Baseball fans in China who don’t have full-time jobs, you’re in luck. Major League Baseball and the Shanghai Media Group have reached an agreement by which this year’s World Series, beginning Wednesday night in Boston, will be broadcast live on Chinese television. Where the full-time job becomes an issue is that Wednesday night in Boston is Thursday morning in China and most people here are not sitting at home at 8am on a weekday. Well, most people who aren’t English teachers. Here are the details of the MLB/SMG deal from a press release Monday:

The agreement was launched in July with coverage of the 2007 All-Star Game and has continued throughout the second half of the 2007 Championship Season on a weekly basis with a China-specific edition of “This Week in Baseball.” Produced and aired by SMG, the show includes a weekly recap of MLB action and features segments entitled “Baseball Basics” and “Baseball in China” that highlight the most important elements of the game and provide viewers with in-depth coverage of the local baseball scene. “This Week in Baseball” will continue to run through the end of the postseason in its normal time slot on Fridays at 6:30 P.M. The World Series, MLB All-Star Game and “This Week in Baseball,” will air on Great Sports through 2009.

The only question that remains is whether the Chinese “TWIB” will have a Chinese host or whether they’re gonna enroll Ozzie Smith in a crash Mandarin course and have him do it.

•MLB: MLBI and Shanghai Media Group Bring World Series to China

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