Junky's Needles Redux

Usually, I skip work to watch the Braves' first game, but thanks to Monday's visit to the dentist, I didn't have that option yesterday.  Instead, I turned to the Internets to keep track of the game, though now I wish I hadn't bothered doing that.  Last year, I reviewed the best methods for following your favorite team when you're away from your TV or radio.  It's time to revisit and see if any changes have been made to these sites:

+  Yahoo Gamechannel:  Always a favorite, I nearly panicked when I couldn't find this option on Yahoo's main scoreboard page.  After a few minutes of digging around on Yahoo's site, I decided to do a search and found, to my great surprise, a major face lift for the old reliable.  Gone are the days of the clunky java applet.  It has been replaced with a Gamechannel interface that looks much like the one Yahoo uses for football.  All of the features the junkies have come to rely on are still there:  box scores, ease of game change, play-by-play and scoring view.  They've also added the ability to see who is no longer in the game, the three batters "due up" in the next half inning, and, best of all, the ability to track the stats for your Yahoo fantasy baseball team(s).  The latter option is free until April 17th.  Of course, it's speed that counts, and for my money, no other site can match Gamechannel's speed.  The only thing missing--other than the Java applet--is the ability to minimize to a small, score-only screen.  Overall: Highly recommended.  The best of the bunch.

+  MLB.com GameDay (from the Scoreboard, click on the "Gameday" link):  The only thing that Major League Baseball's official site has over its competition is a pitch location chart.  I've never been impressed with MLB's GameDay, primarily because it's the least user-friendly of the bunch.  They have added an updating scoreboard across the top which allows easier access when you want to switch to other games.  Also, because it's the official site, it does offer direct links to MLB's official player stats, as well as live audio and TV (subscription required for both).  But this clunker is slow. Yahoo was often three or four pitches ahead in my side-by-side comparison. Overall:  If you like visuals, this is a decent option. 

+  SportsLine's GameCenter (go to scoreboard and click on "GameCenter"):  I've always had a soft spot for SportsLine's scoreboard.   This was the old standby before I discovered Yahoo.  Back in the day, they used some pretty archaic animations to show pitch delivery and location.  This year, they've streamlined everything.  They still have a pitch location chart, but the animations are no more.  The best part of this scoreboard, and why it might one day surpass Yahoo, is the hitting and pitching charts.  Not only can you look at a current at-bat by player, but you can chart pitches faced by batter or thrown by pitcher, hit (or out) locations by batter,  all with the click of a link.  Overall: If they can figure out a way to compete with Yahoo's speed, this one will become my favorite.

+  FOXSports' GameTrax (go to scoreboard, click on "Game Trax"):  You would think that the network that marches out the most annoying in-game animations in the history of televised sports would have a respectable online scoreboard, but there's is a no-frills place. Overall:  Use only if you're desperate.

+  ESPN:  For some reason, I could never get ESPN's GameCast to work.  It appears that they have introduced a "RealTime" feature that is for paying customers only. Let's just say that I won't be forking over the bucks to become an ESPN Premium member.  If anyone wants to give a review of "the Insider" scoreboard, be my guest.  Overall: Who knows.

+  CNNSi:  Much like their sports coverage in general, CNNSi's scoreboard is useless.  A carrier pigeon could give you quicker updates.  Overall: What happened to CNN sports?

Comments

[LTR]

That's a great overview. I'm with you on the opinions on Yahoo vs. MLB.com and agree that speed and ease of changing games are the keys.

[tito]

excellent. i've been using sportsline and was not aware of the yahoo option till now. i'll give the tires a kick. ... and there's always room on the royals, uh, bandwagon.

[mchenrmd]

Same here, I had defaulted to CBS without realizing all the super-cool things on Yahoo. I recommend more reviews of things to keep me from doing work.