So, last year I forked over for MLB.tv without understanding the minutiae of local area blackouts and the like. I was pissed, and of course the blackouts did not really matter, as I just went ahead and watched the firmly, absurdly illegal video feeds I had started watching the season on. In essence, it was a classic case of a missed sales opportunity – the shitty free product made me want the nice, cushy product.

Well, maybe not a missed sales opportunity.

At any rate, I had the presence of mind to look at my MLB.tv account on January 31, and learned that was in fact the actual day it it was set to auto renew. Naturally, I cancelled.

Out of curiosity, I then went back to each of the devices I had associated with the account last year and to my astonishment I retain access to the 2011 season.

In October of last year, I attended a show by Chicago band Shellac at the Vera Project and during the show, people began sending me texts that maybe I should be watching game six of the Rangers-Cardinals World Series.

All told, this means I can catch that game now.

I have been scrubbing the inarwebs for the equivalent of MLB.tv for Japanese pro ball, and have yet to come up with the solution. Apparently the media provisioning is very robust in Japan, but only for Japanese-located consumers. This means that English language discussion of the material is pretty limited. Additionally, online streaming access appears to be contracted at a team level in the older, more popular Central League and to be centrally administered for the Pacific League (home of the Eagles, the team I follow).

Surprisingly, to me, there does not appear to be the equivalent to the Dubliner or the George and Dragon in Fremont and Ballard, respectively, bars that feature in-house broadcasts of European sporting events, catering to expats. Honestly, you would think at least ONE bar in Seattle, of all places, would offer live or time shifted Japanese pro ball. I suppose there is some sort of marketing opportunity here.