1. Major League Baseball has long been completely clueless about how to market and schedule its sport. It certainly doesn’t help that baseball’s broadcast partners also treat the sport like a nuisance.

Baseball has degraded itself by selling games to Roku, gotten embarrassed by ESPN, who decided to end a 35-year relationship with the sport, and now been spit on by Fox.

While MLB has turned Opening Day into a joke, it should still be something special enough to 1) warrant the A crew and 2) have broadcasters in the stadium.

Instead, Fox thinks so little of Opening Day it didn’t even have Joe Davis and John Smoltz, its lead baseball booth, call the game. But it gets worse: Fox’s Jason Benetti and A.J. Pierzynski were not in Toyko for Tuesday’s Cubs-Dodgers season opener. According to a report, they called the game remotely.

I don’t know who deserves more blame: Fox for being total cheapskates by not sending a broadcast crew to Tokyo to call the Dodgers-Cubs two-game series or MLB for always letting itself look like a second-rate sport. It’s bad enough MLB takes all the fun, excitement and buzz out of Opening Day by having it take place overseas at 6 a.m. ET more than a week before the real Opening Day. Now the sport can’t even get its broadcaster partner to send two human beings to the stadium to call the games.

In the grand scheme of things, was anyone’s enjoyment of the Cubs-Dodgers game hindered by having the broadcasters work the game remotely? Probably not.

This is more about perception. And the perception is that 1) MLB is a second-rate sport and 2) its broadcast partners don't care about the sport nearly as much as they should.

2. It’s so sad that this is not a Saturday Night Live sketch, but real life. Instead of doing real government work, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey is wasting his time on the Mountaineers not getting into the NCAA tournament.

3. If you plan to bet on NCAA tournament games, be careful about backing these teams. Remember: The public never wins.

You also might want to jump on the bandwagon of these team.

4. A caller to WFAN’s Tiki Barber on Monday got the former Giants running back all riled up. While I can understand Barber not wanting to be misquoted, a radio host cannot let a random caller get him this worked up. It’s just not that important.

5. Netflix dropped a new trailer for Happy Gilmore 2 and announced that the movie will be available July 25.

6. The latest SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast features a conversation with CBS college football and college basketball studio host Adam Zucker.

Zucker talks about what it’s like for him to replace Greg Gumbel as NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Selection Show host and what Gumbel meant to Zucker as a mentor.

In addition, Zucker goes in-depth on what it’s like to host the Selection Show, handle studio duties for the first weekend of the NCAA tournament and to work with Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith for the tournament.

Zucker also reveals whether he’d have interest in covering the NFL, how he got into broadcasting and why he once got suspended from doing in-school announcements.

Following Zucker, Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York joins me for our weekly "Traina Thoughts" segment. This week's topics include Twitter going down during the peak of NFL free agency, having alerts/notifications on your phone,The Wire" vs. The Sopranos, and much more

You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Sports Illustrated‘s YouTube channel.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: In honor of the NCAA tournament beginning this week, we look back at when Gus Johnson was giving us magic during his CBS days.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.


This article was originally published on www.si.com as MLB and Fox Treat Opening Day Like an Afterthought.