Orioles and Nationals Going High-Def, Finally

According to the website tvpredictions.com, the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) today said it will broadcast 40 Baltimore Orioles and 40 Washington Nationals games in high-def this season. This is great news for baseball fans in Baltimore/Washington areas. The announcement means that all Major League Baseball teams will have at least some games broadcast locally in HD this season. Last year, the Kansas City Royals, which were broadcast by the Royals Baseball Network, and the Nats and O's, which are carried by MASN, were the only teams not available locally in HD. However, the Royals said last October that they would be carried this season by Fox Sports, which would carry at least 30-40 games in HD during the 2008 season. In a press release, MASN said the first Orioles game in high-def this year will be its Opening Day match-up against the Tampa Bay Rays at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The first Nationals game will be its home contest on April 7 against the Florida Marlins. MASN did not release a full HD schedule, but said the high-def lineup would include both road and home games. The channel said all 21 cable and satellite providers have agreed to carry the HD broadcasts. The Mid-Atlantic Sports Network can be seen on DIRECTV channel 626.