"Amercia's Pastime", Major League Baseball, Is Un-American

The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball
Robert D. Manfred Jr., Commissioner
Address: 245 Park Avenue, 31st Floor
New York, NY 10167
Phone: 212-931-7800
Fax: 212-949-5654
Website: http://mlb.mlb.com
Prices: $$$$

As a lifetime Los Angeles Dodger fan, I have not had many opportunities to watch my "Boys in Blue" in the postseason since 1988, that's 37 years! We gave up cable, as many Americans are, because of the illegal monopolization of television as well as the ridiculous contracts and exorbitant fees charged by Time Warner Cable, AT&T, and others.

I can watch most any show on television using an antenna and pointing it toward our local affiliates broadcasting antennas. Sure, we have to watch commercials, but we have saved nearly $1200 since dropping cable. I can also watch the Kansas City Chiefs football team, live, a mere 50 miles away at Arrowhead Stadium, over "the air" for free. However, if I want to watch Major League Baseball (MLB), I have to get cable, even to purchase and stream online at MLB.com. MLB is obviously in bed with the cable companies and could care less about Americans, baseball fans, excluding those of us without cable from watching the postseason.

I have been trying for weeks to find out from MLB how I can subscribe to MLB-Postseason online after having watched the regular season online on my computer, but I was repeatedly told "we don't know if or when PostseasonTV will be available, just check our website from time to time". Really? MLB does not know if they are going to broadcast the postseason online just a few days before the end of the season? How can that be possible other than through complete incompetence or total apathy toward fans?

Finally, on October 5th, 2015, the day before the Wild Card games were set to begin, a link to PostseasonTV magically appeared on MLB.com ... HOORAY! But I celebrated too soon. You have to live outside the US/Canada or subscribe to cable (through one of MLB's limited number of providers) to watch the postseason on MLB.com. You can apparently get part of the feed, not the actual broadcast, for National League games, but not the American League series or the World Series.

I then saw a link to their forum, so I posted the following:

MLB's answer was as useless as the ridiculously unsubstantial responses provided by their "customer service", and I use that term loosely, reps gave me before season's end. Here is the MLB moderator's response and my follow-up reply:

Americans should not be forced to pay to see "America's Pastime". Baseball was available FREE for decades, but now we cannot watch our favorite teams in the playoffs without giving-in to cable's thievery. This is un-American and MLB should ensure that EVERYONE has access to post-season baseball.

I implore Commissioner of Baseball, Robert D. Manfred Jr., to fix this problem ASAP and GIVE ALL AMERICANS UNRESTRICTED ACCESS TO AMERICA'S PASTIME!

C.T. Sorrentino

aka CombatCritic

CombatCritic Gives MLB.com and Postseason.TV 1 out of 10 Bombs ... More Bombs Are Better!

COMMISSIONER MANFRED AND MLB HAVE EARNED A SPOT ON COMBATCRITIC'S "WALL OF SHAME" (CLICK HERE)

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Title: "Amercia's Pastime", Major League Baseball, Is Un-American

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$400 for a GoPro Hero3+ (Black) and Support Is Questionable ... Not User Friendly

I purchased a GoPro3+ (Black Edition) and mounts early this month, spending nearly $475, but updating the software is a nightmare! I also did not know that the camera HAS NO VIEWFINDER OR DISPLAY before I purchased it, intuitively thinking that ALL CAMERAS HAVE A DISPLAY ... NOT THE GOPRO.

After wasting a great deal of time trying to figure out how to use the camera's remote, installing and using the iPhone app (the only way to see a display of what the camera sees and then you can only see the display in certain resolutions, not all), and attempting to update the camera's pre-installed software, I sent the following to GoPro Technical Support ($475 and no phone number?):

First, I'm not sure why I have to enter my serial number all the time. Why don't you update my account so you know when I bought the camera, what updates are installed, etc? Not very user friendly!

Your instructions for updating my camera are missing a step. After I drag the UPDATE folder to DEVICE "NO NAME", you don't say whether I should reinstall the battery and SD card before powering off, powering on, and waiting for the camera to cycle with several beeps, on and off, etc. I have tried both ways, following the instructions exactly and, intuitively, reinserting the SD card and battery, then powering the camera on, but neither does anything! 

Why can't I merely update my camera via the USB cable like I do to download video/photo files when attached to my Macbook Pro 13 (Mid 2012)? It does not make sense to download an update to the SD card. 

After spending $475 for the camera and mounts, I would think the support I get would be better and easier than having to fill out this long form. NOT VERY CUSTOMER SERVICE ORIENTED! 

You can read more about my experience on my increasingly popular blog, www.CombatCritic.com, where you will find this comment in addition to how well GoPro responds to my concerns. I am trying to test the camera before leaving on vacation next week, but GoPro is making my life rather difficult. Please assist ASAP! 

Sincerely, 

Chris Sorrentino, LtCol, USAF (Ret) 

aka CombatCritic

I will keep you posted on their response, if any, as I try to test-run this rather complex little camera before we leave for Puerto Rico on vacation in a few days. 

CombatCritic Gives GoPro 5 Out of 10 Bombs (So Far) ... BOMBS ARE GOOD!

Title:  $400 for a GoPro Hero3+ (Black) and Support Is Questionable ... Not User Friendly

Key Words: GoPro3, GoPro, go, pro, 3, camera, sports, waterproof, housing, HD, high-definition, video, photo, audio, production, CombatCritic, 3rd, Wave, Media, Group