The reasons are a little sad. A baseball team leverages its value on a TV network that’s too expensive for most cable systems. A Hall-of-Fame announcer approaches retirement. A huge metropolis has no good way to watch the final games of a local celebrity.

But I’m really happy with the results. For the first time since 2001, Los Angeles TV station KTLA will broadcast Dodgers games, six from their final month of the season, according to a story in the Los Angeles Times. The first will be September 23, “Vin Scully Appreciation Day” at Dodger Stadium.

As I’ve often written, baseball teams are losing future fans by blacking out entire seasons from over-the-air TV. Some folks can’t or don’t want to pay for TV, and the number of cord-cutters seems to be growing. Putting a few games on OTA is a good first step. Now let’s see if they can find a half-dozen games to broadcast free every month in 2017.

And this is one extra perk for us few Dish subscribers who are grandfathered in to the KTLA and the other four FCC-defined Superstations. Baseball was once a big reason to watch them (and still is for WPIX), so it’s nice to see it return, even for just a month.