One upon a time (actually, as recently as last year) nearly every meaningful game of baseball's last day was aired live on ESPN or ESPN2. If the Phillies needed a win to clinch the NL East, it was on. If the Rockies needed a win to force a tie for the Wild Card, it was on.

Those days are gone. Thanks to the intricacies of Major League Baseball's broadcasting deals, ESPN no longer has the rights to broadcast or pick up feeds of games with pennant-race implications. So yesterday, baseball fans were at the mercy of the Internet or SportsCenter to find out what was happening outside their own markets.

Even today's one-game playoff between the Padres and Rockies isn't available on television outside those teams' home markets. Congratulations, baseball! You've negotiated deals that result in LESS baseball being shown on television! Way to go!

I know MLB officials will say that all out-of-market games are available on MLB.TV. And as a subscriber to that service who uses it to catch my hometown Phillies, I agree that it's a fantastic invention. But it's not a solution in all cases.

Consider my experience on Sunday. We headed up to the Jersey Shore for one last weekend of summer, but found that the broadcast of the Phillies-Nationals game was not carried by the local cable provider. (Thanks, Comcast.) I would have tried to get the feed using MLB.TV on my laptop but because I live in Maryland, any game involving the Nationals would be blacked out for me. We were forced to listen to the game on the radio.

Of course, ESPN no longer has the rights to any postseason baseball now, either. TBS now has the rights to the Divisional Series and the NLCS. Fox, once again, will show the ALCS and World Series.

And tonight? ESPN will have Monday Night Football, while ESPN2 broadcast. ... billiards.

- Tim Lemke

UPDATE (1:30 p.m.): Today's one-game playoff between the Rockies and Padres at Coors Field will be broadcast on TBS. Of course, you wouldn't know it by looking at TBS's Web site, which still indicates the network will be showing episodes of Friends and Family Guy.

UPDATE II: It also just came to my attention that TBS's broadcasts of the Division Series and NLCS won't be in high-definition for many people, as not all cable providers carry TBS HD. If you get DirecTV and have the high-definition package, you're set. Comcast Digital Cable customers in Montgomery County, Prince George's County, the District and Northern Virginia can watch TBS HD on Channel 232. Comcast Digital Cable customers in Frederick and the Sharpsburg-Keedysville area can get the station on channel 780. Cox customers in Northern Virginia and customers of RCN do not yet have access to TBS HD.