Picture of At Bat 2009
When people ask me why I love my iPhone so much its because of apps like At Bat 2009. It’s the kind of app that makes you dream about the future of the iPhone and what you’ll be doing in 10 years. At Bat 2009 allows you to listen to any MLB broadcast. Whether you prefer Harry Kalas (the Phillies), Vin Scully (the Dodgers) or Michael Kay (the hated/beloved Yankees) you can listen to them live. Better yet, while listening you have access to stats, pitch-by-pitch stats and video clips for the game. Still even better, each day two games are streamed live to your iPhone! This app is pure quality. Even on EDGE the radio broadcasts sound great. When you launch the app you are taken to the days schedule seen above. You can move ahead to the next days games as well and see which games are being streamed. When you select a game from this screen by touching the blue arrow you are taken to the Gameday screen which has four additional tabs (Field, Box Score, Summary and Video). Picture of At Bat 2009Pictured here on the right, the Gameday screen shows you the current batter and pitch by pitch (with location) action of what is going on. The field tab shows the dimensions of the ballpark along with the names of the players on the field and those at bat and on deck. The Box Score tab needs no explanation and the summary tab allows you to go back to previous innings to see how they transpired. The video tab has highlights from earlier in the game. Usually about one highlight every two innings. Other reviews I’ve read have complained about the lack of video highlights and the video quality. While the hightlights are still limited (about five per game) the video quality has apparently gotten much better. See for yourself in the brief video below. While this all this makes this a great app, for me it’s the quality of the free video stream that puts it over the top. It’s quite clear and rarely skips or pauses. This holds true in both wifi and 3G! That’s right, stream the ballgame to your iPhone while in the car on vacation or wherever you happen to be. At $9.99 this is an expensive app, but well worth it for the sports fan. You might grow tired of playing a game you bought, but if you’re a baseball fan I doubt you’ll ever tire of this app.

I turned the game on and watched the video stream while I drove to work. I know, not the safest thing, but probably no less dangerous than texting while you drive. Anyway, the point is the video stream held up well over 3G. I love technology.

Honestly, I’m not really a baseball fan, but this app is amazing. It makes me wish there was a similar app for the NFL, college football or soccer. Remember, I started this review dreaming about the future. Well, I hope it’s not too far off that when I’m sitting at the Titans game I can also be watching the Colts or Pats game as well. It’s going to happen whether its some kid in his basement in Indianpolis with a decent camera pointed to his TV and uploading to ustream or an app run through the NFL. Make it happen please. The technology is here to do it. Check out the video quality below.