Major League Baseball on ESPN Radio
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| MLB on ESPN Radio | |
| Genre | Major League Baseball |
|---|---|
| Running time | 3 hours (approximate) |
| Country |  USA |
| Home station | ESPN Radio (1998-) |
| Starring | Gary Thorne Dave Campbell Joe D'Ambrosio |
| Air dates | March 31, 1998 to Present |
Major League Baseball on ESPN Radio is exclusive play-by-play broadcast presentation of Major League Baseball on ESPN Radio. The coverage is sponsored by the United States Postal Service.
In 1998 ESPN Radio took over from CBS Radio as the official, national radio broadcaster for Major League Baseball. The network's current contract runs through the 2010 season. As of 2006, Major League Baseball on ESPN Radio is heard on over 321 stations across the United States. The theme music for MLB on ESPN Radio for the 2007 season is "Ladies and Gentlemen" by Saliva.
The games include Opening Day, Sunday Night Baseball, Saturday Game of the Week, holiday games and September pennant race games. The All-Star Game and all of the postseason (including the Division Series, League Championship Series and World Series) are heard excusively on ESPN Radio as well. Since the inaugural World Baseball Classic in March 2006, the semi-finals and the championship have also been broadcast as part of Major League Baseball on ESPN Radio.
In addition to affiliate stations on AM/FM radio, ESPN Radio's game broadcasts are carried as part of XM Satellite Radio's MLB coverage. They are not included in the subscription "Gameday Audio" package on MLB.com, however.
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[edit] History
On September 27, 1997, ESPN outbid CBS Radio to become the exclusive national radio broadcaster of Major League Baseball. This was very surprising, considering that CBS Radio had been the national broadcaster since 1976.
The agreement lasted seven years through 2004 and gave ESPN Radio the rights to broadcast numerous games including opening Day, Sunday Night Baseball, Saturday Game of the Week, holiday games, September pennant race games, the All-Star Game and all of the playoffs, including the World Series.
Then on October 21, 2004, ESPN Radio extended its then seven year relationship with Major League Baseball with a five year, $55 million dollar contract extension through the 2010 season.
The agreement also added a weekly program devoted to baseball, which became The Baseball Show from 3 p.m. ET to 7 p.m. ET on Sundays during the regular season. The program is hosted by John Seibel and Steve Phillips.
[edit] Broadcasters
In 2008, ESPN Radio's lead broadcasting crew consists of Gary Thorne on play-by-play and Dave Campbell with game analysis. Thorne succeeds Dan Shulman, who had called play-by-play for the network since 2002; Shulman, in turn, had been preceded by Charley Steiner from 1998-2002. Campbell replaced Kevin Kennedy as analyst in 2000. The Baseball Tonight studio host for all of the games since its debut has been Joe D'Ambrosio.
The broadcast team for the World Series and one League Championship Series is Jon Miller with play-by-play and Hall of Famer Joe Morgan with game analysis and has been since its debut on ESPN Radio, except for 1999, when Morgan called the games for NBC. Miller and Morgan are the Sunday Night Baseball television crew during the regular season. During all of the games there is also the ESPN Radio SportsCenter every twenty minutes with live cut ins during the games. Thorne and Campbell call the other LCS and the All-Star Game.
[edit] See also
- ESPN Major League Baseball
- Baseball Tonight
- Sunday Night Baseball
- Monday Night Baseball
- Wednesday Night Baseball
- ESPN Major League Baseball broadcasters
- Major League Baseball on ESPN Radio broadcasters
- Major League Baseball Game of the Week
- The Baseball Show
- List of World Series broadcasters
[edit] References
- Press Release: ESPN RADIO AND MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL EXTEND AGREEMENT THROUGH 2010
- Press Release: MLB Post-Season: Every Game on ESPN Radio
