Globe iconLogin iconRecap iconSearch iconTickets icon

It is time to whet your baseball app-etite

Updates available over MLBAM's suite of mobile applications ahead of Opening Day

Update updates are now part of the Opening Day tradition.

Entering the final weekend of Spring Training exhibitions and the first game of the regular season, Major League Baseball Advanced Media on Friday announced that the Opening Day updates to its suite of mobile applications -- including the highest-grossing sports app of all-time, At Bat -- will be available across their respective supported devices.

The list of apps includes MLB.com At Bat 13, At The Ballpark, Beat The Streak Presented by Dunkin' Donuts, and MiLB.com. In addition, At Bat is making its debut on the new BlackBerry Z10 smartphone with features including MLB.TV live video streaming.

Here is the rundown on the apps you must have as a baseball fan in 2013, including features you will see for Opening Day:

MLB.com At Bat 13
MLB.TV Premium subscribers again may upgrade to At Bat 13 for free on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Android devices, unlocking all premium features. Fans also may subscribe to At Bat for the one-time annual fee of $19.99. iOS users may pay $2.99 per month using the recurring billing option available through the App Store.

Here's an overview of features: multiplatform live audio access for At Bat 13 subscribers, offering account portability to listen to live games on Mac/PC desktops and laptops; universal iOS and Android support for At Bat 13 subscribers; full-feature accessibility across select supported smartphones and tablets; sortable batting, pitching and fielding statistics; redesigned individual team pages; updated news section interface; expanded video highlight integration; classic games video library archive; rearchitected app navigation; additional push notification options; favorite-team enhancements; searchable highlight library expansion to include access to complete video archives; and closed captioning for live video.

At Bat for the BlackBerry Z10, available only for a one-time annual fee of $19.99, will give fans access to the app's features, developed and optimized for the device's mobile computing system. Those include: the Free MLB.TV Game of the Day; MLB.TV Premium subscriber login to watch every out-of-market game live and on-demand; home and away radio broadcasts; in-progress highlights; Gameday pitch tracking with realistic ballpark renderings; condensed games; classic games library; league and team news, schedules and statistics; standings; and favorite team selection.

MLB.com At the Ballpark
The ultimate mobile companion when visiting any of the 30 MLB parks. MLBAM has built the app to be customizable for each ballpark from a foundation of interactive features, including mobile check-in, social media integration, offers, rewards and exclusive content.

Features include rearchitected My Journal section; manually input all ballpark visits, dating back to 2005; upload and share personal photos from all ballpark visits, dating back to '05; view team statistics and watch video highlights from games attended; ballpark and player entrance music; social media clubhouse, including social rewards for select clubs; updated tickets section, featuring special offers by club; seat and experience upgrade functionality (select ballparks only); Passbook integration for digital ticket delivery and storage (select clubs only); and a redesigned user interface.

MLB.com Beat the Streak Presented by Dunkin' Donuts
Keep an eye out for this update anytime now. Maybe season No. 13 will be the lucky one. Entering its teenage years without a grandprize winner, this app is free to play and gives fans the opportunity to achieve fantasy baseball immortality by surpassing the legendary consecutive games hitting streak record of 56 and claiming a $5.6 million grand-prize in the process. Tens of millions of streaks started. No grand-prize winner. Yet ...

You'll have the ability to get pick results by push notification as well as improved reminder notifications, and you can easily follow live-game scoring for your picks in MLB.com At Bat 13. Here's a new game rule, too: A streak won't end if a user forgets to make a pick.

MiLB.com app
MLBAM also produces the popular MiLB.com official app for Minor League Baseball fans and for Major League fans who want to track their organization's pipelines. This app returns for 2013 with new features and improvements. Follow every pitch of every game from Minor League Baseball's top two levels with Gameday. Also, MiLB delivers complete stats, schedules, standings and the latest news for every Triple-A and Double-A club.

 

Mark Newman is enterprise editor of MLB.com. Read and join other baseball fans on his MLB.com community blog.