On the eve of the New Year, my STLCardinals counterpart HMW wrote a piece discussing how the debut of the MLB network could mark the end of his social life. I laughed.
Six months later, I’m beginning to see what he meant.
It’s not like this channel has reinvented the wheel, don’t get me wrong. In fact, the MLB Network came along well after its counterparts in every other major team sport. Hockey die-hards can relive past Stanley Cup playoff moments, NBA freaks enjoy classic Marv Albert-hosted follies videos and NFL fans can soak up anything that was somehow left 
out of daily NFL Live viewing on ESPN.
For the baseball fans among us, the arrival of MLBN is comparable to that of a music lover’s welcoming of MTV, or to that of unwatchable reality shows to the early millennium or to that of even harder to watch reality show spin offs to today’s TV programming.
Or like HGTV for bored suburbanites and the Game Show Network for the elderly.
My hotel-style cable package was finally upgraded this spring. With the arrival of multiple new remotes, more HD stations, a DVR and pay-per-view programming, came the addition of a litany of stations including MLBN.
I’ve welcomed the channel into my home for no longer than a month and I don’t know how I previously lived without it.
Yes, I know I can get an adequate amount of nightly highlights on a variety of other channels. If I want the best analysis, I should simply turn to Peter Gammons. If I want to hear a complete jackass go off on several tangents, I can turn up Hrabosky on any night and if I want the Hoosier edition of SportsCenter I can flip over to The Best Damn Sports Show and either get some sort of Hooters girl parade or another sports-themed countdown laced with backyard bloopers and high school highlights.
But, all I really want is baseball.
Give me Costas, Gibson and McCarver talking about the great Cardinals teams of the 60s. Re-air (in full length) just about any game that took place in the 80s so I can be reminded of what the sport looked like before long pants and steroids (or vitamins and weight rooms for that matter.) Show me All-Star Game highlights of mid summer classics from before I was born and educate me on the game’s greatest third basemen. I want to learn and feel it is my responsibility to do so.
Plus, nothing else is ever on.
Show today’s viewers some of the quirks of the game that have gone by the wayside like the bullpen car, the stirrup or even the stolen base. Remind us what the game looked like before it was broadcast in cable, played without batting helmets or in front of 40,000 spectators that all wore ties and hats to the game.
Give me blooper reels, give me baseball-themed movies, give me old episodes of This Week in Baseball with 
Mel Allen and bring back every living hall of famer to talk about their career’s most memorable moments.
Let Cardinals fan relive the pain of ’85, the tragedies of 2002 and the miracle finish to the 1964 season. Remind us where we were when Wainwright struck out Inge in ’06. Let us hear once again that we’re watching a modern day Musial in number 5.
Tell me why Bobby Thompson’s home run was ‘The Shot Heard Round the World’, help me understand why the Dodgers left Brooklyn, why Montreal named a team the Expos and let me meet the man that first thought baseball on Astroturf was a good idea.
If there’s another channel that MLBN should mirror it’s clearly the History Channel. There’s many a viewer that gladly devote more than a couple hours a week to being reeducated on the amazing feats of World War II.
While just a game, baseball is no different. It’s history that we simply can’t appreciate enough, can’t learn enough and will gladly pass along to others.
I’m just glad there’s a channel out there to help serve as an outline to the education.
JCarnage loves game shows, Werther’s Original candy and the movie Cocoon. He is 28. JCarnage24@yahoo.com