Choose a Team

Every sports fan has his or her favorite team; sometimes even more than one. You may already have a favorite team. It can be the team you grew up with, the team your parents’ love, the team with the best colors; whatever the reason, make sure you have a team you identify with and can root for. For a complete list of teams, see our Major League Baseball Team list.

Chix tip: If you truly don’t have a childhood team, or are not leaning in any one direction, then simply root for the team in your city. Local teams are much easier to follow, since the media coverage is already in your area, and the games are free on TV. Not to mention, you can get out to live games a lot easier in your own city than on baseball roadtrips. This is the easiest option as a new fan, and if you ever move away, you can still claim the team and the city as your own. For those of you who have to travel to see your team, be sure to visit Baseball Chix's Away Game travel section before you plan your trip!

Get to Know Your Team

The easiest way to get (re)acquainted with your favorite team is to take a quick trip to the team’s official website on www.mlb.com.  Under the left-hand toolbar, you will see a menu option for “team sites”. The teams are divided into American League and National League and are listed alphabetically by city. Choose your team’s city. This will take you to the official website of your team. All news, trades, highlights, and box scores will be listed here. Click on the “Roster” menu, and select “Active Roster”. This will show you all of the players on your team. Twenty-five players can be active to play in the games at the same time; but forty players can be on the actual roster. The extra fifteen players are usually in Triple-A. Players’ names are highlighted, so if you click on one, you will get a picture, and other pertinent information about each player.

If you check the box scores, or have followed the last couple of games, you will have a pretty good idea of the best nine (or eight in the National League) players on your team. Those are the everyday starters, and will start most of the games. You want to know your outfield, the first, second, third basemen, the shortstop, the designated hitter (American League only), and the catcher by name, and face. You also want to know your five starting pitchers, and your closer. You can memorize all 25 men on the bench if you want, but most fans know simply the starting lineup, and starting pitchers. These fifteen or so players will be with you for the next six months, and the more baseball you watch, the easier it will be to remember them. We recommend flashcards. Players change through the course of the season, due to injuries, promotions, and trades, so keep an ear out for any news happening with your team.

Chix tip: Players like being known by their name at the ballpark, rather than their number, so if you can recognize one of your players and call him by name, you’ll be that much more likely to get an autograph, or a baseball. This is especially helpful if you ever see the player out of uniform; you’ll recognize him before he can be surrounded by fans.

How to Follow Your Team

If you live in the same city (or broadcasting area) as your favorite team, it is a breeze to keep up, if not rather time-consuming. Baseball is not football, with games on Sundays. Baseball games are on almost every night of the week, for six months. Following a team for every pitch is next to impossible, so don’t stress yourself out, or overload yourself at first. It is perfectly acceptable to keep up with daily box scores, and catch an inning here and there on TV or the radio.

Chix Tip: Baseball Chix recommends you print two copies of your team’s schedule from www.mlb.com or create your own. Post one at work and one at home; that way you always know when and where your favorite team is playing if you have a free moment to watch or listen to the games.  If you are a local fan, nearly all of the games will be televised on a local channel, and on a local radio station. Out-of-town fans have to be a little more creative, and spend a little money.

• Game Day Audio

For the best bang for your buck, we highly recommend Gameday Audio (link to: http://www.mlb.com/mlb/subscriptions/index.jsp), the MLB radio program that lets you listen to every baseball game, from whatever broadcast you choose. It is inexpensive (less than $20 a season); you can follow your team (and the other 29 teams as well) anywhere you have a live internet connection.

• XM Radio
  

In additional to the other obvious benefits of satellite radio (including the fact you may already subscribe), XM Radio (link to: http://www.xmradio.com/sports/index.xmc) offers the baseball package, so you can listen to your favorite team wherever you go. The only downside (and I would not be surprised to see this fixed soon), is that you have to listen to the home broadcasts of every game, so if your team is on the road, you won’t hear their announcers. This option is affordable; XM subscriptions are usually less than $20 a month.

• MLB TV

Another feature available from www.mlb.com is MLB TV, which lets you watch baseball games on your computer. It is more expensive than the radio, and only works if you are out of the market area of the team you want to watch. Because this can often be random, be sure to double-check the zip code range before buying this service. The quality is increasing every year, and this is a great option if you have to see a team anywhere you have an internet connection (if you are not around your television).

• MLB Extra Innings (Cable)
  

For those fans who live outside of their team’s area (blackout rules apply), this is the feature for you! Baseball Chix highly recommends Extra Innings (link to: http://www.indemand.com/sports/mlb/), which allows you to watch almost all televised games on your home TV! An additional last year was the ‘pick your feed’ option, so you can even listen to your home broadcasters. It is pricey (around $180 a season), but if you want every game, every day, this is the package for your TV! Chix Tip: If you order before the season starts, you usually get a discount of $20-$30 on the package, so be an early bird! If you want to try it out, the first week is usually free, and there is an additional free week after the All Star Break. Second half packages may come with a discount as well.

•  Direct TV MLB Package

If you have Direct TV, no package is better for all of your baseball needs than this one (link to: http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global/contentPageNR.jsp?assetId=3180002&footernavtype=-1). In addition to all of the features of Extra Innings, Direct TV comes with the new MLB channel (all baseball, all the time), the Strike Zone channel, where an announcer switches back and forth between all of the important moments of the games being played at that time (perfect for fantasy baseball), and the Game Mix, where you can watch up to eight games at the same time on the screen. It is pricey, but you get what you pay for. This is the premier baseball setup for any baseball house. Baseball Chix highly recommends.  

Attending Games

No baseball fan is really complete until they have seen their team in person at least once. If your team is local, head out to the ballpark with some girl friends and share a martini over a great baseball game. If your team is not local, buy tickets for when they come into town, but remember, you’ll be rooting against the home team when you go to the game. Be sure to book a trip to their home park; check Baseball Chix travel tips for how to create your perfect girls’ baseball weekend!

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