The MLB Season has already begun a half a world away, but before it all begins again here is some information on what you can expect from the league and its broadcast partners in 2014…
ESPN
- This will be the 25th season of Major League Baseball on ESPN
- ESPN airs games on Monday, Wednesday and Sunday nights.
- Baseball Tonight airs nightly at 10 PM & Midnight and Sundays before and after SNB. Sunday’s Baseball Tonight will be rebranded as Sunday Night Countdown.
- ESPN airs Opening Night game (3/30; Dodgers-Padres) & 5 Opening Day games on ESPN & ESPN2 (3/31)
- ESPN airs holiday games on Memorial Day, Fourth of July & Labor Day. The Home Run Derby airs the night before the All-Star Game at Target Field July 14th
- ESPN will air one Wild Card Play in Game in October. The entire MLB Postseason can be heard on ESPN Radio.
Sunday Night Baseball: Dan Shulman, John Kruk; Reporter – Buster Olney
MLB on ESPN Radio: Jon Sciambi, Chris Singleton
Monday Night Baseball: Dave O’Brien, Aaron Boone
Wednesday Night Baseball: Jon Sciambi, Rick Sutcliffe, various others.
ESPN Deportes: Ernesto Jerez, Luis Alfredo Alvarez
Baseball Tonight: Hosts: Karl Ravech, Jon Sciambi, Adnan Virk; Analysts: Barry Larkin, Doug Glanville, Chris Singleton, Alex Cora, Manny Acta, Aaron Boone Rick Sutcliffe, John Kruk, Eduardo Perez, Eric Wedge, Dallas Braden; Reporters: Buster Olney, Tim Kurkjian, Pedro Gomez, Jason Stark
Sunday Night Baseball April Schedule, ESPN, 8 p.m.
Sunday, March 30 Los Angeles Dodgers at San Diego Padres
Sunday, April 06 San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers (ESPN2)
Sunday, April 13 Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees
Sunday, April 20 Baltimore Orioles at Boston Red Sox (7 p.m.)
Sunday, April 27 Los Angeles Angels at New York Yankees
Opening Day
Monday, March 31
Chicago Cubs at Pittsburgh Pirates, 1 p.m., ESPN
St. Louis Cardinals at Cincinnati Reds, 4 p.m., ESPN
Boston Red Sox at Baltimore Orioles, 3 p.m., ESPN2
Colorado Rockies at Miami Marlins, 7 p.m., ESPN2
Seattle Mariners at Los Angeles Angels, 10 p.m ESPN2
FOX Sports/FOX Sports 1
- This will be the 19th season of MLB on FOX; 15th consecutive World Series (17 total)
- 52-game schedule on FOX and FOX Sports 1
- Harold Reynolds & Tom Verducci join Joe Buck as main broadcast team; Matt Vasgersian & John Smoltz will be the second tier team.
- FOX will air eight primetime games May 24-July 12 with 4 games in September; 2014 All-Star Game on July 15 at Target Field.
- 20 Saturday doubleheaders; half split between FS1 & FOX; half on FS1 entirely.
- FS1 games will be non-exclusive, co-exists with local broadcasts
- New FOX pre game show hosted by Kevin Burkhardt and rotating analysts.
- MLB WhipAround on FS1: New nightly show Monday-Friday that will compete with Baseball Tonight and MLB Tonight.
- Postseason coverage of Two League Divisional Series, LCS, 2014 World Series exclusively on FOX.
MLB on FOX talent: Joe Buck, Harold Reynolds, Tom Verducci, John Smoltz, Matt Vasgersian, Kenny Albert, Thom Brennama, Eric Karros, Ken Rosenthal (reporter), Erin Andrews (reporter/select)
Studio Talent: Kevin Burkhardt, Ryan Field, Chris Myers, Frank Thomas, Gabe Kapler, Karros, C.J. Nitkowski
Saturday MLB on FOX Sports 1 April Schedule
Saturday April 5, FS1, 1PM, Minnesota at Cleveland / 4PM, LA Dodgers at San Francisco
Tuesday April 8, FS1, 8PM, Cincinnati at St. Louis
Saturday April 12, 1PM, FS1, Boston at NY Yankees
Saturday April 19, 1PM, FS1, LA Angels at Detroit / 8PM, Arizona at LA Dodgers
Saturday April 26, 1PM, FS1, LA Angels at NY Yankees / 4PM, Pittsburgh at St. Louis
Baseball Night in America on FOX
Saturday May 24, FOX 7PM, St. Louis at Cincinnati /Washington at Pittsburgh / Kansas City at LA Angels
Saturday May 31, FOX 7PM, Tampa Bay at Boston / Pittsburgh at LA Dodgers
Saturday June 7, FOX 7PM, Boston at Detroit / NY Yankees at Kansas City / Oakland at Baltimore
Saturday June 14, FOX 7PM, Washington at St. Louis / Cincinnati at Milwaukee / LA Angels at Atlanta
Saturday June 21, FOX 7PM, Atlanta at Washington / Pittsburgh at Chicago / Detroit at Cleveland
Saturday June 28, FOX 7PM, Boston at NY Yankees / St. Louis at LA Dodgers / Washington at Ch Cubs
Saturday July 5, FOX 7PM, Baltimore at Boston / Texas at NY Mets / San Francisco at San Diego
Saturday July 12, FOX 7PM, Pittsburgh at Cincinnati / Washington at Philadelphia / LA Angels at Texas
Tuesday, July 15, FOX 7PM, 2014 All-Star Game, Target Field, Minneapolis
MLB Network
- MLB Network will offer 24 hour baseball coverage throughout the regular and postseason
- MLB Tonight airs nightly as pregame, in-game and post-game studio show
- Quick Pitch closes each night with the day’s highlights & in progress during late games
- MLB Network Showcase will air several games a month
- Live simulcasts 3-5 dates a week. Will air Sunday afternoon games until TBS returns.
- Strike Zone (on cable/satellite) with coverage games on Tuesday and Friday nights
- Two division series games in October
MLB Tonight talent: Hosts: Matt Vasgersian, Greg Amsinger, Brian Kenny, Fran Charles, Paul Severino; Analysts: Harold Reynolds, Al Leiter, Dan Plesac, Mitch Williams, John Hart, John Smoltz, Billy Ripken; various others; Reporters: Ken Rosenthal, Jon Heyman, Tom Verducci, Peter Gammons, Sam Ryan
MLB Network Showcase talent: Bob Costas, Jim Kaat, Smoltz, Verducci (analyst/reporter), Ryan (reporter) Vasgersian, Kenny; various others
MLB Network Daily Programming
High Heat new (1 p.m.) Host: Chris Russo
The Rundown (2 p.m.) Host: Lauren Shehadi & Matt Yalloff
MLB Now (4 p.m.) Host: Brian Kenny
Intentional Talk (5 p.m.) Host: Chris Rose, Kevin Millar
MLB Tonight (6 p.m. & primetime) Featuring various talent
Quick Pitch (1 a.m.) Host: Heidi Watney or other talent
MLB Network Showcase April Schedule
Fri., April 4, Milwaukee Brewers at Boston Red Sox, 2 p.m.
Thu., April 10, Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees, 7:00 p.m.
Thu., April 17, St. Louis Cardinals at Washington Nationals, 7:00 p.m.
Mon., April 21, Baltimore Orioles at Boston Red Sox, 11:00 a.m.
Tues., April 22, New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox, 7:00 p.m.
Tues., April 29, Seattle Mariners at New York Yankees, 7:00 p.m.
Turner Sports
- Sunday MLB on TBS airs 13 afternoons (without local blackouts) starting July 6th
- Postseason coverage will air one Wild Card Play in Game, Two Divisional Series and LCS of one league
MLB on TBS talent: Ernie Johnson, Ron Darling, Brian Anderson, Dick Stockton, Dennis Eckersley, Cal Ripken Jr
Sunday MLB on TBS Schedule
To be announced in the summer
A big tip of the cap to Sammy for compiling our MLB TV Primer!
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