With the Dodgers out, college baseball a great option for fans in need of a fix

Instead of fretting about the Dodgers, go see a college baseball game this week. There are lots of options. By Owen Main

This weekend, baseball fans in Los Angeles and throughout the Dodgers “local” market — which spans from San Luis Obispo to Orange County — are experiencing quite a bit of frustration not being able to get the Dodgers on television. Locally, San Luis Obispo County residents literally have no (legal) option to watch the games.

It got me to thinking — what other options do we have? The answer, of course, is college baseball. On the Central Coast, Cal Poly is ranked in the top-five this week and UCSB is in the top-20. Their three games this weekend feature a number of players who will be drafted this spring. The most you’ll pay is $14 for the opportunity to sit outside, feel afternoon turn to evening, and watch one of the best college baseball series in the country this weekend.

If you’re in the Los Angeles area, don’t fret.

Perennial college baseball and Big West Conference powerhouse Cal State Fullerton is hosting UC Davis in Fullerton this weekend. Long Beach State is playing defending national champion UCLA this weekend in an out-of-conference series in Long Beach. If you’re in the Inland Empire, you can go see UC Riverside vie for regional legitimacy as they play Cal State Northridge for three games.

In the West Coast Conference, Loyola Marymount is hosting the University of San Francisco over the weekend. The Dons are a regional contender as well this year.

I’m probably leaving some teams out, but my point is that there are options — lots of them — to consume good baseball. I love the Dodgers, but I’m not going to sit at home all day staring at the MLB Gameday screen.

For those of you in Southern California who want to watch more baseball on television, someone at one of the other regional networks – Fox Sports, Prime Ticket, even ESPN 3 should really try to take advantage of the Dodgers not being available in Los Angeles. Lots of people want to watch baseball and it would seem that showing a few extra college games a week during this negotiation dumpster fire would get some really positive exposure for an entity they have an interest in promoting.

Instead of sitting around wishing I could watch the Dodgers play baseball, I’m going to go watch some college games this weekend. I recommend you do the same.