ESPN Major League Baseball

Promotion of Major League Baseball on ESPN

This article is about the U.S. television broadcasts of Major League Baseball on ESPN. For the video game, see ESPN Major League Baseball (video game).

ESPN Major League Baseball

Starring| Various personalities (see below)
Country of origin| United States
Original language| English
Production
Running time| 3 hours
Original release
Network| ESPN
Release| April 9, 1990 (1990-04-09) –
present

ESPN Major League Baseball (also referred to as MLB on ESPN) is an American presentation of live Major League Baseball (MLB) games produced by ESPN. ESPN's MLB broadcasts have also aired on sister networks and platforms ESPN2, ABC and ESPN+.

ESPN's MLB coverage debuted on April 9, 1990 with three Opening Day telecasts. ESPN has held the exclusive national broadcast rights to Sunday Night Baseball since 1990. The network also airs the defending world champions game on Opening Day. In addition to regular-season games, ESPN also airs several spring training games per year, the All-Star Legends and Celebrity Softball Game (until 2021) and Home Run Derby played the week of the All-Star Game. In 2014, ESPN returned to broadcasting the Major League Baseball postseason, and has held the exclusive rights to the entire Wild Card Series since 2022.

ESPN also airs a weekly highlight show called Baseball Tonight at 6 p.m. ET on Sundays as a lead-in to Sunday Night Baseball; previously it was a daily program until 2017, when layoffs cut back the show's airing to Sundays.

With ESPN's most recent contract signed in 2021, ESPN Major League Baseball is guaranteed to remain on air through the 2025 season, at which point both ESPN and the MLB have opt-outs.[1] If neither side opts out, the contract will run through the 2028 season.

ESPN Radio has also been airing Major League Baseball since 1998 (succeeding CBS Radio), broadcasting Sunday Night Baseball as well as select other regular-season games, the All-Star Game and Home Run Derby, and the entire postseason including the Wild Card Game, Division Series, League Championship Series, and World Series.

## History

[edit]

Former ESPN Major League Baseball logo, used from 2006 to 2011.

Since ESPN first received MLB telecast rights, it has become traditional for ESPN to make an effort to cover live historic moments in the sport. For example, in 2007, ESPN and ESPN2 added several telecasts when Barry Bonds chased Hank Aaron's record for most home runs in an MLB career. ESPN had the national telecasts on August 4 when Bonds tied Aaron with number 755 and on August 7, 2007 when he hit number 756. ESPN was also the broadcaster of the final game at the original Yankee Stadium as a part of Sunday Night Baseball with Jon Miller and Hall of Famer Joe Morgan. It also showed Chris Burke's 18th-inning walk-off homer to end the 2005 NLDS series in favor of the Houston Astros against the Atlanta Braves. The St. Louis Cardinals swept the San Diego Padres in the other NLDS Series.

Also, ESPN has been given permission to interrupt regular programming, when allowed, to show attempts at new records or significant milestones live. Examples include three cut-ins from its coverage of the first X Games in 1995 until Eddie Murray recorded his 3000th hit, live coverage of Sammy Sosa's 600th home run in 2007, and a number of no-hitters, including the Buchholz feat mentioned earlier. Although it cannot show any historic attempts live during the Fox or TBS exclusive windows, it was allowed to show an in-progress highlight of Alex Rodriguez's 500th career home run in August 2007, as this was on a Saturday afternoon before Fox went on the air with its game coverage.

### 1990s

[edit]

On January 5, 1989, Major League Baseball signed a $400 million deal with ESPN, who would show over 175 games beginning in 1990. For the next four years, ESPN would televise six games a week (Sunday Night Baseball, Wednesday Night Baseball and doubleheaders on Tuesdays and Fridays), as well as multiple games on Opening Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day.

On April 15, 1990, ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball debuted with the experienced play-by-play announcer Jon Miller joining retired Hall of Fame player Joe Morgan in the broadcast booth. In its first year, Sunday Night Baseball averaged a 3.0 rating. That was double the number that ESPN as a whole was averaging at the time (1.5). By 1998, ESPN enjoyed its largest baseball audience ever (a 9.5 Nielsen rating) as Mark McGwire hit his 61st home run of the season. When ESPN first broadcast Sunday Night Baseball, they would show at least one game from every ballpark. Also, every team was guaranteed an appearance. It was essentially, the television equivalent to a cross country stadium tour.

In 1994, ESPN renewed its baseball contract for six years (through the 1999 season). The new deal was worth $42.5 million per year and $255 million overall. The deal was ultimately voided after the 1995 season and ESPN was pretty much forced to restructure their contract. In 1995, ESPN broadcast the American League West tie-breaker game between the Seattle Mariners and California Angels with Jon Miller and Joe Morgan making the call.[2]

In 1996, ESPN began a five-year contract[3] with Major League Baseball worth $440 million and about $80 million per year. ESPN paid for the rights to a Wednesday night doubleheader and Sunday Night Baseball, as well as Opening Day and holiday telecasts and all postseason games not aired on Fox or NBC.[4] Major League Baseball staggered the times of first-round games to provide a full-day feast for viewers: ESPN could air games at 1 p.m., 4 p.m., and 11 p.m. EDT, with the broadcast networks telecasting the prime time game.

In 1998, ESPN[5][6] broadcast the National League Wild Card tie-breaker game between the Chicago Cubs and San Francisco Giants. Like the American League West tie-breaker game in 1995, Jon Miller and Joe Morgan were on the call for ESPN.[7][8]

In 1999, NBC's Bob Costas teamed with Joe Morgan to call two weekday night telecasts for ESPN. The first was on Wednesday, August 25 with Detroit Tigers playing against the Seattle Mariners.[9] The second was on Tuesday, September 21 with the Atlanta Braves playing against the New York Mets. Later that year, ESPN[10] broadcast the National League Wild Card tie-breaker game (this time between the New York Mets and Cincinnati Reds) with Miller and Morgan once again on the call.[11]

### 2000s

[edit]

ESPN and ESPN2 had contracts (which were signed in 2000 and ran through 2005) to show selected weeknight and Sunday Night Baseball games, along with Opening Day and holiday games and selected Division Series playoff games. The contracts with ESPN were worth $141.8 million per year and $851 million overall.

In 2002, Disney bought Fox Family, which had aired Thursday night games and some Division Series games in 2000 and 2001 as part of the Fox Sports television contract. ESPN added those games to its package, shifting the Thursday night games to weekday afternoon DayGame broadcasts. The play-by-play commentators for ESPN DayGame were Gary Thorne or Jon Sciambi along with Steve Phillips, and Steve Stone as color analysts. However, because of existing contractual obligations, the 2002 Division Series games were required to be broadcast on the renamed ABC Family. Those broadcasts used ESPN announcers, graphics, and music. The following season they aired on ESPN.

#### 2006

[edit]

On September 14, 2005, ESPN signed an eight-year contract with Major League Baseball that began with the 2006 season, renewing their rights to Sunday Night Baseball and Wednesday Night Baseball, with the late (10 p.m. ET) Wednesday night game replaced by a regular weekly Monday Night Baseball telecast instead. The network also dropped special coverage of Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day games, though Memorial Day and Labor Day were still included in the Monday night coverage.

While Sunday Night Baseball remained exclusive, ESPN's Monday and Wednesday telecasts were mostly nonexclusive, meaning the games were also televised by each club's local broadcasters, while ESPN's broadcasts were blacked out in the participating teams' local markets. Previously, ESPN would carry an alternate telecast (usually a simulcast of another game's local broadcast) for home-team markets which were blacked out, but those were phased out, with ESPNEWS replacing the feed.

On July 25, 2006, Harold Reynolds was fired from ESPN. The ESPN spokeswoman confirmed that Reynolds "is no longer with the network" but did not give a reason for the departure.[12] Reynolds confirmed that an accusation of sexual harassment was the reason for his departure but called it "a total misunderstanding" and that "I gave a woman a hug and I felt like it was misinterpreted."[13] In February 2008, ESPN and Reynolds reached an out-of-court settlement.

Weeks later, Peter Gammons was sidelined with a brain aneurysm. Gammons returned to ESPN in early September.

The weekday afternoon DayGame telecasts continued through the 2006 season as they were still covered under the separate contract inherited from Fox Family. With that contract expiring at the end of the season, the last DayGame broadcast was on September 30, 2006. The expiration of that contract also ended ESPN's involvement in broadcasting the postseason for the time being, as Fox had actually retained right-of-first-refusal of the postseason part of the contract in the sale, and chose to exercise that right to add more Division Series games. ESPN's last postseason broadcast under the contract was one of the 2006 American League Division Series.

ESPN telecasts in 2006, posted an average of 1,115,000 household impressions, up 27% when compared to 2005's 875,000. The corresponding 1.2 rating this year marks a 20% increase over the 1.0 average in 2005. ESPN2's baseball telecasts have averaged 704,000 households, an increase of 34% over 2005's 525,000. Ratings on ESPN2 went up 33% (0.8 vs. 0.6).

#### 2007

[edit]

Because of the reduction of ESPN's weekly schedule to three games, ESPN released numerous commentators from the network, including Jeff Brantley, Tino Martinez, Steve Stone and Eric Karros.

On April 1, for the season-opening game between the New York Mets and the St. Louis Cardinals, ESPN changed its on-screen graphics to the version that debuted with Monday Night Football in 2006 and was later adopted by its NBA coverage at the start of the 2006-07 season. The previous graphics dated back to the advent of ESPN HD in 2004.

During the week of the All-Star Game, Baseball Tonight and SportsCenter did not travel to the game site as it previously had; the 2007 site was AT&T Park in San Francisco. The reason was that MLB stripped ESPN of its on-site credentials for its studio crew as punishment for leaking the rosters of the All-Star teams before TBS did. TBS' announcement, which was billed as exclusive, was scheduled for 4 p.m. Eastern time but was delayed for nearly two hours, by which point ESPN, in apparent violation of its contract with MLB, went ahead and revealed the rosters anyway. ESPN later agreed to promote playoff coverage on TBS and Fox (alongside its own radio coverage) in return for Baseball Tonight going on the air shortly after each night's games concluded.

ESPN pre-empted part of the Kansas State–Auburn college football game on September 1 to show the end of the no-hitter thrown by Boston Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz.

#### 2008

[edit]

ESPN2 showed the season-opening games in Tokyo between the Boston Red Sox and the Oakland Athletics. Unfortunately, due to a transponder failure, viewers on DirecTV reliant on the standard-definition feed missed the first of the two games. (ESPNHD was unaffected.)

On March 30, ESPN showed the first-ever game at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. The Washington Nationals defeated the Atlanta Braves on a walk-off home run by Ryan Zimmerman.

On May 4, ESPN introduced enhanced updates targeting viewers who play fantasy baseball. It shows season batting statistics for the current batter on each potential count and updates batting average and other selected stats after the at-bat concludes.

### 2010s

[edit]

#### 2010

[edit]

Starting with the April 3 season opener between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, ESPN began using the same graphics package which debuted with Monday Night Football in 2009. The score banner was converted to a score box in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. And instead of numbers to represent the balls, strikes and outs, dots were represented for each: three green dots for balls, two yellow dots for strikes, and two red dots for outs. The pitch count was also introduced, adopted from the New York Yankees' broadcasts on the YES Network, as well as NESN for the Boston Red Sox. College baseball and softball broadcasts, however, continued to use the previous (2007) graphics for the 2010 College World Series telecasts. ESPN's coverage of the Little League World Series also retained the 2007 graphics until midway through, and then adopted the current (2010) graphics package.

Baseball Tonight, a daily highlight show aired on ESPN during the baseball season, likewise introduced new graphics adopted from SportsCenter in June 2010.

#### 2011

[edit]

The ESPN Major League Baseball score box was slightly modified beginning with the opening day game between the Detroit Tigers and the New York Yankees. Numbers indicating the ball, strike and out counts replace the dots used last year; the out dots were adopted by Fox Sports Net on their local broadcasts as well as Major League Baseball on Fox. The pitch speed and count are now fixed below the bases graphic. Also, the area around the bases graphic and ball, strike, and out counter is slightly translucent.

Beginning with the Sunday Night Baseball interleague game between the New York Yankees and the Chicago Cubs on June 19, the graphics were slightly adjusted to fit in with the 16:9 aspect ratio for HD broadcasts, similar to what Fox Saturday Baseball, Root Sports and Fox Sports Net have done for their baseball coverage. TBS would follow suit in adjusting their graphics to the 16:9 aspect ratio.

#### 2012

[edit]

Previous logo used from 2012 to 2017.

The score box and other graphics were carried over from 2011,[14] but a new logo for all ESPN MLB presentations was unveiled at the start of the season. The ESPN logo was fixed on a CGI baseball, with the words 'Major League Baseball' (or Baseball Tonight and Sunday, Monday or Wednesday Night Baseball) in a stylized neon light surrounding it. A 2-D version is also used on print ads or on secondary program IDs. The graphics would stay virtually the same for the next three seasons.

On August 28, Major League Baseball and ESPN agreed to an eight-year, $5.6 billion contract extension, the largest broadcasting deal in Major League Baseball history. It gave ESPN up to 90 regular-season games, one of the two Wild Card games that will rotate between American League and National League teams each year, and the rights to all regular-season tiebreaker games.[15][16]

#### 2015

[edit]

For the 2015 season, ESPN introduced a new on-air appearance for baseball. Among its changes were a new, persistent K-Zone Live graphic, consisting of a faded white rectangle that is overlaid live atop the strike zone on the home plate camera angle at all times. A new K-Zone 3D graphic, with ball trails and a three-dimensional box representing the strike zone, can also be used during replays.[17] The new live K-Zone graphic was criticized by viewers and the media for being potentially distracting, drawing comparisons to baseball video games and Fox's "glowing puck" from its NHL coverage.[18][19]

#### 2017

[edit]

In the 2017 season, ESPN introduced a new camera angle known as "Front Row Cam"; it is designed to provide a "low-home" camera angle, and utilizes a cylindrical camera pointed vertically at a mirror inside an enclosure positioned along the wall behind home plate. During the American League Wild Card Game, ESPN also introduced a new "immersive" K-Zone 3D component, which allows the data to be rendered into a virtual stadium environment to be viewed at different perspectives.[20]

#### 2018

[edit]

The 2018 season saw a revamp of ESPN's lead commentary team, with Matt Vasgersian succeeding Dan Shulman, and Alex Rodriguez joining as analyst. ESPN also anticipated increased use of the Front Row Cam on Sunday Night Baseball, and the immersive K-Zone 3D feature being employed on all games (a move enabled by ESPN's full adoption of on-site graphics and replay systems operated remotely from its main studios in Bristol). ESPN also unveiled a major on-air rebranding for its MLB coverage.[21]

### 2020s

[edit]

The 2020 regular season was delayed by four months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Matt Vasgersian and Alex Rodriguez would broadcast all of ESPN's Sunday night games from a studio at their Bristol, Connecticut headquarters.[22] Also in July 2020, Major League Baseball announced that they would be expanding the playoffs,[23]

The 2020 postseason introduced an additional "Wild Card Series" round, featuring eight best-of-three series preceding the Division Series. ESPN acquired the rights to seven of the series, with one replacing the Wild Card Game it already carried (the last series was allocated to TBS to replace the Wild Card Game it held the rights to). On September 28, 2020, it was announced that ABC would carry at least four Wild Card Series games, marking ABC's first national MLB broadcast since 1995.[24]

In 2021, ESPN renewed its rights through the 2028 season, with opt-outs after the 2025 season. ESPN dropped most of its non-exclusive weeknight broadcasts, focusing primarily on Sunday Night Baseball instead. The network continues to hold rights to at least 30 exclusive regular season games per season, including Sunday Night Baseball and Opening Day games, along with some weeknight games in the second half of the season. ESPN also received the rights to produce alternate telecasts on its sister networks, as well as simulcasts and expanded content on ESPN+, and the ability to air selected games on ABC. The contract also gives ESPN full rights to all postseason Wild Card Series, which were made a permanent part of the postseason that year. In 2022, ESPN aired exclusive Thursday games on Opening Day and the Thursday following the all-star break, as well as two exclusive Wednesday games and one exclusive Monday game during the summer.[25][26][27]

For the 2024 season, ESPN acquired the rights to air two MLB World Tour games in Seoul and one game of the MLB Mexico Series, in addition to their 30 exclusive games.[28] New features for the season will include "volumetric" replays on its alternate Statcast broadcasts (which will generate replays of plays from the perspective of players), and a persistent "win probability" meter on the scorebug (based on input from ESPN statisticians).[29] To end the regular season, ESPN2 aired a doubleheader featuring the Braves and the Mets. The games were originally scheduled to air on September 25 and 26 but were moved due to Hurricane Helene. The broadcast was blacked out in New York.[30] During the final three weeks of the season, ESPN or ESPN2 aired Baseball Tonight Special: MLB Squeeze Play on Wednesday nights. The studio show featured whip-around coverage focused on the pennant chase.[31]

## Technology

[edit]

See also: Baseball telecasts technology

Through the years, ESPN has enhanced its Major League Baseball coverage with the introduction and implementation of innovative technology. Which include:

* April 1995 – ESPN debuted in-game box scores during Major League Baseball telecasts. Hitting, pitching and fielding stats from the game are shown along the bottom of the screen three times per game.
* May/June 1997 – ESPN debuted MaskCam on an umpire at the College World Series, adding it to major league coverage the following year.
* April 1998 – ESPN debuts BatTrack, which measures the bat speed of hitters.
* April 15, 2001 – ESPN Dead Center debuted on Sunday Night Baseball with Texas vs. Oakland. This new camera angle, directly behind the pitcher, is used to provide true depiction of inside/outside pitch location and is used in certain parks in conjunction with K Zone.
* July 1, 2001 – K Zone officially debuted on Sunday Night Baseball.
* April 7, 2002 – ESPN became the first network to place a microphone on a player during a regular-season baseball game. "Player Mic" was worn by Oakland catcher Ramón Hernández (who also wore "MaskCam") and taped segments were heard.
* May 26, 2002 – "UmpireCam" debuted, worn by Matt Hollowell behind the plate in the New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox telecast.
* March 30, 2003 – ESPNHD, a high-definition simulcast service of ESPN, debuted with the first regular-season MLB game of the season - Texas at Anaheim.
* April 2004 – ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball telecasts added a fantasy baseball bottom line, updating viewers on the stats for their rotisserie league players at 15 and 45 minutes after the hour.
* April 10, 2005 – "SkyCam" premiered during Sunday Night Baseball. "SkyCam" is mounted more than 20 feet above the stands in foul territory and travels down a designated base path (first or third base line, from behind home plate to the foul pole), capturing overhead views of the action. The remote-controlled camera can zoom, pan and tilt.
* April 2, 2006 – A handheld camera brings viewers closer to the action for in-game live shots of home run celebrations, managers approaching the mound and more.
* May 1, 2006 – 'K Zone 2.0' debuted on Monday Night Baseball.

## Ratings

[edit]

Division Series (2003-2006)[32]

* 2003 National League Division Series
* Cubs vs Braves (game 2): 5.1 (7.4 million viewers)
* Cubs vs Braves (game 3): 5.4 (8.1 million viewers)
* 2004 American League Division Series
* Twins vs Yankees (game 2): 4.7 (6.8 million viewers)
* 2005 American League Division Series
* Red Sox vs White Sox (game 2): 4.4 (6.4 million viewers)
* Angels vs Yankees (game 3): 4.9 (7.2 million viewers)
* 2006 American League Division Series
* Yankees vs Tigers (game 3): 4.4 (6.6 million viewers)

Wild Card Game/Series (2014–present)

* 2014 National League Wild Card Game: 3.6 (5.6 million viewers)
* 2015 American League Wild Card Game: 4.9 (7.6 million viewers)
* 2016 National League Wild Card Game: 4.5 (7.4 million viewers)
* 2017 American League Wild Card Game: 4.2 (6.7 million viewers)
* 2018 National League Wild Card Game: 4.2 (7.0 million viewers)
* 2019 American League Wild Card Game: 2.8 (4.5 million viewers)
* 2020 Wild Card Series:
* Game 3 Cardinals/Padres: 1.5 (2.6 million viewers)
* Game 1 Yankees/Indians: 1.5 (2.6 million viewers)
* Game 2 Yankees/Indians: 1.5 (2.5 million viewers)
* Game 2 Cardinals/Padres: 1.4 (2.3 million viewers)
* Game 1 Astros/Twins (ABC): 1.4 (2.2 million viewers)
* Game 2 Marlins/Cubs (ABC): 1.4 (2.2 million viewers)
* Game 3 White Sox/A's: 1.2 (1.9 milliom viewers)
* Game 3 Brewers/Dodgers: 1.1 (1.8 million viewers)
* Game 1 Marlins/Cubs (ABC): 1.1 (1.5 million viewers)
* Game 1 Reds/Braves: 0.9 (1.5 million viewers)
* Game 2 Reds/Braves: 0.9 (1.4 million viewers)
* Game 1 Cardinals/Padres: 0.8 (1.3 milliom viewers)
* Game 2 White Sox/A's: 0.8 (1.2 million viewers)
* Game 1 Brewers/Dodgers (ESPN2): 0.6 (1.1 million viewers)
* Game 2 Brewers/Dodgers (ESPN2): 0.5 (1.0 million viewers)
* Game 1 White Sox/A's: 0.6 (953 thousand viewers)
* Game 2 Astros/Twins (ESPN2): 0.4 (731 thousand viewers)
* 2021 American League Wild Card Game: 4.5 (7.7 million viewers)
* 2022 Wild Card Series
* Game 3 Padres/Mets: 2.0 (3.9 million viewers)
* Game 1 Padres/Mets: 2.0 (3.6 million viewers)
* Game 2 Padres/Mets: 1.8 (3.5 million viewers)
* Game 1 Phillies/Cardinals (ABC): 1.8 (3.1 million viewers)
* Game 2 Mariners/Blue Jays: 1.4 (2.6 million viewers)
* Game 2 Phillies/Cardinals (ESPN2): 1.3 (2.5 million viewers)
* Game 2 Rays/Guardians (ESPN2): 1.3 (2.3 million viewers
* Game 1 Mariners/Blue Jays: 1.0 (1.8 million viewers)
* Game 1 Rays/Guardians: 0.8 (1.4 million viewers)
* 2023 Wild Card Series
* Game 2 Marlins/Phillies: 1.8 (3.2 million viewers)
* Game 1 Marlins/Phillies: 1.7 (3.0 million viewers)
* Game 2 Rangers/Rays (ABC): 1.3 (2.2 million viewers)
* Game 1 Rangers/Rays (ABC): 1.3 (2.2 million viewers)
* Game 2 Blue Jays/Twins: 1.1 (2.0 million viewers)
* Game 2 Diamondbacks/Brewers (ESPN2): 1.1 (1.9 million viewers)
* Game 1 Diamondbacks/Brewers (ESPN2): 1.1 (1.9 million viewers)
* Game 1 Blue Jays/Twins: 1.0 (1.7 million viewers)

## Personalities

[edit]

Main article: ESPN Major League Baseball broadcasters

See also: Major League Baseball on ESPN Radio broadcasters

## See also

[edit]

* MLB on Fox
* MLB on TBS
* MLB Network

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Lucia, Joe (23 October 2023). "ESPN, MLB each have an opt-out in rights deal following 2025 season".
2. ^ Street, Jim (1995-10-02). "JOHNSON'S TASK TODAY: BEST ANGELS, OR M'S STAY HOME". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 2009-04-27.
3. ^ Edwards, Craig (February 26, 2020). "MLB's Winning and Losing Efforts to Conquer TV, Part I: The Strike". Fan Graphs.
4. ^ Shea, Stuart (7 May 2015). Calling the Game: Baseball Broadcasting from 1920 to the Present. SABR, Inc. p. 376\. ISBN 9781933599410.
5. ^ Gildea, William (September 27, 1998). "Cubs Even With Giants; Sosa Still at 66; Cubs Keep Pace With Giants; Cubs 3, Astros 2". Washington Post. p. D01.
6. ^ Dubow, Josh (September 29, 1998). "Baseball takes bite out of football audience". Associated Press.
7. ^ Martzke, Rudy (September 28, 1998). "Football left behind by baseball's drama". USA Today. p. 2C.
8. ^ Martzke, Rudy (September 29, 1998). "Morgan's itinerary keeps him on move". USA Today. p. 4C.
9. ^ "Media Notes". Sports Business Daily. Advance Publications. August 25, 1999. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
10. ^ Romano, John (October 4, 1999). "Mets, Reds in mad scramble for playoff spot Series: BASEBALL POST SEASON". St. Petersburg Times. p. 1C.
11. ^ Baker, Jim (October 3, 1999). "Doubt about it — ESPN's Miller questions Sox, Tribe". Boston Herald. p. B18.
12. ^ "Reynolds out at ESPN". ESPN. 2006-07-25. Retrieved 2006-07-25.
13. ^ Marchand, Andrew (2006-07-26). "Accused of sexual harassment: Reynolds wants ESPN job back". New York Post. Archived from the original on 2006-08-19. Retrieved 2006-07-26.
14. ^ Karp, Austin (9 October 2012). "MLB Regular Season Sees Record-Low Viewership On Fox, TBS; ESPN Worst Since '05". SportsBusiness Daily. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
15. ^ "MLB, ESPN reach new 8-year deal". ESPN. August 28, 2012. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
16. ^ Nuñez, Gabriela (2012-08-28). "ESPN, MLB Reach Eight-Year Multiplatform Rights Extension". ESPN Press Room U.S. Retrieved 2023-10-29.
17. ^ "ESPN Commits to K-Zone Live on Every Pitch for MLB Coverage". Sports Video Group. 3 April 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
18. ^ "ESPN's K-Zone Live upsets baseball purists, fans react on Twitter". Denver Post. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
19. ^ "ESPN has a new strike zone graphic, baseball fans foam at the mouth with hatred". Fansided. 6 April 2015. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
20. ^ "MLB Postseason Preview: ESPN To Deploy Front Row Cam, Mound Mics, K-Zone 3D at AL Wild Card Game". Sports Video Group. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
21. ^ "2018 MLB Preview: ESPN Launches New Booth, Graphics on SNB; Expands Use of Front Row Cam, K-Zone 3D". Sports Video Group. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
22. ^ Koster, Kyle (17 July 2020). "ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball Hoping to Gain a Homefield Advantage in Bristol". The Big Lead. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
23. ^ Haring, Bruce (July 23, 2020). "Major League Baseball Expands Playoffs To 16 Teams, Eight Wild Card Series – ESPN, TBS Get TV Rights". Deadline.
24. ^ Brown, Maury. "MLB Postseason Games Returning To ABC For First Time In 25 Years". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
25. ^ Castrovince, Anthony (March 10, 2022). "Everything you need to know about '22 season". MLB.com. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
26. ^ Harrigan, Thomas (May 13, 2021). "MLB, ESPN extend deal through 2028". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
27. ^ "ESPN extends deal to air MLB games through '28". ESPN.com. May 13, 2021. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
28. ^ "News: Arena Group, MLB international games, Netflix tennis". Sports Media Watch. December 2023. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
29. ^ Dachman, Jason (2024-03-28). "MLB Opening Day: ESPN Brings Sunday Night Baseball Into Analytic Age With Volumetric Replays, 'Win Probability' in Scorebug". Sports Video Group. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
30. ^ Feuz, Alex (September 29, 2024). "ESPN2 to Televise Pivotal New York Mets vs. Atlanta Braves Doubleheader on Monday". ESPN Press Room. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
31. ^ Feuz, Alex (September 9, 2024). "ESPN Launches Baseball Tonight Special: MLB Squeeze Play Whip-Around Show to Capture 2024 MLB Pennant Chase Starting September 11". ESPN Press Room. Retrieved September 9, 2024.
32. ^ MLB Division Series Numbers Game (2003-2010) \- Paulsen, Sports Media Watch, 30 September 2011

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* Other events

Other properties|

* Andscape
* ESPNcricinfo
* Jayski's Silly Season Site (formerly)
* ESPN FC
* Scouts Inc.
* TrueHoop

Notable personalities|

* Current personalities
* Former personalities
* ESPNews personalities
* ESPNU personalities
* ESPN Radio personalities
* Presidents of ESPN

Miscellaneous|

* History
* Programs
* Criticism
* This Is SportsCenter
* ESPN Armory
* ESPN Zone
* ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex
* ESPN BottomLine
* ESPN8 The Ocho
* X Games
* Fox Sports International

Owners: Walt Disney Company (80%); Hearst Communications (20%)

* v
* t
* e

ESPN original programming

Scheduled shows|

* 30 for 30
* Around the Horn
* ESPN Bet Live
* College Football Live
* E:60
* First Take
* ESPN Major League Baseball
* NBA Today
* NBA on ESPN
* ABC
* Wednesday
* Friday
* Saturday
* Sunday
* NFL on ESPN
* ABC
* Monday Night Football
* Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli
* NHL on ESPN
* ABC
* Pardon the Interruption
* SportsCenter
* The Pat McAfee Show
* They Call It Late Night with Jason Kelce
* Thursday Night Showcase
* WNBA on ESPN

Pregame and postgame|

* Baseball Tonight
* Big Monday
* College Football Final
* College GameDay Football
* College GameDay Basketball
* College Football Scoreboard
* ESPN College Football Saturday Primetime
* ESPN College Football Thursday Primetime
* ESPN Megacast
* Monday Night Baseball
* Monday Night Countdown
* NBA Countdown
* NFL Insiders
* NFL Live
* NFL Matchup
* NFL Primetime
* Saturday Primetime
* Sunday NFL Countdown
* Sunday Night Baseball
* Super Tuesday
* Wednesday Night Baseball
* Wednesday Night Hoops

Former programming|

* Arena Football League on ESPN
* AWA Championship Wrestling
* Beg, Borrow & Deal
* Bonds on Bonds
* Bound for Glory
* Boxing on ESPN
* The Bronx Is Burning
* Cheap Seats
* The Contender
* Cycling on ESPN
* Dream Job
* ESPN SpeedWorld
* ESPN Sunday Night Football
* Global Supercard Wrestling
* Highly Questionable
* IndyCar Series on ESPN
* I'd Do Anything
* Jim Rome Is Burning
* The Jump
* Knight School
* MISL on ESPN
* MLS on ESPN
* NASCAR Countdown
* NASCAR on ESPN
* NASL on ESPN
* Nine for IX
* Outside the Lines
* Playmakers
* Shaquille
* SpeedWeek
* SportsCentury
* SportsNation
* The Sports Reporters
* Stump the Schwab
* Tilt
* The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame...
* This Just In with Max Kellerman
* 2 Minute Drill
* Up Close
* USFL on ESPN
* World Cup Live

Upcoming|

* Inside the NBA (2025)

* List of programs broadcast by ESPN

* v
* t
* e

Major League Baseball on ABC

Related
programs|

* Major League Baseball Game of the Week (1953–1954; 1960; 1965)
* Monday Night Baseball (1976–1988)
* Sunday Afternoon Baseball (1977–1987)
* Thursday Night Baseball (1989)
* Baseball Night in America (1994–1995)
* ESPN Major League Baseball (broadcasters)

| Non-MLB
programs|

* Little League World Series
* Wide World of Sports

|

Related
articles|

* History
* The Baseball Network
* World Series television ratings
* Television contracts
* 1950s
* 1960s
* 1970s
* 1980s
* 1990s
* List of events on Wide World of Sports

| 1953 season|

* Chicago White Sox
* Cleveland Indians
* Philadelphia Athletics

|

ABC's owned and
operated TV stations|

* WABC 7 (Brooklyn Dodgers, August 17, 1953 – October 1, 1953)
* WLS 7 (Chicago Cubs, 2015–2019)
* KTRK 13 (Houston Astros, 1962–1972)
* WFIL 6 (later WPVI) (Philadelphia Athletics, 1949–1954; Philadelphia Phillies, 1959–1970)

Sponsors|

* Falstaff Brewing Corporation
* L&M

Commentators|

* The Baseball Network
* Game of the Week
* Prime time
* All-Star Game
* Wild Card Round
* ALCS
* ALDS
* NLCS
* NLDS
* World Series

| Play-by-play
announcers|

* Gary Bender
* Jack Buck
* Don Chevrier
* Ken Coleman
* Dizzy Dean
* Bob DeLaney
* Don Drysdale
* Curt Gowdy
* Merle Harmon
* Keith Jackson
* Michael Kay
* George Kell
* Gene Kirby
* Jim Lampley
* Sean McDonough
* Al Michaels
* Brent Musburger
* Bob Neal
* Bob Prince
* Karl Ravech
* Chris Schenkel
* Jon Sciambi
* Gary Thorne
* Pete Van Wieren
* Matt Vasgersian
* Jack Whitaker
* Steve Zabriskie

|

Color
commentators|

* Johnny Bench
* Buddy Blattner
* Lou Brock
* Steve Busby
* Norm Cash
* Howard Cosell
* Larry Dierker
* Don Drysdale
* Leo Durocher
* Carl Erskine
* Todd Frazier
* Tommy Hutton
* Jim Kaat
* Tim Kurkjian
* Reggie Jackson
* Chipper Jones
* Bob Gibson
* Hank Greenberg
* Tommy Henrich
* Tim McCarver
* Jessica Mendoza
* Joe Morgan
* Jim Palmer
* Eduardo Pérez
* Jackie Robinson
* Alex Rodriguez
* Steve Stone
* Bob Uecker
* Earl Weaver
* Bill White
* Warner Wolf

Guest
commentators|

* Johnny Bench
* Rick Dempsey
* Mark Fidrych
* Tommy John
* Tommy Lasorda
* Billy Martin
* Jimmy Piersall
* Ross Porter
* Tom Seaver

Hosts and field
reporters|

* Jack Arute
* Tim Brant
* Dave Diles
* Corey McPherrin
* Buster Olney
* John Saunders
* Bob Stevens
* Al Trautwig
* Lesley Visser

"Inside Pitch"
scouting analysts|

* Tony Gwynn
* Paul Molitor
* Steve Sax
* Mike Schmidt

Lore|

* Roger Maris' 61 home run season (1961)
* "The Bird" (1976)
* "The Double" (1995)
* Sunday Night Baseball on ABC (2021)

| Tiebreaker games|

* 1959 National League playoff series
* 1978 AL East Playoff
* 1980 NL West Playoff

|

LCS games|

* "Chris Chambliss' Walk-Off Home Run" (1976)
* "Garvey Home Run" (1984)
* "Gatorade Glove Play" (1984)
* "You're Looking at One for the Ages Here" (1986)

World Series games|

* "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning" (1977)
* "Mr. October" (1977)
* "The Call" (1985)
* 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake

World Series|

* 1948
* 1949
* 1950
* 1977
* 1979
* 1981
* 1983
* 1985
* 1987
* 1989
* ~~1994~~
* 1995 (Games 1, 4-5)

AL Championship Series|

* 1976
* 1978
* 1980
* 1982
* 1984
* 1986
* 1988
* 1995 (Games 1–2)

NL Championship Series|

* 1976
* 1978
* 1980
* 1982
* 1984
* 1986
* 1988
* 1995 (Games 1–2)

AL Division Series|

* 1981
* 1995

NL Division Series|

* 1995

AL Wild Card Round|

* 2020
* 2023
* 2024

NL Wild Card Round|

* 2020
* 2022

All-Star Game|

* 1976
* 1978
* 1980
* 1982
* 1984
* 1986
* 1988
* 1995

Music|

* "Hello Old Friend"
* "Lights"

Seasons|

| Saturday Game of the Week|

* 1953
* 1954
* 1959 (NL tie-breaker series)
* 1960
* 1961 (prime time games)
* 1965

|

Monday Night Baseball|

* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989 (now on Thursday nights)

The Baseball Network|

* 1994
* 1995

The 1994 World Series was cancelled due to a strike.
Website: ABC News - MLB News

* v
* t
* e

ESPN Major League Baseball

Related
programs|

* Baseball Tonight (1990–present)
* Sunday Night Baseball (1990–present)
* Monday Night Baseball (2002–2021)
* Wednesday Night Baseball (1990–2021)
* Thursday Night Baseball (2003–2006)
* Tuesday Night Baseball (1990–1993)

| Radio|

* Major League Baseball on ESPN Radio (1998–present)

|

Non-ESPN
programming|

* Major League Baseball on ABC
* broadcasters
* history
* Major League Baseball on ABC Family (2002)
* Major League Baseball on TSN (1984–present)

Non-MLB
programming|

* Little League World Series

Related
articles|

* ESPN Baseball Tonight (video game)
* Television contracts
* 1990s
* 2000s
* 2010s
* 2020s
* Home Run Derby (1993–present)
* MLB Little League Classic (2017–present)

Commentators|

* Prime time
* Radio
* Baseball Tonight
* Wild Card Round
* ALDS
* NLDS

| Play-by-play
announcers|

* Dave Barnett
* Jason Benetti
* Chris Berman
* Bob Carpenter
* Dave Flemming
* Jim Hughson
* Sean McDonough
* Tom Mees
* Joel Meyers
* Jon Miller
* Melanie Newman
* Dave O'Brien
* Paul Olden
* Steve Physioc
* Karl Ravech
* John Sanders
* Jon Sciambi
* Dan Shulman
* Dave Sims
* Dewayne Staats
* Charley Steiner
* Gary Thorne
* Matt Vasgersian
* Steve Zabriskie

|

Color
commentators|

* Aaron Boone
* Jim Bowden
* Dallas Braden
* Jeff Brantley
* Dave Campbell
* David Cone
* Rob Dibble
* Terry Francona
* Nomar Garciaparra
* Doug Glanville
* Tony Gwynn
* Orel Hershiser
* Norm Hitzges
* Tommy Hutton
* Reggie Jackson
* Chipper Jones
* David Justice
* Eric Karros
* Kevin Kennedy
* Ray Knight
* John Kruk
* Barry Larkin
* Mike Lupica
* Fred Lynn
* Buck Martinez
* Steve McCatty
* Jessica Mendoza
* Joe Morgan
* Mark Mulder
* Jim Palmer
* Eduardo Pérez
* Steve Phillips
* Kirby Puckett
* Jerry Reuss
* Bill Robinson
* Alex Rodriguez
* Jim Rooker
* David Ross
* Billy Sample
* Curt Schilling
* Chris Singleton
* Lary Sorensen
* John Stearns
* Steve Stone
* Rick Sutcliffe
* Bobby Valentine

Field reporters|

* Erin Andrews
* Bonnie Bernstein
* Duke Castiglione
* Peter Gammons
* Pedro Gomez
* Tim Kurkjian
* Álvaro Martín
* Gary Miller
* Wendi Nix
* Buster Olney
* Sam Ryan

Lore|

| Tie-breaker games|

* 1995 AL West
* 1998 NL Wild Card
* 1999 NL Wild Card
* 2018 NL Central
* 2018 NL West

|

Regular season games|

* 2,131 (1995)
* Chasing Maris (1998)
* Civil Rights Game (2007)
* Final game at Yankee Stadium (2008)
* Killing of Osama bin Laden (2011)
* Wild Card Wednesday (2011)
* Fort Bragg Game (2016)
* London Series
* MLB Seoul Series (2024)

Postseason|

* Baseball's longest postseason game (2005)

Yankees–Red Sox rivalry|

* Curse of the Bambino
* 2019 MLB London Series

AL Division Series|

* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000
* 2002†
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006

NL Division Series|

* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000
* 2002†
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006

AL Wild Card Round|

* 2015
* 2017
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024

NL Wild Card Round|

* 2014
* 2016
* 2018
* 2020
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024

World Baseball Classic|

* 2006
* 2009

† 2002 ALDS and NLDS coverage aired on ABC Family.

* v
* t
* e

Major League Baseball on television

Contract history|

* Blackout policy
* American broadcasting contracts
* Canadian broadcasting contracts
* Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961

| By decade|

* 1940s
* 1950s
* 1960s
* 1970s
* 1980s
* 1990s
* 2000s
* 2010s
* 2020s

|

Over-the-air broadcasters|

* Fox
* ABC
* history

| Former|

* CBS
* DuMont
* NBC
* history

|

Pay television broadcasters|

* ESPN/ESPN+
* FS1
* Fox Deportes
* TBS/Max

| Former|

* USA
* Fox Family/ABC Family

|

Streaming media carriers|

* Apple TV+
* The Roku Channel

| Former|

* Peacock
* YouTube

|

MLB owned
and operated entities|

* The Baseball Network
* Extra Innings
* MLB Network
* MLB.tv

Broadcast days|

* Game of the Week
* broadcasters
* Monday Night
* broadcasters
* Tuesday Night
* Wednesday Night
* Thursday Night
* Friday Night
* Saturday Afternoon
* Saturday Night
* Sunday Afternoon
* Sunday Night

Local broadcasters|

* Current announcers
* Historical television broadcasters

| Regional sports networks|

* AT&T SportsNet
* Chicago Sports Network
* FanDuel Sports Network
* Fox Sports
* Marquee Sports Network
* MASN
* NBC Sports
* NESN
* Rangers Sports Network
* Root Sports
* SNY
* Space City Home Network
* Spectrum SportsNet LA
* Sportsnet
* SportsNet Pittsburgh
* SportsChannel
* YES Network

|

Superstations|

* TBS (Atlanta Braves)
* WGN Sports (Chicago Cubs and White Sox)

Pay-per-view services|

* GiantsVision

Owned-and-operated stations|

* Fox

Syndication arrangements|

* MLB Local Media
* Gray Television

News television series|

* Baseball Tonight
* Major League Baseball: An Inside Look
* Race for the Pennant
* This Week in Baseball

| MLB Network programs|

* Hot Stove
* Intentional Talk
* MLB's 20 Greatest Games
* MLB Network Showcase
* MLB Tonight
* Off Base
* Quick Pitch

|

Specialty programming|

* The Baseball Bunch
* Baseball IQ
* Baseball's Seasons
* Home Run Derby
* Kiner's Korner
* Yankeeography

| Reality television series|

* The Club
* The Franchise

|

Rebroadcasts|

* ESPN Classic
* Mets Classics
* Yankees Classics

|

Broadcasters by event|

* World Series (television ratings)
* ALCS
* NLCS
* All-Star Game
* ALDS
* NLDS
* Wild Card Round

International coverage|

* MLB International

| Australia|

* ESPN Australia
* Fox Sports
* One

|

United Kingdom and Ireland|

* TNT Sports
* Five
* BBC Sport (UK only)

Canada|

* Sportsnet
* TVA Sports

Latin America|

* ESPN
* Fox Sports

Brazil|

* ESPN Brasil
* Fox Sports

Japan|

* Fuji TV
* NHK
* TBS

South Korea|

* SPOTV

Landmark events|

* Broadcasting firsts
* Telecasts technology
* Score bug

Miscellaneous|

* Instant replay
* TV markets

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