The "Down Under" Season Opener (Dodgers at Diamondbacks 3/22)

[twl221]

Games start at 4AM ET and 10PM ET.

Great way to start off... Rain Delay!

In all seriousness though, I am wondering how these games will affect the two team in the beginning week or two of the season. They play two games that mean something, then go back to Spring Training for a bit. Interesting.

(Diamondbacks are my sleeper pick for what it's worth)

[twl221]

Re: The "Down Under" Season Opener (Dodgers at Diamondbacks 3/22)

Vasgersian with a great botched call there. I'm digging this "sideline" reporter they have there.

[TheMatrix31]

Re: The "Down Under" Season Opener (Dodgers at Diamondbacks 3/22)

MLB Network is blacked out here in LA and since I don't have Time Warner Cable and the Dodgers Network, I can't watch the game.

Sick of the MLB/TV companies and their stupid ****ing blackout rules. Can't believe it's 2014 and we still have to put up with this arcane nonsense.

[Heatles]

Re: The "Down Under" Season Opener (Dodgers at Diamondbacks 3/22)

Vasgersian with a great botched call there. I'm digging this "sideline" reporter they have there.

Yeh he played the highest level of baseball here locally in Australia, and was a real talent. In today's world he maybe could of gone the the states and had a run in the minors. But, back then, choosing a career in cricket was much more guaranteed.

[Jibbler]

Re: The "Down Under" Season Opener (Dodgers at Diamondbacks 3/22)

Ian Chappelle has been commentating cricket games for about 30 years now down here he mostly criticise players in cricket and thinks he knows it all with his calls/ but he did a good job today. but I felt he was talking to much about cricket and this is coming from someone in Australia who knows all about cricket!! you can't compare cricket to baseball

[Jibbler]

Re: The "Down Under" Season Opener (Dodgers at Diamondbacks 3/22)

Yeh he played the highest level of baseball here locally in Australia, and was a real talent. In today's world he maybe could of gone the the states and had a run in the minors. But, back then, choosing a career in cricket was much more guaranteed.

his brother Greg Chappell was actually a far better cricket player too.

[SPTO]

Re: The "Down Under" Season Opener (Dodgers at Diamondbacks 3/22)

his brother Greg Chappell was actually a far better cricket player too.

How much better could his brother be if Ian is a member of FIVE different cricket HOFs? That's just mind boggling.

Anyways I didn't see this thread but I dug the atmosphere. I had the choice between the Arizona feed and the MLB-N and I chose MLB-N but during the rain delay I watched some of the Arizona coverage and they mentioned something that MLB-N didn't. I'm actually surprised Chappell didn't mention it either so maybe FSN AZ got it wrong but apparently another reason why they couldn't dig into the turf was because it's also a burial ground as famous cricketeers have been buried or had their ashes scattered on/under the turf.

[twl221]

Re: The "Down Under" Season Opener (Dodgers at Diamondbacks 3/22)

That's pretty interesting about the burial ground.

One thing I noticed, and they mentioned it on MLBN, is the absurd amount of foul ground. I know it's a cricket stadium, but I saw a few foul balls that landed, and they were high pops, too. They missed an opportunity to eliminate some foul territory and potentially add some seats.

Didn't make I through game 1, can't wait for game 2. I missed baseball.

[ShowTyme15]

Re: The "Down Under" Season Opener (Dodgers at Diamondbacks 3/22)

MLB Network is blacked out here in LA and since I don't have Time Warner Cable and the Dodgers Network, I can't watch the game.

Sick of the MLB/TV companies and their stupid ****ing blackout rules. Can't believe it's 2014 and we still have to put up with this arcane nonsense.

Go to Vipboxus.co and you can watch tonights game for free. It's legit I use it all the time they stream live games for free.

[TheMatrix31]

Re: The "Down Under" Season Opener (Dodgers at Diamondbacks 3/22)

Not the point. The point is that blackout rules are stupid.

[calcutta]

Re: The "Down Under" Season Opener (Dodgers at Diamondbacks 3/22)

I went to the opening game here in Sydney. Me and my mates are just casual baseball fans at best (except for one guy who is a D-Backs fan) but when we went to the USA in 2010, we actually saw the same two teams play each other at Dodgers Stadium and figured it would be cool to have a reunion of sorts locally.

I was really happy with the view from the section of where we were supposed to sit:


But we were told by the ushers that our section had been covered up for the benefit of the batters (so they had a dark background behind the pitchers) and were relocated to the lower tier of the outfield. This was the crappy view from there:


We couldn't see anything on-field because of how low our seats were, and on-screen for whatever reason, they didn't show live coverage of the game itself (I can't understand why not to be honest - not sure what the case is in US ballparks). Pretty poor form from the promoters tough to sell seats to sections that end up being closed off - we honestly thought about complaining, but eventually we saw some open section back in the upper tier behind right field which gave us this decent view:


Overall it was enjoyable though and the rain stayed away (slight rain delay ahead of first pitch which we missed because of the previous view). It wasn't a full house, quite a few empty seats in our area, which was odd because these sections were supposedly "sold out"...?

Also managed to get a ball signed the day before by Arizona catcher Miguel Montero who was doing a signing at a sporting store in the city. Even got him to write a "Good luck in Europe" message which will make a great going away gift for that aforementioned D-Backs fan in our group

[Jibbler]

Re: The "Down Under" Season Opener (Dodgers at Diamondbacks 3/22)

I got a bit sick of hearing cricket comparisons, but I guess its interesting to you U.S guys who know nothing about it/.


as for the game the D Backs are in real trouble with their rotation it looks like. they are gonna need there offence to get going soon

[PadresFan]

Re: The "Down Under" Season Opener (Dodgers at Diamondbacks 3/22)

Not the point. The point is that blackout rules are stupid.

A Chargers fan agrees here...

It was nice to be watching regular season baseball again. It is just too bad we have to wait another week for more games...

Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk 2