CYBERSPORTS THE GIVE AND TAKE OF CORPORATE CONSOLIDATION.

Byline: - Tom Hoffarth

There's no contest as to which Major League Baseball team has the best- looking Web site this season.

They're all pretty much (yawn) the same.

Since MLB took over all 30 sites under the limited partnership of MLB Advanced Media, the multimedia visual experience you used to find at the home site for the Dodgers (www.dodgers.com) has disappeared when you go to the home page. Now, it looks just like everyone else's domain under its new name (dodgers.mlb.com).

Likewise, the Angels' former site (www.angelsbaseball.com) goes to a new address (angels.mlb.com).

If you're a numbers freak, the stats link is definitely the most impressive result of the integration. Once the season begins, you'll be able to see almost every batting and pitching category broken down, plus game-to-game logs and ballpark performances. Equally bolstered is a news-archives link with plenty of content, much of it written by team staff writers (so consider the source).

What it means is the emphasis of MLB Advanced Media, established last June by the league owners to centralize all of the sport's Internet operations, is a uniform look of quality and quantity rather than each team trying to outdo the others with bells and whistles.

The MLBAM arrangement has already brought several major deals to benefit each team. Last week, it reached a three-year, $20 million agreement with RealNetworks for Internet audio and video rights. The result is a $9.95 season subscription (or $4.95 per month) that gives fans access to every radio broadcast, plus Real Player Plus software.

--An interactive feature on MSNBCSports.com not only shows how baseball's new strike zone will be enforced but allows you to watch a pitch to a virtual batter and decide whether it should be called a ball or strike. It ain't that easy.