The benefit I see from TV in comparison to in person is the ability to watch replays, since they don't show them at stadiums nowadays. Aside from that, as long I'm not in the dead nose-bleed section, I'm fine in the stadium

being a poor student and a yankee fan, the only tickets you can get (when the game isnt sold out, as it pretty much always is) are in the nosebleed section.

TV does have its benefits, clean bathrooms, much cheaper food and drinks, a big couch, and when its a blowout i can watch something else.

but its much better being at the game.

as already stated...the advatanges of watching a game on TV are being able to see replays and also being able to see the location and movement of a certain pitch...as well as being in the comfort of your own home, and if you enjoy the broadcasters, it makes it even better

and for those reasons i DO prefer watching games on TV, thats not to say i dont enjoy going to the park, but if i were to choose between watching 162 games on TV or 162 games at the stadium, i'd go TV

I live in NYC and have been to a bunch of major and minor league stadiums in the NE, as well as the 3 SoCal major league teams, but that was almost 20 years ago.  I have a mini plan for the Mets (one game a month).

Anyway, 1 Met game a month is all I can take at Shea.  $13.00 parking, huge traffic, expensive everything, yeesh.  I actually prefer the games there when the stadium is only half full.  I have a ticket to game 1 of the NLCS and for one game that will be fun, because when Shea is really rocking, it is almost frightening.  The stadium actully shakes between the crowd and the airplanes.

I also have the Sunday package for the Staten Island Yankee games, and that is great.  I really look forward to those games, and the stadium is usually half full.  If it was a sellout, then I doubt I would like it as much.

I made a trip to the new stadium at Pittsburgh, and that is just unbelieveable.  I would love to have season tickets to that place, even if it was sold out.

So, in closing, I prefer minor league stadiums normally, or I'll just have the TV on in the background.

P.S. I love those baseball gamecasts on the internet.

That's probably the biggest constraint and I weight that against how much I really want to go to the game.  Time to get there more than anything.  

I actually enjoy the game MORE when the Cardinals aren't playing.  Less stressful.  

While I prefer seeing a baseball game in person, I far prefer watching a football game on TV.  It must have to do with greater distances between players on a baseball field than between players on a football field.

I can deal with watching ballgames on TV.  However... being at the stadium is so much better... and in some ways I like listening to games on the radio better than watching on TV.  But I can still get satisfaction from watching a game on TV.

What things have kept me out of the ballpark for a season?  Um, how about living four hours from the nearest major league ballpark?  I can go to minor league games, too, which is okay if the ballpark's nice.  The park in Memphis is top-notch, and the park in Jackson is okay, but at least it's been built recently.  The old ballpark in Nashville is what I think of when I think of typical minor league ballparks... old, decrepit, advertisements all over the fence.

I'd put them in this order...

1. a AA game - best prospects, less retreads, minor league atmosphere
   
2. AAA game - minor league atmosphere, majority of names you know and can follow
   
3. Spring training (especially in Vero Bch)
   
4. Live MLB Game
   
5. A Ball - Lo or Hi, doesn't matter
   
5. Game on TV
   
6. Game on radio
   
7. Game on MLB.TV
   
8. Gamecast on espn

Just because it's 8th, doesn't mean I don't enjoy that too... Just an order of preference.  I will do almost all of these at some point each week.

I'll also combine 6 (internet radio) & 8, but usually there's a lag issue that's a bit frustrating

I stopped going to MLB games because I am a curse upon my local team, the Twins. I kid thee not. 26 games attended, 26 losses. Why take that chance?

So it's television for me (or even better, on a long evening drive, the radio)

is far better in my opinion, whether it's the majors or the Northwoods league.  I have trouble connecting to the game on TV unless I have a particular interest in the team or one of the players.  Also, I usually go to games with friends, and watch them on TV alone, so that doesn't help the situation.  Unfortunately, I'm an hour and a half from the nearest major league team, and the combination of time and money has kept me away from all but a couple of games this year.  But I'm going tonight, Twins v. Royals!

Second to seeing a game live (and only by a nose) is listening to a game on the radio.  TV doesn't compare to either, but since I don't live near my team I certainly will watch a game when they're on ESPN or Fox.  But I guess money speaks and I've spent it on XM (to hear their games) not Direct TV's baseball package (to see their games).

Things that keep me away: only passing interest in my local teams, $$$, commuter traffic.

Because living in southern California I get to listen to the wonderful Rex Hudler... NOT!

Being at the game is better.

I love going to the stadium, but living three hours away, and dealing with the heat here in Texas makes it easier to stay at home.  I get to games in April and May, and sometimes late September, but I won't go from June to August anymore, the beer is too expensive to drink when its that hot.

BTW Jeri, my wife will only watch the games in the stadium also.

On a side note, we went to the CWS this year, and it was so crowded that you had to be in line two hours before the games, and they can't sell beer at the game, and the off field entertainment isn't as grand as a MLB game, but to be in that ballpark at about the time the sun goes down, and the temperature drops about 5-10 degrees is so worth it, that I recommend making the trip, but not for the whole tournament, because well thats a lot of baseball.

I was thinking of getting XM to listen to baseball next year, is it worth it?

Joe Sheehan of BP wrote about this last week. He described the pleasure of watching numerous games on TV that allowed him to see so much more in one night in front of the TV than he could have seen at the ballpark.

Don't get me wrong, I love the ballpark, but I watch several games a night with the baseball package and there is a grand amount of enjoyment to do that.

I can just better see what's going on, I get a nice seat, the beer is of reasonable price. But I've never had the priviledge of super awesome seats like behind home plate or anything.

I couldn't take going to Dodger Stadium 81 times a year. There is a reason Dodger fans show up late and leave early, that place is a huge pain in the ass to get in and out of. Even if you get off the freeway at 6:30, you won't be in your seat by 7:10. Factor in paying for parking and too much for food, forget it. I got a nice tv for a reason.

I gotta admit, Angel Stadium I could do regularly. Right off the freeway, not in some downtown area, stadium is nice, and it's not in LA so the traffic is much better. You just have to look real hard to find the 5 fans who cared about the team in 2001.

I did the drive to Petco this year. That was nice. The drive down to San Diego is always nice, and the park is really nice. It's downtown though, the only bummer about that. I'm still hoping the fact that I was at the game in which Billingsley debuted will mean something one day.

Oddly, for me, baseball is about the ONLY thing I enjoy on television. Even though I love going to the ballpark, sometimes I would RATHER watch the game on T.V. or listen to it on the radio (or both but you have to turn the TV sound off or that delay thing drives you crazy). I don't think it makes you any less of a fan if you prefer one medium (ballpark, TV or radio) over another. The one thing that actually changed and enhanced my appreciation of the game was my getting exposed to the minor leagues about 7 or 8 years ago. Becoming interested in future players makes you more interested in FO decisions and roster management and all kind of things that make you a year long fan instead of a fan just during the major league season.

And my purchase of XM this season has been wonderful.

First and foremost, I LOVE going to Little League games, because I get to watch my son play. (Don't worry, though, I'm not one of those high pressure dads.)

Second best is a minor league game. We don't get to many, because we live in Oakland, but two or three times a year we drive down to San Jose to watch the Giants play the Stockton Ports (little Giants vs. little A's). The San Jose stadium is an absolutely delightful throwback to another era (I believe it opened in 1942) and it's just good, clean fun--especially when they smash the truck's headlights!

Third best is an A's game, non-Yankee or Red Sox variety. I simply refuse to attend games where half (or more) of the crowd is rooting for those teams.

TV next, with the sound off. Sorry, Ray Fosse.

Internet next, because I can 'distance' myself from the onfield activity. This is very important during a tense pennant drive. (The laptop got a workout this week.)

Finally, radio. The A's have a great announcer in Ken Korach, but more Fosse plus nothing to look at equals boredom.

I like watching a Dodger game on mute and turning on the radio so I can hear Vin Scully.

Other than that, nothing beats going to a game.  It's great.  In the KC area, nothing can beat getting a Sheboygan brat.  In LA, it's all about getting a Dodger dog.  Camden Yards has the best pretzel in baseball.  The beer man in the Colorado rock pile gave an excellent discourse about the dark times - the land before beer.  And the Jackson Generals have the best sumo race during the 7th inning stretch.  These are all experiences that cannot be duplicated at home.  Comfort at home is certainly great, but experiences at the yard are irreplaceable.

Watched stuff on TV, but got married this summer and still managed to go to Fenway twice, once on the monster.