Coast to Coast: Pull Up a Chair
The Brevard County Manatees are the Milwaukee Brewers’ affiliate in the Florida State League, the equivalent of the Angels’ Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in the California League.
The Manatees have no radio contract. They’ve already clinched a playoff appearance next week, a best-of-three series against the Tampa Yankees. I offered to webcast the games for free. The Manatees said yes.
By coincidence, the regular season concludes this weekend with the Yankees in town for three games against the Manatees. We’re going to use the series as a “playoff preview.”
Most minor league teams have to pay to put their broadcasts on the radio, which is why several broadcast only on the Internet or have no broadcast at all.
Our project is definitely on the cheap. I bought a gaming headset last week for about $40 at the local Best Buy. It plugs into my laptop computer, which will connect to MLB Advanced Media via the Internet. We’ve already done a couple games no one knew about to test the technology.
Believe me, it won’t be Vin Scully.
It’s just a way to get the games online so the players’ parents can listen around the world. Hopefully the locals here in the Space Coast will listen too.
And being an Angels fan, how could I possibly pass up an opportunity to beat the Yankees?
UPDATE September 4, 2009 3:15 PM PDT — My webcast debut has to wait for another day, as we’re rained out. Makeup twinbill tomorrow at 2:00 PM PDT.
FutureAngels.com 