Comcast's high-definition baseball asterisk

Those Comcast high-def customers who flipped to Mojo (Channel 664) Monday night, May 12, after Kenji Johjima smacked a game-tying, three-run homer in the ninth instead saw George C. Scott starring in The Exorcist III.

While it could be true that only an exorcism will save the M's season, it was frustrating to discover that Mojo had shut down its super-clear broadcast of last night's slugfest against the Rangers. The extra-frame affair was still available on normal cable, but only via FSN Channel 30, a big letdown for high-deinition baseball addicts.

This season, Comcast has advertised that all M's games would be carried in HD, but it turns out there's an asterisk attached. Which I found out about when I called Comcast customer service to ask why George C. Scott was on my screen. (Of course, I waited to call until the M's had succumbed.)

An amiable rep explained the facts of life: Comcast leases a four-hour window from Mojo to air each M's game. Usually that's sufficient. But last night, for the second time this season, it wasn't.

On the earlier occasion, there was a rain delay, and the game got cut off about halfway through — as soon as Comcast's four-hour window ended. That early termination resulted in even more calls than Comcast fielded last night, when the game ran long.

"It's basically computerized," the rep said. "We're working on a better plan."