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AnchorDesk

Sylvia Carr
My favorite Web-based baseball scoreboards

Sylvia Carr
Senior Editor, AnchorDesk
Friday, April 4, 2003
TalkBack!Add your opinion
I really like those pitch-by-pitch apps offered by sites like Yahoo Sports, ESPN, and MLB.com.

These pop-up windows show you who's on the field, what their stats are, as well as every pitch, hit, and play in real time, more or less. They also include the lineup and a game summary, so if you launch the app in the fourth inning, you can catch up.

THEY'RE GREAT for keeping up with a game while you're doing something else on your computer. I've even been known to have one running on my home PC while I listen to the radio broadcast--just in case I miss a play or want to look up some stats.

No, they're no substitute for a live radio or TV broadcast, but they're free--and accessible from any Web browser.

The biggest downside is the quality of the data feed. It lags the live broadcast. Worse, sometimes the feed will just drop. Another bummer: These players can slow your other apps. Though it hasn't happened to me, I've heard from others that they can even cause an outright system crash.

WHICH OF THE THREE major pitch-by-pitch apps do I like best? They all work fine, assuming they're fielding the data feed just fine. Since these apps are the sort you like to grasp at a glance, interface and information layout are the key defining factors.

Yahoo Sports's GameChannel makes it super easy to switch between different games being played at the same time, but I'm not crazy about the app's look and feel.

MLB.com's Gameday pitch-by-pitch has the most bells and whistles, including a pitch tracker. (It requires you to download the latest Macromedia Flash player.) But while it offers loads of info, the interface is cluttered.

So I'm giving the nod to ESPN's GameCast as my overall favorite. I like it for its simple, easy-to-read interface design, and the ability to switch seamlessly between all the games being played at that moment.

What do you think? What's your favorite baseball tech? TalkBack to me!

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