Baseball had a golden opportunity on America's 250th birthday. The country was celebrating, the World Cup was providing stiff competition for eyeballs, and Major League Baseball could have reminded everyone why it's still called the national pastime by putting a full slate of games where, you know... people could actually find them. Instead, MLB decided the perfect way to celebrate America was by making fans remember the password to the Peacock account they canceled two weeks after the Olympics.

*** Now chatting in #FreedomRequiresSubscription ***

rob_manfred.exe: Happy 250th birthday, America!

Today we celebrate our national pastime!

CubsBleacherBum: awesome

where can i watch?

rob_manfred.exe: 🙂

Peacock!

*** silence ***

CubsBleacherBum: ...the NBC one?

rob_manfred.exe: correct!

CubsBleacherBum: the one everybody downloaded for the Olympics

then immediately forgot existed

rob_manfred.exe: consumer memory is a journey

DodgerFan999: i checked ESPN

nothing

TigersFans: i checked MLB.TV

blacked out

CubsBleacherBum: i checked my local station

infomercial

rob_manfred.exe: have you considered

downloading another app

CubsBleacherBum: NO

BryceBryceBaby: this is the country's 250th birthday

you had ONE JOB

put baseball

on TELEVISION

rob_manfred.exe: we have embraced

platform diversification 🙂

CubsBleacherBum: i have embraced confusion

MisiImpossible: meanwhile

the World Cup is already competing for attention

maybe don't make baseball harder to find

rob_manfred.exe: our market research suggests

fans enjoy treasure hunts

DodgerFan999: i shouldn't need GPS coordinates

to watch a doubleheader

*** HEY GUYS THIS IS JI

*** JIM THOME has entered the chat ***

WORDUPTHOME: HEY GUYS THIS IS JI

JIM THOME

WORDUPTHOME: WHEN I PLAYED

YOU TURNED ON THE TV

AND THERE WAS BASEBALL

WORDUPTHOME: NOW YOU NEED

A PASSWORD

A SIX-DIGIT VERIFICATION CODE

AND A TREASURE MAP

rob_manfred.exe: streaming is the future 🙂

CubsBleacherBum: i don't mind streaming

i mind needing seventeen subscriptions

to follow one sport

DodgerFan999: i have baseball on cable

MLB.TV

Apple TV+

Netflix

Prime

DodgerFan999: and apparently

now Peacock again

DodgerFan999: i spend more time finding baseball

than watching baseball

rob_manfred.exe: engagement metrics increasing 🙂

*** pr0FF3ss0r_F4rnsw0rth has entered the chat ***

pr0FF3ss0r_F4rnsw0rth: i've cracked the code

every season they spin a wheel

"which app gets baseball today?"

rob_manfred.exe: false

pr0FF3ss0r_F4rnsw0rth: ...

so it's darts

rob_manfred.exe: no comment

MLB_NewsBot: League celebrates America's 250th birthday.

Fans report celebrating by searching email archives for forgotten Peacock passwords.

Several games believed to have occurred.

CubsBleacherBum: imagine introducing a kid to baseball

"where do i watch?"

"well..."

rob_manfred.exe: accessibility remains

a core value

TigersFans: ...

WORDUPTHOME: BASEBALL IS FOR EVERYBODY

IT'S JUST GETTING HARDER

TO FIND EVERYBODY

rob_manfred.exe: thank you for your feedback 🙂

next year's fourth of july games

will be available exclusively

on a smart refrigerator

*** rob_manfred.exe has left to negotiate three more exclusive streaming windows ***

*** pr0FF3ss0r_F4rnsw0rth has left looking for baseball on his microwave ***

*** WORDUPTHOME has left hoping someone still sells rabbit ears ***