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October 30, 2009

3 ways to follow the World Series—digitally

world series yankees phillies atbat mlb
For $9.99, watch up to four different camera angles at MLB.com.

One great thing about baseball’s postseason is the almost daily gratification of watching a pivotal game. It can also be one of the most inconvenient aspects. It’s easy enough to reserve an evening to watch the Superbowl; a little less so to hunker down in front of a TV for up to seven World-Series-filled nights. Major League Baseball (or was it the TV networks?) didn’t make time management any easier this year by scheduling game three on a night otherwise occupied by Halloween parties and trick-or-treating.

If you’re looking for an alternative way to catch the game (in case you’ll be walking hand-in-hand tomorrow night with a pint-sized vampire), or maybe just a way to mix up your usual gamewatch experience, technology has provided some new ones:

Get an app. iPhone and iPod Touch users have a number of resources for staying updated while mobile. MLB.com offers At Bat ($9.99), a popular application that lets you watch each game streaming live over your phone. With “Quad Mode” you can watch from up to four camera angles at the same time. The app also integrates Twitter so you can stay connected to friends and followers.

What’s that? You don’t pay for apps? Two free options are At Bat Lite and ESPN ScoreCenter. Both provide scores and game updates. ScoreCenter covers a multitude of professional leagues, from baseball and football to soccer and cricket.

One more neat app: If you like to record stats as you watch pro games—or if you're a coach with your own team—check out iScore Baseball Scorekeeper. A free application, it lets you keep track of batting, fielding, and pitching statistics and can run postgame analyses.

Watch online. Similar to MLB.com’s phone application, Postseason.TV lets you watch the game live online, offering highlights and Quad Mode, for $9.99. When I was looking Wednesday night, I found it tricky to find sites that let you watch for free. Huffington Post lists some, but neither they nor I can vouch for them. If you know of any, I’d appreciate the tip.

Enhance your TV-watching with social media. If you can’t have all your buddies over, meet them in cyberspace. Log on to Facebook or Twitter, where you can chat and follow each other’s updates and reactions as the game unfolds. While you’re on Facebook, you might also join either the Yankees fan page or the Phillies fan page if you haven’t already.

Know of any other cool, tech-related ways to get into the game? Share them with the rest of us in the comments section. —Nick K. Mandle

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