Favorite 4: MLB Opening Day 2013

Ahh, Major League Baseball’s Opening Day is here again. The day of the year where hope springs eternal, where ace takes on ace, and the long haul of 162 games starts with one exciting burst. Well, unless you’re a Marlins fan, it’s just all hopeless until Jeffrey Loria mercifully sells the team. Oh, and even if the Astros won on Opening Night, they’re still gonna be a pit of despair this season. And lest we forget, the Cubs are still cursed. Regardless, there’s plenty of reason to be excited on this holiest of days. And there’s plenty of apps to enjoy the baseball season with. Here’s our favorite four apps for Opening Day 2013.

MLB At Bat: MLB’s official app is still the best way to enjoy the MLB season. There’s the Gameday experience with live pitch tracking. The app has a new interface on team pages for easily seeing team highlights, news, schedule, and even getting tickets. Oh and of course, At Bat subscribers get full access to the app and to live game audio, and MLB.tv subscribers get to watch most live games, with the blackout exceptions being in-market games, and national TV blackouts for Fox’s Saturday games and ESPN’s Sunday game.

At The Ballpark: Why just check on the status of games when you can actually go to them? This app from MLB is designed to make going to games easier. You can see which ballparks are near you, and when the next game there is. You can buy tickets, and check in to the ballpark. See the team’s schedule for upcoming games, including upcoming promotions. There’s ballpark directories, transportation guidelines, and even a guide to the music of various players and from the stadium.

Flick Home Run: If the home team’s down by 10 but you don’t want to leave because it’s the 4th inning yet are so bored that you start to think maybe this sport is slow and boring after all, perhaps a good baseball video game is worth playing. Nothing gets the baseball fan going like this game's flicking of virtual home runs out of the park, off of some cars, rooftops, and further than any baseball has any right to go. Beware if playing this at the park, as an actual ball hitting your face will hurt badly.

Topps Bunt: There’s a lot of MLB card games out there, which is a natural fit because of the proud tradition of baseball cards. So why not play the baseball card game from a well-known baseball card company? Their official card game has been updated for 2013 with the ability to now buy card packs for additional players, along with trading with players all over the world to build the best team possible. Results are based on real-life player performance, so it’s more of a fantasy baseball game than a game built around cards representing players. The game does try to balance out the different player types, from closers to catchers.