Yesterday I flew back from Singapore to Los Angeles on United. 15 hours…right in the midst of Game 5 of the World Series. But even with no satellite TV onboard, I still managed to keep up with the game.
I’m an LA native and used to be a hard-core Dodgers fan. I’ve still got a huge collection of baseball cards, signed baseballs, tickets, and schedules from the years in the late ’90s and early ’00s in which I would not miss a game.
As a kid, I would play Kirk Gibson’s 1988 World Series Game 1 home run, over and over on my VCR. I could quote Vin Scully’s entire commentary during his at-bat by heart.
By 2011, the year I moved to Germany, I drifted from following all competitive sports. Truthfully, I have not set foot inside Dodger Stadium since the 2009 National League Championship Series.
But this year the LA Dodgers are back in the World Series. So perhaps I’m just a “Bandwagoner” now, but I’ve been following the playoffs this year and certainly the World Series.
Small problem: my 15hr flight had live no TV. Internet onboard was also not fast enough to stream anything.
Solution: MLB Gameday.
There was no sound. There were no pictures. Just simulated batters and a play-by-play of each pitch and where it crossed the plate. Red signaled a strike, green a ball, and blue a hit or other contact.
I could not take my eyes off the phone as the game stretched into extra innings.
CONCLUSION
Sunday night’s Game 5 will go down as one of the most incredible games in World Series history, even though my team lost. It was thrilling even to watch it from my United business class seat 40,000 feet above the ground off the coast of Singapore.
It’s not an ideal solution, but it works.
Go Astros 🙂
I watched game 5 from SFO-LAX on VX and when Puig hit that 2 run homer in the 9th, the whole plane went crazy.
GO BLUE!
I was on a United flight from BUR-SFO with DirectTV when Turner hit the game-winning walk-off HR against the Cubs. The plane also erupted in cheers, though my seatmate was from CHI…
I’ve spent a lot of time on UA staring at that app following my Indians so I know the feeling. MLB does an incredible job with AtBat, TV, and Radio when I’m feeling nostalgic.
There’s nothing cuter than boys watching sports! Got to watch a football game with some folks in IAD D8 UC last week 🙂
I see food….looks like you might be feeling better. Glad you are on the mend! Hope your family is too!
It was more for photos…but I am feeling better. Thanks Mike!
It is interesting to try to tap into the minds of those who think that it would be a wise decision to not have this kind of TV on an international flight. Personally, I’d pay for it, and if it would be profitable, charge the heck for it. If I were on a plane during game 7 of the world series last year, I would have paid every last penny I own to watch that game. Or, speed up wi-fi. You know what? I’m fine with bringing my own food on a transatlantic flight. While you’re at it increasing the wi-fi, cut the cost of food (and energy waist for that matter) by selling the snack boxes on those planes instead of the load of crap they give us. I won’t cry if I spend $9 on a sandwich. I would have cried if I spent $22 on wi-fi and missed the big moment for it. That was my lifetime dream, and people flying during that moment missed out. Thats a shame.
Matt,
If you have T-Mobile, they have been giving their customers free subscriptions to MLB At-Bat for the last two years. It was clutch when I was in HKG for Game 2 of the NLCS and caught Turner hit that 3 run bomb to win the game from Cathay Pacific’s The Bridge Lounge. They simulcast whichever US station is broadcasting the game (FS1, Fox, TBS, etc.)
It’s not a complete fan report until a picture of your baby boy wearing a Dodgers cap and onesie is posted. 😉
Glad you are feeling better. Scared us there for a moment. I know we as a group don’t do sick well. Recovering from an awful case of “Montezuma’s revenge” that had me considering hospitalization and I did not care I had to spend and extra 1k to get home just a few hours sooner.
Amazing games. Making me love baseball again. (Heck, I love all sports, so does my wife.)
Loved to watch live sports on LH first class while flying over the Atlantic.
We gotta get better. Planes to fly. Places to see.
I love when you share something I can relate to, about how we could at one time voice over Vin Scully, Jack Buck, Harry Carey.