A new era dawns

My life as I once knew it completely changed at 6pm yesterday. That was the moment that the new MLB Network premiered. 24 hours a day of baseball, only baseball. No BCS reports, no hockey scores. Only baseball. Is this heaven? Is it Iowa? No, it's channel 213.

They won me over almost immediately (what a shock). They opened with the first episode of their nightly show, "Hot Stove Report." First up: an in-depth examination of Manny Ramirez' free agency status and speculation on where he'll go. In-depth! Intelligent. Thought provoking. WOW!!

Following that was a broadcast of Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series. I don't think this broadcast has been shown before - and it was incredible. I saw Mickey Mantel hit a home run, I saw Roy Campanella squatting behind the plate, I saw GIL HODGES bat!! Incredible. And in the midst of the full-game broadcast was Bob Costas interviewing Larsen and Yogi Berra. It was some of the most compelling television I've seen in a while.

Upcoming is Ken Burns' Baseball miniseries - which I somehow have missed up to this point. They've also installed cameras at every park, so during the season, they can cut to any game and give us a report. If I wasn't excited and anxious for the season to start, this has added to the anticipation tenfold.

My only question is WHY did it take so long to get this channel on the air???