Home for the Holliday
Fans must subscribe to Apple TV+ to watch the top prospect’s first game at Camden Yards
For Orioles fans without an Apple TV+ subscription, Friday night’s home game might feel more like standing in a stalled line outside the biggest party in town.
The 7:05 p.m. game against the Milwaukee Brewers will be the home debut for 2022 No. 1 overall pick and top prospect Jackson Holliday, who was called up Tuesday night to make his much-anticipated MLB debut. It’s also the first of three Orioles games through June to be broadcast on Apple TV+, a streaming service that requires a subscription. It’s an unlucky alignment of star and stream for viewers eager to see the wunderkind.
Freddie Leatherbury, of Catonsville, made sure he had tickets for such games.
“I feel like a lot of the fan base is in the same boat as me,” he said, meaning they’re scrounging up tickets to avoid the hassle of another $9.99 per month streaming service subscription. Or, as he pointed out, a free trial that expires before you forget to cancel.
The26-year-oldwasdrivinghome from a softball game when he got word of Holliday’s promotion. On a quick pit stop at Royal Farms, he noticed X, formerly Twitter, blowing up with the news. He called it overwhelming happiness for an overdue roster move.
Holliday, the consensus No. 1 prospect in baseball, spent the first two weeks of the season in Triple-A with the Norfolk Tides. There, he slashed .333/.482/.595 with a pair of home runs in 10 games.
Many fans didn’t agree with the move to hold off on Holliday’s big league debut. The simple mention of his absence on opening day elicited a chorus of groans that March afternoon when the team optioned him to the minor leagues.
When Adley Rustchman debuted in the big leagues in May 2022, it was an early Saturday morning announcement—thesamedayasthe Preakness. There was a quick turnaround for tickets. At least this time, Orioles fans without an Apple TV+ subscription have a few days to make plans to see their team’s newest star at Camden Yards. And for first 15,000 through the gates ages 15 and over, a commemorative T-shirt awaits.
Out-of-town fans don’t have the same luxuries.
Leatherbury has heard “nothing but frustration” from Orioles fans outside of Baltimore. And for anyone who hopes to stream the game, there’s some sadness in unfamiliar voices calling such a memorable moment.
“You want your hometown announcers calling his debut. You want Kevin Brown. You want Ben McDonald. You want Jim Palmer,” Leatherbury said, referring to Mid-Atlantic Sports Network’s broadcasters.
Apple TV+ said Friday night’s broadcast group will feature Alex Faust(play-by-play),RyanSpilborghs (analyst)—whowasteammateswith Matt Holliday, Jackson’s father and a seven-time MLB All-Star during his big league career — and Tricia Whitaker (sideline reporter), with coverage beginning at 6 p.m.
Last week’s “Friday Night Baseball” pregame show became the first in the sport with access to MLB’s Dugout app, according to a newsrelease.Thepregameshowwill feature former MLB player Xavier Scruggs using Dugout to analyze the stars of the games, alongside host Lauren Gardner and insider Russell Dorsey.
RoseKatz,ofColumbia,madenote of the streaming service on X about 30 minutes after ESPN reporter Jeff Passan broke the news of Holliday’s promotion. She’ll be at Friday’s game simply because there’s no way she’d miss such an important event.
Offhand, she rattled through the names of each of the four draft picks that followed Holliday: Druw Jones (Arizona Diamondbacks), Kumar Rocker (Texas Rangers), Termarr Johnson (Pittsburgh Pirates) and Elijah Green (Washington Nationals). Holliday is the first among them to reach the big leagues. In fact, he’s the first of that group to make it past A-ball.
But Katz is frustrated it’s on Apple TV+ rather than MASN or other streaming platforms, which she’s already forking over money for. “Other than Ted Lasso,” she said, “I can’t tell you other Apple TV shows that are super popular. … Maybe Severance.”
If Holliday was on the opening day roster as many fans hoped, Katz noted, it would have avoided this issue entirely.
“This is obviously a money-making deal,” Leatherbury added. “Not a fan-oriented decision.”
New and returning Apple TV+ subscribers can access a two-month free trial, and fans can find step-bystep instructions on how to watch “Friday Night Baseball.”