Maybe the thing I’ll regret most this year is missing so many of Dee Gordon’s stolen bases. By bridgetds on Flickr, via Wikimedia Commons

The majesty of Matt Kemp‘s beard and sweet haircut. Vin Scully telling a story about Aramis Ramirez‘ involvement in cock-fighting in the Domincan Republic. Miguel Rojas picking a few nice grounders.

Tonight, these are things I’m seeing for the first time this season, all while traveling out of state for work. These are all fun things to see, but they aren’t even the most entertaining parts of watching the first inning.

The best of the first comes when Dee Gordon steps to the plate to lead-off the bottom of the inning. The young All-Star second baseman hits a swinging-bunt single down the first base line. It doesn’t take long for Gordon to steal second base (his 55th stolen base of the season), advance to third on an overthrow by Jonathan Lucroy, and score on a Yasiel Puig single. Two batters, one stolen base, two hits, and about everything you could ever expect from Dee Gordon.

Apparently, Gordon has been doing this pretty much all season. What have I been missing? The answer is a ton, and then again not very much. Via advanced stats, like his Baseball-Reference.com page, Gordon has only managed a 2.4 WAR, probably due mostly to his 80/30 walk/strikeout ratio from the leadoff spot in the order. Gordon’s league-leading 55 steals in 68 attempts leads the league.

Gordon may not be as valuable as he is exciting. I’ve always been intrigued by speed in baseball, especially when I haven’t seen very much baseball this year. After Juan Uribe strikes out with runners on second and third and two outs, maybe a little part of me is glad I haven’t seen more.

Dodger fans on the Central Coast have been effectively banned from watching their team this season — a ridiculous development for the year 2014. By Downtowngal (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons

If the Dodgers wanted the Central Coast as part of their media market, they sure could have fooled me. With thousands of other Dodger fans, we are the forgotten children, poised in no-man’s land.

It’s officially the All-Star break. We are still, officially, blacked out.

For fans around Los Angeles, there are other ways to take the game in. Their flagship radio station’s ratings are up almost 50 percent and ballpark attendance is up over eight percent. In San Luis Obispo, the games can be found on ESPN Radio 1280, but there is no legal way to actually watch the games.

Like many others in California, we live hours away from Los Angeles, while still being technically within the Dodgers’ market. One county to the North (Monterey County), the market switches to the Giants. It takes at least 12 hours to drive to Dodger Stadium, take in a game, and get home (probably more like 15-18 if you like to get there early). In other words, it’s a full day.

I’ve explained the ridiculousness before. If I lived almost anywhere else in the country, I’d have at least some access to games. If you live “outside” of the Dodgers’ market (one county to the North, for example), you can get every Dodgers game via MLBTV. Even if I was “blacked out” in Los Angeles, I’d be able to go to more games in person, as it seems many fans are.

This, my friends, is no-man’s land.

Like so many Dodgers fans, I haven’t been happy about the situation. While fans are completely helpless, I’ve found other things to focus on this Summer. In my house, there are lots of projects I’ve completed instead of watching the Dodgers on TV. I’ve found other sports to watch, writing for an MLS-related site. In an age where I can watch EVERY World Cup match live, from my computer, wherever I am, how silly is it that I can’t watch the Dodgers on TV?

It’s far less than it once was, but every so often, I have thought about the Dodgers this summer.

I wonder what an All-Star level Dee Gordon looks like. I haven’t seen it with my own two eyes, so I wonder whether it actually exists.

I wonder what it must have been like to see Clayton Kershaw throw one of the best-pitched games of all-time.

I wonder how many years Vin Scully has left in the tank. How bitter will my emotions be if this whole season goes by without being able to see hear Vin describe those warm Chavez Ravine evenings? If this is Vin’s last year, how much does anyone really care?

I wonder what will happen if the Dodgers make it to the World Series. Will I have to learn about some of the players on my own team throughout the playoffs, when I should have had 162 games to take the information in? Am I less attached to this team because I cannot see them play?

To be a fan is to be engaged. To be an educated fan is to have consumed the games by some means. Radio used to suffice. I still follow games on Twitter and online, along with ESPN Radio 1280. No matter what I try, there is nothing like seeing the look on Yasiel Puig’s face before he gets tossed, or witnessing the throws (which have been described alternately as both ill-advised and outstanding) he makes on what seems like a regular basis.

The thing that is always crazy to me is that the buck just doesn’t stop anywhere.

The Dodgers have their money, Time Warner has its price, and other television providers have made their stand. Everyone has made rational, probably defensible decisions along the course of this process. It reminds me of an undergraduate Poly-Sci professor’s lectures on the decisions that led to the first World War. Everyone makes decisions in their own interests, and those decisions don’t always turn out to be best for the greater good. Maybe Victor Magagna should be baseball’s commissioner. His mustache he wore circa 2001 would give him instant clout.

For those of us who are Dodger fans on the Central Coast, we know what the impact of the Giants’ recent World Series’ have been. We know we’ve seen more orange and black than ever. What rational decision can we make?

One option is to go to the beach more and care about a baseball team 200 miles away less. I promise I’m not the only one thinking that way.

After they swept a doubleheader against the Twins last night, the Dodgers have played 29 games. That’s almost twenty percent of the season (to be fair, about 18 percent).

This year was supposed to be about a team taking the next step. It was supposed to be about a team that last year became a group I could be proud to root for again. It was maybe the most anticipated season the franchise has ever had. What it’s turned into, I’m not sure — because I cannot watch the games. I’m not allowed to.

I live in San Luis Obispo, and the Dodgers are only available on a network I can’t get. Our cable option here on the Central Coast is Charter, but the Dodgers station, Time Warner Cable SportsNet is only available on Time Warner Cable. Neither DirecTV nor Dish Network carry the Dodgers’ station either, so a dish isn’t a viable option.

I have MLBTV, which is a solid product. Of course, all the Dodger games are blacked out where I live, 3 1/2 hours away from Los Angeles.

The whole thing is ridiculous. The situation smells like a soiled diaper at the top of a mountain of month-old garbage and refuse and I’m about fed-up.

Look online and you’ll find articles like this one, where (hilariously) the CEO of Time Warner Cable, Rob Marcus is described as “upbeat.” I’m glad someone is… . Everyone involved including Marcus, other cable executives, and (importantly) Dodgers executives are all to blame. Maybe this is the price we have to pay to be able to have the highest payroll in baseball. Unfortunately, not being able to see the games is probably the only price we aren’t willing to pay.

As all of these leaders from cable companies and satellite providers continue to hold Dodger fans hostage, I’m reduced to watching games with something that looks like this:

A screen shot of last night’s Twins/Dodgers game from the “GameTracker” on MLB.com.

How exciting can it get?!

This season, I’ve been following baseball as though I lived in 1950, when Vin Scully began his career — via the radio and box scores. In the age of HDTV’s, and advanced statistics, this time machine of a season has been quite exhilarating.

In all seriousness though, I lost patience a long time ago. At this point, I’ve missed a fifth of the season and every day that goes by where I have no option to watch the team, I care about this season less and less.

Two years ago, my grandmother bought an HDTV. It was a few years after my grandfather had passed and she wanted to be able to watch the Dodgers games. Over the past few years, it’s become her main source of summer entertainment.

Well into her 80’s, she would pay much more than the $4 per customer Time Warner is said to be demanding of other providers to watch the Dodgers. I think she would pay $100-$200 per year. Too bad she lives in the far reaches of the “territory” the Dodgers call their own.

Options

If I want to watch the Dodgers, I could move about an hour North to Monterey County — a place closer to me than Dodger Stadium. From there, Dodgers games on MLBTV would not be blacked-out.

I could also move to a place where Time Warner Cable is an option. At this point though, I would move away from a Time Warner area just on principle.

I have a friend who has gone to the trouble of masking his IP address and, with his MLBTV access, can watch the games with his rigged-up system and a little extra cost. This is something I’ve considered, but seems like a lot of work just to watch a team that has been complicit at-best in the current standstill.

The truth is that I haven’t had cable or satellite service in almost two years. My household saves over $100 per month, still gets all the shows via Netflix and Hulu Plus, and I pay for any sports packages I want — the MLB package for instance, on my terms.

I get to watch a lot of baseball still. I watch almost all of my fantasy players on a regular basis and probably enjoy baseball itself as much as I ever have while basically having to act like the Dodgers don’t exist. It’s basically as if Major League Baseball liquidated my favorite team. It’s as if the Dodgers don’t exist anymore for millions of fans who should be rooting now harder than ever for ‘dem Bums.

Major League Baseball is already losing young fans, and If I was a kid still, I’m pretty sure I’d be thinking about rooting for a different team right about now. I’m well into my 30’s and I’m taking applications.

I guess the alternative is to find something healthier than sitting on my couch. There are a lot of other fun things to do in this part of the country. The Dodgers and their new cable network shouldn’t forget that.

Mott was hopping on Saturday night. By Owen main

“I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN! I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN!”

It was a soccer chant in the middle of a basketball game. It should have come while the Mustangs were on defense. As about a thousand students jumped and chanted in a trance-like state, Cal Poly freshman Taylor Sutlive took a three-pointer that could have brought the crowd into a huge frenzy and the UC Irvine lead to single-digits. I got chills as the shot went up, almost in slow-motion. It was a glimpse into the best timeline at what Cal Poly basketball has the potential to become — for everyone involved.

On this night, though, in what was basically a microcosm of the game, Sutlive’s shot rimmed out, Irvine scored consecutive baskets, and the game was effectively put-away.

Even though Cal Poly lost, fans who were able to get into a sold-out Mott Athletics Center were big winners on Saturday night. For at least the past two years, Cal Poly basketball fans have been ripe for some encouragement and organization. What better place to draw inspiration from than the Mustang Manglers, and their chant of faith?

This atmosphere is what every sports fan in San Luis Obispo should want. By Owen Main

Pregame

Fans showed-up early for this one. The 8:00 pm start helped, but the student section was over half-full by 7:15 and by 7:45, the bleachers across from the opponents’ bench — in the student section — were filled to the brim with black-clad Mustang supporters.

Instead of a typically late-showing student section, Saturday’s was early and excited, creating an energy in Mott Athletics Center that I don’t think I had ever felt.

Signs

Lots of fans brought signs for the nationally-televised game — some more appropriate than others. The heads of Joe Callero, David Nwaba, and Joel Awich were some of my favorites. In a twist on bringing in signs, one fan brought an umbrella and briefly opened it following each of Cal Poly’s eight three-pointers. You see, it was “raining threes” inside of Mott.

The Dunk

Chris Eversley’s first-half dunk on 7′ 6″ Mamadou Ndiaye was the highlight of the night. Actually, it was third in SportsCenter’s Top-10 countdown.

Here’s the Eversley dunk from another angle. Unfortunately for the Mustangs, Irvine was not phased beyond Russell Turner’s technical foul that immediately ensued. By Owen Main

Eversley’s dunk was one of the last moments of pure elation for the Mustangs. Their second unit came in shortly thereafter and Irvine pounced, building a double-digit lead at halftime that they held tightly to throughout the second half.

Irvine is good

The Anteaters were the media’s pick in the preseason to win the Big West and might be even better in-person. Like last year’s Cal Poly team, it’s not always clear where the points will come from, but there are probably six or seven guys who can really score and gain a mismatch on offense on a given night.

Their zone defense was well-prepared and well-executed, too. Most zones give up a lot of offensive rebounds, but Irvine out-rebounded Cal Poly 20-12 overall in the first half and never looked back.

Keep it up

I heard at least five or six fans who are there a lot say some variation of, “We need this to be the way it is all the time.”

I agree. Cal Poly has always had the potential for an obnoxiously loud fan-base. The best part about the fans making noise was when it was student-led. In the second half, at least three students, who I would guess are part of the Mustang Manglers, were leading cheers and chants, keeping the student section riled up. A group of organized students and fans can make the game more enjoyable for other students and fans and continue to foster a great college basketball atmosphere.

It’s not like Mott has never been a madhouse before. If you want inspiration, look at this video from 1985-86.

The kind of environment any Cal Poly sports fan wants is right there in front of them. In soccer, fans will come out no matter how good or bad the team is. It’s become engrained in the culture of going to school at Cal Poly. In two weeks, when the Mustangs return home, I suppose we’ll find out whether students and fans from the community are really ready to fully commit to making that a reality in Mott Athletics Center as well.

[See image gallery at www.fansmanship.com]