During the Dodgers 2004 stretch run, I became addicted to Gameday, mlb.com's play-by-play web app. I hadn't yet sprung for the MLB Audio package, so it was the only way a cheap- skate like me could hang on every pitch thrown in my out-of-market team's games. Other sites have similar apps, all differing slightly in presentation and data provided, but I got used to Gameday. I started subscribing to the audio package in 2005, but I would usually have a Gameday window open, as well, for quick access to stats and game status. For one thing, Gameday tends to be a pitch ahead of the audio call, so it's a bit like peering into the future. Anyway, it may not have been perfect, but it worked.
MLB introduced "Enhanced Gameday" during the playoffs last year, offering 3D pitch graphics, with (allegedly) much more precise pitch locations. The pitch locations on the original version tended to be located more by the umpire's call rather than their actual location in physical space. Either that or Vin Scully (and all the other announcers) was completely lying when he described their locations. There were some other new features, and it was all sorts of snazzy looking, but after an inning or two, I clicked on the option for "Classic Gameday."
This year, MLB was proud to announce that they had not only combined the "enhanced" and "classic" versions together into one nifty new Franken-app, but also completely removed the option to use the old version. The new version is a monstrosity, a triumph of gee-whiz over function. It takes up more of the screen, yet gives far less useful information. It's low to update, and freezes far more often than classic. Worse, rather than just freezing in place when it hits a glitch, it tries to muddle through, usually by combining the results for two players into one, much to the befuddlement of the fans. It provides way more information than one needs to know about the path of each pitch to the plate, including the angle and distance of the break and a variable called "pFX" that no one seems to know the definition of, and yet if you want to know what the batter did last time up, it's not there. Mind, the new version shows you the pitch locations and ball/strike calls for all of the batter's previous at bats right under his picture, but it doesn't say anywhere what the end result of all those pitches was. And don't get me started about the big honkin' ad in the lower right that reduced the space available for the box score and lineups by half.
Needless to say (it being on the internet and all), there was a pile of criticism heaped upon the folks who foisted this on the fans. They listened politely, and then completely missed the point, adding a couple of useless options, but no option to get the original version. One wonders if they erased the code.
It looked grim. I didn't much care for the other gameday type apps I looked at, and it was just easier to click on the Gameday icon on the same site that I was going to for my audio feed. But then Rob McMillin of 6-4-2 stepped up to the plate. creating a gameday app that looks and works (mostly) just like the original. It's just neat. (The picture of classic posted up top is actually Rob's version.)
The only worry I have now is that MLBAM will attempt to squash him like a bug for having the temerity to do this.
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Bob Timmermann wrote about this over at the Griddle, too, here, here, and here.
2 comments:
Actually, not my creation, just my link. In fact, it's only a convenience; if you substitute "y2006" for "y2007" in the new Gameday URLs, you'll get the old Gameday. I just provide the popup window and the linkies.
Emmett and I follow a lot of games on Gameday and sometimes I think he prefers it to watching on TV. It does build the suspense quite a lot when you're waiting for it to update. Then suddenly you're yelling when you get "Ball in play, run(s) scored."
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