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The 2010 MLB season kicks off today with the Red Sox taking on the Yankees at Fenway Park. This is usually when I have to decide which MLB package to choose from. I’m a Red Sox fan living in Dodger/Angels country so I’ve had to rely on a variety of ways to get my baseball fix. First it was the DirecTV MLB season pass an expensive addition to your monthly TV bill. Then i tried the MLB.TV package, less pricey at the time but you had to be a computer with a good connection to really enjoy it. Last year it was the MLB Official iPhone app which was fantastic. It allowed me to hear all the Red Sox game radio broadcasts by the Boston sportscasters. At the end of last season you could actually watch the games on your phone for couple of dollars and MLB even offered a couple of games free each day.

This season there isn’t really much of a choice to make, the iPad app is out and I had to have it. The app has jumped in price to $14.99, a $10 bump from last season. That doesn’t even give you all the live games in video, that requires an MLB.TV season pass. $99 gets you all the games streamed in HD or pay $120 if you want to choose home or away broadcasts, DVR controls, and multi-game view.

The video quality of the highlights has been a little iffy thus far, I’m hoping that will change once the regular season begins. It only works in landscape mode and has all the stats any fantasy baseball fan could need.

It would seem to be a perfect companion for watching televised games as well. It would be nice if they included a fan chat feature like on MLB.com and ESPN.com Baseball fans can’t ignore this app especially if you don’t live in your teams television market. $14.99 for every home radio broadcast is enough for me to grab it. I’ll update this with quality reports once the season gets underway.

UPDATE: The MLB App is acting a little funky during the first game of the season. The real time pitch updates are 3 pitches ahead of the audio stream. So you’ll see the hits and strikeouts before you hear them. Not exactly the kind of experience you want to have with a 15 dollar app. Also, the 3 highlights posted during the game thus far, all look like crap when you view them full screen. Let’s hope these are opening day jitters for the new app and not an indication of the performance we’ll get all season.

OFFICIAL PITCH -

MLB.com At Bat 2010 for iPad — A new way to experience baseball Enhanced Scoreboard: Get real-time score updates, probables, winning and losing pitchers, player stats and more

Live Audio: Listen live to every regular season and postseason game, and choose home or away announcers

Live Video: Watch live streaming games with portable access to your MLB.TV account (blackout restrictions apply)

Gameday: Follow live with exclusive pitch-type, speed and location data, real-time box scores, play-by-play and all scoring playsIn-Game Highlights: Watch the best plays of the game moments after they occur

Condensed Games: Watch the game in a fraction of the time

Enhanced Video: Never miss a moment of the game, pause and rewind live games, and call up player stats and box scores while watching live video.