Jim Palmer won 268 decisions and three Cy Young Awards on his way to the Hall of Fame by preparing diligently the same way for virtually every start over 19 seasons with Baltimore.
On Tuesday, Palmer will be back in the Orioles' MASN broadcast booth when Baltimore and Boston start a showdown series of American League East co-leaders at Fenway Park, and he still goes into a ballpark as prepared for work as ever. Only these days he relies on MLB.TV and the No. 1 sports technology at 60 frames per second.
"Airports, my hotel room, of course -- I use MLB.TV all the time," Palmer said. "That MLB.com At Bat app on my iPad and iPhone are irreplaceable. As a broadcaster, I think I do a pretty good job, but I couldn't do anywhere near as good a job if I didn't have MLB.TV."
Major League Baseball Advanced Media announced on Monday that is introducing a special MLB.TV Father's Week sale presented by Dewar's, from now through this Sunday's Father Day celebrations. Yearly subscriptions are being slashed in half, to $49.99 for MLB.TV Premium and $39.99 for MLB.TV Single Team.
This is a perfect Father's Week gift that can be given immediately, whether you are doing the giving or the receiving. Or in the case of a famous dad now into his third decade of broadcasting Orioles games, a perfect way to get prepared for the booth.
Palmer visited the MLB.com and MLB Network studios in the New York area earlier this month to promote his new book "Nine Innings to Success," telling many stories about his early days working national baseball broadcasts with the likes of alter-ego Howard Cosell -- back when it was a pre-Internet, network-dominated medium.
"[Phillies director of Major League scouting] Gordon Lakey's been scouting for 45 or 50 years, and he watches all the games [on MLB.TV]," Palmer said. "I watched Steve Clevenger when I had to do a bit on him; I can go back and watch his games, the condensed games, highlights and everything -- it's the best. I don't know how anybody who likes baseball cannot have that MLB.TV package, to be honest."
MLB.TV Premium has the best value for live streaming, providing access to more than 400 devices and a free subscription to the MLB.com At Bat Premium app (a $19.99 value). It offers the best picture quality ever -- a new 60 frames per second -- for supported devices.
MLB.TV Premium subscribers get the Mosaic View -- split screen or quad, available on PC or Mac only -- and a choice of Home or Away broadcasters. MLB.TV Premium and MLB.TV Single Team subscribers both enjoy HD and both get real-time highlights and player stats automatically loaded moments after they occur (only for the game you are watching with MLB.TV Single Team, and for all games with MLB.TV Premium).
Here's another reason to get MLB.TV for a father, or for a dad to subscribe himself: live streaming of the 87th All-Star Game presented by MasterCard. For the second year in a row, the Midsummer Classic will be available to authenticated subscribers.