At 3 p.m. Pacific Time this afternoon, the MLB Network is set to debut, billing itself as the first 24 hour, 7 days a week network devoted to baseball. The network is not a premium channel, but is instead included on most extended basic cable plans, so you might actually have it - and not know! (On Comcast Bay Area, it is #412)

You can also use the channel locator found here.

The first day's content recaps free agent signings and off-season player moves in a show they are calling "Hot Stove", and will be followed by the much-hyped first re-airing of Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series. The network plans to both highlight players of the past, and showcase today's athletes, and will carry 26 regular season games.

Over the last few weeks, I have been watching the MLB Network a ton, considering it hadn't really launched yet. I saw highlight reels of famous fielding plays. I saw big game-ending home runs, from Dave Henderson to Joe Carter to deleted deleted in 1988. I watched highlights of Jackie Robinson, Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays, Nolan Ryan, and more, until I realized I'd seen all the pre-taped program, and found myself watching the same footage over again.

I am both excited about this debut and nervous. Given how ESPN has become practically unwatchable for me, I have to hope the MLB network can give us the raw baseball stories and highlights I am looking for. I worry greatly that they won't have enough original content each day, and that the same East Coast bias we've seen elsewhere will be here as well. Seeing the replay of the 2004 World Series during this time cemented that concern...

The MLB Network says it will highlight all 30 teams in Spring Training. It will feature an interview with Yogi Berra, Larsen and Bob Costas after today's re-airing. This could be great, or it could be another place for us to complain if the A's are featured 28th, and seen only once or twice in the 26 games. But I am hopeful, and that's part of what being a sports fan is all about.

Go 2009! Go A's! and good luck... MLB.

See also: MLB.com  MLB Network to debut in mere hours.

Starting off a home game with a lead in the early innings is never a bad thing. If the first two games of the World Series are any indication, the 2008 contest is going to be low-scoring, and it's going to be close. After Wednesday's 3-2 Phillies victory, the Rays matched their 9-inning output in the first frame of tonight's contest, adding on a third run in the second, to push ahead to a 3-0 lead, which proved to be enough to take the game, as the Phillies have shown no signs of learning how to hit with men on, eventually falling 4-2.

As with the ALCS, the Rays leave Tropicana with a 1-1 split, having lost the first game and taken the second. And while they scored enough to win, James Shields didn't give up a run into the sixth inning, making the Rays' early-inning runs stand up, despite many opportunities. The Phillies left 11 men on base, due in no small part to their batting 1-13 with men in scoring position, having gone 0-9 the night before.

This 1-22 stat is one we'll no doubt hear time and again from Joe Morgan and crew on their nightly broadcasts, just like we were treated to their comments about how the Rays "don't like to bunt with the lead" and the usual nonsense, as I heard yet again on the radio this evening. Of course, it was the Rays in the 4th using the bunt to squeeze in a run to go up 4-zip, rendering their "analysis" moot. It's all part of trying to fill the hours of airtime, which resumes Saturday at 5:35 Pacific time.

After six full, the Rays lead the Phillies 4-0, in an attempt to even up the series. Despite keeping Philadelphia scoreless, starting pitcher Shields has departed, having thrown more than 100 pitches. Meanwhile, Myers continues to do battle in hopes his offense will come through and give him a chance for the W.

In the ALCS, the Tampa Bay Rays dropped game 1 to the Red Sox, 2-0. In the second contest, the team's offense woke up, winning 9-8 in the first volley of what was eventually a 7-game series victory. After last night's close contest that saw the Rays vanquished 3-2 by the Phillies, they are looking again for the same Game Two magic. Taking the mound for the Rays will be James Shields, who sported a 14-8 record and 3.56 ERA, as well as a 4:1 strikeout/walk ratio in the regular season. He will be opposed by the Phils' Brett Myers, who was inconsistent in the 2008 campaign, muddling through to a 10-13 record and 4.55 ERA.

Game time is 5:29 Pacific Time. Try not to fill up the thread before first pitch.

I hate to say this, but I still haven't forgiven the LA Dodgers for the 1988 World Series, and I probably never will. Even with the amusements of Manny Ramirez and the "what might have beens" of Andre Ethier, I'm not exactly throwing on the powder blues and planning for a night out at Chavez Ravine. But the Dodgers went from being a forgotten team in a horrible division prior to the All-Star Break to a high-octane contender, powered by Manny and his amazing dreadlocks. Now, they're assumed to have the momentum, despite having finished the '08 regular season with a record eight games worse than the Phillies.

As for the Phils, they come from a franchise that had a great 1980, and ... well, that's almost it. A Joe Carter home run doomed their last memorable playoff appearance, and you better believe Bud Selig is praying they don't make it to the Big Show this year, eliminating LA as a media market. But not us. We're hoping Joe Blanton and company get their shot (against the Rays, of course). Game 1 is in the hands of Cole Hamels, who will be facing off against Derek Lowe, who I don't recall being all that fond of during his time at Fenway. Game time is 5:22 Pacific.