expensiveAirPods Max. I wore headphones. Or, as you know, regular AirPods. Take a look at the screenshot below to see how clunky it looks.

On the other hand, Peacockwas fun to watch. The main reason is that they weren't trying to do anything other than show a baseball game. Again, this starts at the booth. Peacock had the foresight to hire Jason Benetti, the White Sox broadcaster. On the local broadcast of each team.

For the Yankees-Tigers series, Benetti is paired with Hall of Fame pitcher Jack Morris, who plays the Tigers match at Bally Sports Detroit, and former Yankees catcher John Flaherty, who plays the Yankees match at YES. rice field. Communication network. So instead of having analysts who appear to be parachuting in the game perform surface analysis based on news headlines and interview managers, coaches, and players, analysts monitor their teams throughout the season. And have their insights. A complete season that national analysts cannot have.

Having a new booth for every game can be a daunting task, but Benetti is a professional who guides analysts into discussions and gives them room to discuss. But the benefits of having an analyst who knows the team well are more important than the annoying chemistry.

But best of all, all three of the booths didn't have any problems On the pitch and other stretches of the game that didn't require chatter, they said nothing at all.. After all, you can see what's happening on the screen, and veteran television professionals like Benetti and rotation analysts know this. You don't have to fill it with hot air every second.

And, as you can see from the recent Mets-Marlins broadcast, Peacock's presentation is clean. You may see additional information below the scorebox, but that's it.

Yes, this sounds like an old Faddy Daddy rant that hates change. But it's also the wrath of those who have been watching baseball since 1979 (a bite) and know what works and what is fluffy. Peacock's presentation works well, and so does the Apple TV +. It cleans up the extra information, reassures the announcer that people don't have to listen to them every second of the game, and somehow provides AirPods to the deputy reporter. Until then, Apple's broadcasts will be difficult to watch.