Bud Selig's Puzzling Media Blackout

(AFP Photo / Toshifumi Kitamura)

As you may or may not know, the Major League Baseball season began this morning at 6:05 AM Eastern time. The Seattle Mariners defeated the Oakland A's 3-1 in 11 thrilling innings at the Tokyo Dome. King Felix pitched. Ichiro got four hits. But no one in the USA saw any of this. Somehow, Commissioner-In-Name-Only Bud Selig thought better of telecasting the game live. After all,
who would want to see his multi-billion product after a long Winter of football, basketball, hockey and soccer? Beats us! For all the supposed marketing savvy of MLB, to blackout the very first game of the 2012 season—one in which a Japanese hero returns home in glory—somehow makes perfect sense to them? Baseball needs to get serious with a real commissioner who isn't an ownership lackey.