More Free Stuff from Major League Baseball

The Cubs page at the MLB website offers all kinds of stuff for free. All you have to do is logon here and bookmark the page.

You can find the best bargain under "Cubs Update" on the left half of the screen. Here you can click on professionally written stories about the Cubs (or about the White Sox if you want to find that page).

The first thing I look for is the story about the latest Cubs game. It doesn't replace the story in whatever newspaper you like the best. But it usually appears earlier.

Also look at any of the other stories listed. On Saturday there was a good story about Mike Fontenot's return to the Cubs lineup.

Next, look at the index on the red and blue line at the top of the screen. The diehard Cubs fanatic will want to consult the stats.

Last night, I checked out the Cubs hitting statistics, where I learned that Derek Lee had the best average at .338.

Pitcher Carlos Zambrano, the best heavyweight boxer in the Cubs lineup, was listed sixth with a batting average of .296.

Tomorrow, I'll applaud or bemoan another freebie brought to us by the billionaires who own MLB.

Free Stuff from Major League Baseball

In a post on June 8, 2007, I explained how you can watch Cubs games on your computer. You can also watch any other major-league team in the same manner, but regardless of which games you watch, you must pay for this service.

In this and later posts, I'll describe what you can get for free.

Begin by clicking here. Then bookmark the page.

On your left, you'll see a menu of all the games scheduled for that day. Pick the game you want, and you'll see three icons. One is for live video, and one is for live audio. Either of these will cost you money.

The third icon takes the shape of a baseball field. This free option is called "Gameday."

Click the icon, and a simulated display of pitches will fill your screen. At this moment, I'm watching the simulated display of the Yankees versus the Pirates.

By using this free service, you can see each pitch from the viewpoint of either the hitter or pitcher, whichever you prefer.

The display shows where each pitch goes, and the color of the simulated ball shows whether the pitch was a called strike or a called ball. Green is for a ball. Red is for a strike.

Blue indicates a ball that is in play.

The display shows where the pitch assumedly goes, regardless of what the umpire calls it.

I make no claims about the accuracy of either the umpire or the simulated display.

To the left of the display, you can read a play-by-play account of everything that happens: balls, strikes, and balls in play.

Other displays show the boxscore, lineups for both teams, and related baseball statistics.

One advantage of "Gameday" is that it lets you know what's happening on the field, including events you wouldn't see or hear on audio or video.

Another advantage is that Gameday is free.