The Baseball Network
Encyclopedia
The Baseball Network was a short-lived television broadcasting joint venture
between ABC
, NBC, and Major League Baseball
. Under the arrangement, beginning in the 1994 season
, the league produced its own in-house telecasts of games, which were then brokered
to air on ABC and NBC. The package included coverage of games in primetime on selected nights, along with coverage of the postseason and the World Series
.
Unlike previous broadcasting arrangements with the league, there was also no national "game of the week
" during the regular season, replaced by multiple regional telecasts per night. Additionally, the arrangement had exclusivityno other television outlet could televise an MLB game on the same night that The Baseball Network was televising a game.
The arrangement did not last long; due to the effects of a players' strike on the remainder of the 1994 season, and poor reception from fans and critics over the coverage was implemented, The Baseball Network would be disbanded after the 1995 season
. While NBC would maintain rights to certain games, the growing Fox network
became the league's new national broadcast partner beginning in .
500 million), Major League Baseball decided to go into the business of producing the telecasts themselves. In reaction to the failed trial with CBS, Major League Baseball was desperately grasping for every available dollar.
After a four year hiatus, ABC and NBC (who last
aired Thursday Night Baseball
games and the Saturday afternoon Game of the Week
respectively) returned to Major League Baseball under the umbrella of a revenue
sharing venture called The Baseball Network. Under a six year plan, Major League Baseball was intended to receive 85%
of the first $
140 million in advertising revenue (or 87.5% of advertising revenues and corporate sponsorship from the games until sales top a specified level), 50% of the next $30 million, and 80% of any additional money. Prior to this, Major League Baseball was projected to take a projected 55% cut in rights fees and receive a typical rights fee from the networks. When compared to the previous TV deal with CBS, The Baseball Network was supposed to bring in 50% less of the broadcasting revenue. The advertisers were reportedly excited about the arrangement with The Baseball Network because the new package included several changes intended to boost ratings
, especially among younger viewers.
Arranging broadcasts through The Baseball Network seemed, on the surface, to benefit NBC and ABC since it gave them a monopoly
on broadcasting Major League Baseball games. The deal was similar to a time-buy
, instead of a traditional rights fee situation. It also stood to benefit the networks because they reduced the risk associated with purchasing the broadcast rights outright (in stark contrast to CBS' disastrous contract with Major League Baseball from the - seasons). NBC and ABC were to create a loss-free environment for each other and keep an emerging Fox
, who had recently made an aggressive and ultimately successful $1.58 billion bid for the television rights
for National Football Conference
games (thus, becoming a large player in the sports broadcasting game in the process), at bay. As a result of Fox's NFL gain, CBS was weakened further by affiliate changes
, as a number of stations jumped to Fox from CBS. For example, in Detroit
, WWJ-TV
replaced WJBK
.
Key figures involved in the creation and production for The Baseball Network:
out of Pittsburgh
's Three Rivers Stadium
. The game was televised on NBC with Bob Costas
, Joe Morgan
, and Bob Uecker
calling the action and Greg Gumbel
hosting the pre-game show. Helping with interviews were Hannah Storm
and Johnny Bench
. The 1994 All-Star Game reportedly sold out all its advertising slots. This was considered an impressive financial accomplishment, given that one thirty-second spot cost $
300,000.
of the New York recording studio company NJJ Music (who would also composed the themes used for the Fox Network
's sports coverage
, which would later include Major League Baseball as previously alluded to). As an MLB production (as opposed to strictly being an ABC Sports or NBC Sports production respectively), network branding on the telecasts was minimal, except for the placement of the network logo on microphone flags alongside that of The Baseball Network.
The primary colors for the graphics department on Baseball Network telecasts were #1 blue, #2 white, and #3 red. ABC and NBC shared the same on-air graphics and even the microphone "flags" had the Baseball Network's logo on it with the respective network logo. The official Baseball Network logo was a black television set slightly titled upwards to the right. In the blue screen of the television set contained in bold white, the words The Baseball Network.
, Tim McCarver
, and Jim Palmer
along with CBS baseball alumnus Lesley Visser
as the primary broadcasting crew) was scheduled to televise six regular season games on Saturdays or Mondays in prime time
. On the subject of play-by-play man Al Michaels returning to baseball for the first time since the infamous, earthquake interrupted the 1989 World Series
, Jim Palmer said, "Here Al is, having done five games since 1989
, and steps right in. It's hard to comprehend how one guy could so amaze." NBC would then pick up where ABC left off by televising six more regular season Friday night games.
The networks had exclusive rights for the twelve regular season dates, in that no regional or national cable service (e.g. ESPN
or superstation
's like Chicago's WGN
or Atlanta's WTBS
) or over-the-air broadcaster was allowed to telecast a Major League Baseball game on those dates. Baseball Night in America (which premiered on July 16, 1994) usually aired up to fourteen games based on the viewers' region (affiliates chose games of local interest to carry) as opposed to a traditional coast-to-coast format. Normally, announcers who represented each of the teams playing in the respective games were paired with each other.
Every Baseball Night in America game was scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time
(or 8:00 p.m. Pacific Time
if the game occurred on the West Coast
). A single starting time gave the networks the opportunity to broadcast one game and then, simultaneously, cut to another game when there was a break in action.
Games involving the Toronto Blue Jays
and Montreal Expos
, were not always included in the Baseball Night in America package. Canadian rights holders were allowed to broadcast the games. When TSN (who owned the cable rights to the Blue Jays and Expos) covered the game in Canada, they re-broadcast the BNA feed across their network. Typically, if the Blue Jays were idle for the day, the Expos would be featured on TSN. Also, CBET
(the CBC
affiliate in Windsor, Ontario
) would air Blue Jays games if the Detroit Tigers
weren't at home that night or if the Blue Jays scheduled to play in Detroit. Whether or not the game would air in the opposing team's market would depend on which time zone they were from, or if they shared a market with another team.
and both League Championship Series
while ABC would have the World Series
and newly created Division Series
. In odd numbered years the postseason and All-Star Game television rights were supposed to alternate. The networks also promised not to begin any World Series weekend broadcasts after 7:20 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. When CBS held the television rights, postseason games routinely aired on the East Coast
at 8:30 p.m. at the earliest. This meant that Joe Carter
's dramatic World Series
clinching home run in 1993
occurred after midnight in the East. As CBS' baseball coverage progressed, they dropped the 8:00 p.m. pregame coverage (in favor of sitcoms such as Evening Shade
) before finally starting their coverage at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The first pitch would generally arrive at approximately 8:45 p.m.
ABC won the rights to the first dibs at the World Series in August 1993 after ABC Sports president Dennis Swanson won a coin toss by calling "heads." Ken Schanzer, who was the CEO
of The Baseball Network, handled the coin toss. Schanzer agreed to the coin toss by ABC and NBC at the outset as the means of determining the order in which they'd divvy up the playoffs.
What separated The Baseball Network from previous television deals with Major League Baseball (and was by far the most controversial part of the deal) was the fact that none of the postseason games outside of the World Series were guaranteed to be aired nationally. (Some playoff games were shown in 1995
only because other series had already concluded.) Because of this, games would often be played simultaneously. It also meant that fans everywhere could only see one game per night. This was done mainly in hopes of avoiding the possibilities of playoff games airing in the middle of the day (when most viewers would either be at work or at school). To put it in another way, the main reason why The Baseball Network did this was to maximize the total audience for each telecast by creating "destination viewing."
Major League Baseball was the only professional sport that played postseason games during weekday afternoons. The result was that ratings for daytime LCS games declined by 37%
between 1985
and 1993
. With The Baseball Network, hopes were high that games fans were most interested in would be available at a time when they were able to watch.
The Baseball Network in essence set out to create areas of "natural" interest. They scheduled all four first-round playoff games and both LCS for the same time slot, thereby preventing fans from seeing more than one game per night. But because so-called neutral markets summarily fell to one or the other league, the game a given viewer saw depended almost entirely on where that person lived. In cases where two teams from the same city made the playoffs, the networks agreed to show both games in their entirety on their owned-and-operated stations. Despite the frustration of not being able to see both League Championship Series on a national level, the 1995 LCS averaged a 13.1 rating
.
Besides the 1994 All-Star Game
and Game 6 of the 1995 World Series
, arguably, the most famous Baseball Network broadcast was Game 5 of the 1995 American League Division Series
between the New York Yankees
and the Seattle Mariners
, broadcast on ABC. It ended with the Mariners winning in 11 innings (via Edgar Martinez
's game winning double), to clinch their first ever trip to the American League Championship Series
.
What added to the troubles of The Baseball Network was the fact that Baseball Night in America held exclusivity over every market. This most severely impacted markets with two teams, specifically New York
(Mets
and Yankees
), the Greater Los Angeles Area
(Dodgers
and Angels
), Chicago (Cubs
and White Sox
), the San Francisco Bay Area
(Giants
and A's
), and even Texas
(Astros
and Rangers
). For example, if Baseball Night in America showed a Yankees game, this meant that nobody in New York could see that night's Mets game and vice versa.
Things got so bad for The Baseball Network that even local broadcasters objected to its operations. KSMO-TV
in Kansas City
, the primary over-the-air station for the Kansas City Royals
, went as far as to sue the Royals for breach of contract resulting from their broadcasts being "overexposed" and violating its territorial exclusivity.
Worse yet, even if a market had only one team, the ABC or NBC affiliate could still not broadcast that team's game if the start time was not appropriate for the time zone. For example, if the Detroit Tigers
(the only team in their market) played a road game in Seattle
, Oakland or Anaheim
beginning at 8:00 p.m. PT (a late game), Detroit's Baseball Network affiliate couldn't air the game because the start time was too late for the Detroit area (11:00 p.m. ET). Detroit viewers only had the option of viewing the early game of the night.
Sports Illustrated
s Tom Verducci
for one, was very harsh on The Baseball Network, dubbing it both "America's regional pastime" and an "abomination." ABC Sports
president Dennis Swanson, in announcing the dissolution of The Baseball Network, said "The fact of the matter is, Major League Baseball seems incapable at this point in time, of living with any long term relationships, whether it's with fans, with players, with the political community in Washington
, with the advertising community here in Manhattan
, or with its TV partners."
Five years after The Baseball Network dissolved, NBC Sports
play-by-play man Bob Costas
wrote in his book Fair Ball: A Fan's Case for Baseball that The Baseball Network was "stupid and an abomination." Costas wrote that the agreement involving the World Series being the only instance of The Baseball Network broadcasting a nationally was an unprecedented surrender of prestige, as well as a slap to all serious fans. Unlike the NHL
and the NBA
, the so-called Big Two of North America
n professional sports leagues: the NFL
and Major League Baseball
had nationally televised all playoff games for decades. Costas believed that The Baseball Network fundamentally corrupted the game and acknowledged that the most impassioned fans in baseball were now prevented from watching many of the playoff games that they wanted to see. Costas added that both the divisional series and the League Championship Series now merited scarcely higher priority than regional coverage provided for a Big Ten
football
game between Wisconsin
and Michigan
.
According to Curt Smith
's book, The Voice - Mel Allen's Untold Story, the longtime New York Yankees
broadcaster and This Week in Baseball
host
was quoted as saying "You wonder how anything would be worse [than CBS]. What kind of show cancels a twenty-six-week-season's first fourteen weeks?" (in response to TBN's tagline, "Welcome to the Show")
During the 1995 Division Series the fan frustration with The Baseball Network was so bad that the mere mention of it during the Mariners
-Yankees
ALDS
from public address announcer Tom Hutyler
at Seattle
's Kingdome
brought boos from most of the crowd.
, ABC was denied its remaining Baseball Night in America telecasts and NBC was shut out of their's altogether. Both networks elected to dissolve the partnership with Major League Baseball on June 22, 1995. Both networks figured that as the delayed 1995
baseball season opened without a labor agreement, there was no guarantee against another strike. To salvage the remains of the partnership, ABC and NBC elected to share coverage of the World Series. ABC, by virtue of their win of the 1994 coin toss, covered the odd numbered games and NBC the even numbered games; the decisive game of the 1995 World Series, thus, was aired on NBC.
Others would argue that a primary reason for its failure was its abandoning of localized markets in favor of more lucrative and stable advertising contracts afforded by turning to a national model of broadcasting, similar to the National Football League's television package
, which focuses on localized games, with one or two "national" games.
) deal in the end, signing a deal to carry three Division Series games, one half of the League Championship Series
(the ALCS
in even numbered years and the NLCS
in odd numbered years; Fox would televise the other LCS in said years), and the and 1999 World Series
respectively (Fox had exclusive rights to the , and 2000 World Series
).
With ABC being sold to the Walt Disney Company in 1996, ESPN
would pick up Division Series day and late-night games with a provision similar to ESPN's National Football League games
, where the games would air on network affiliates in the local markets of the two teams only. ESPN's Major League Baseball contract was not affected then but would take a hit in 1998 with the new National Football League contract.
In the end, the venture would lose $
95 million in advertising and nearly $500 million in national and local spending.
, Jim Palmer
, Tim McCarver
, and Lesley Visser
as the lead broadcasting team (Brent Musburger
, CBS alumnus Jim Kaat
, and Jack Arute
became the number two team for ABC). Meanwhile, NBC used Bob Costas
, Joe Morgan
, Bob Uecker
and Jim Gray
as their lead broadcasting team. John Saunders was the studio host for ABC's Baseball Night in America coverage. Hannah Storm
hosted NBC's studio show for the lone season the network was able to participate in The Baseball Network; Greg Gumbel
was NBC's studio host for its coverage of the 1994 All-Star Game (as previously mentioned). In 1995
, Gumbel became the number two play-by-play announcer for NBC (working with Joe Morgan on the National League Championship Series
) behind Bob Costas.
Joint venture
A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...
between ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, NBC, and Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
. Under the arrangement, beginning in the 1994 season
1994 Major League Baseball season
The 1994 Major League Baseball season ended with the infamous players strike ending the season on August 11, 1994.-Strike:As a result of a players' strike, the MLB season ended prematurely on August 11, 1994. No postseason was played...
, the league produced its own in-house telecasts of games, which were then brokered
Brokered programming
Brokered programming is a form of broadcast content in which the show's producer pays a radio or television station for air time, rather than exchanging programming for pay or the opportunity to play spot commercials...
to air on ABC and NBC. The package included coverage of games in primetime on selected nights, along with coverage of the postseason and the World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
.
Unlike previous broadcasting arrangements with the league, there was also no national "game of the week
Major League Baseball Game of the Week
The Major League Baseball Game of the Week is the de facto title for over-the-air, nationally televised coverage of regular season Major League Baseball games...
" during the regular season, replaced by multiple regional telecasts per night. Additionally, the arrangement had exclusivityno other television outlet could televise an MLB game on the same night that The Baseball Network was televising a game.
The arrangement did not last long; due to the effects of a players' strike on the remainder of the 1994 season, and poor reception from fans and critics over the coverage was implemented, The Baseball Network would be disbanded after the 1995 season
1995 Major League Baseball season
Due to the 1994 Major League Baseball strike which carried into the 1995 season, a shortened 144 game schedule commenced on April 25, when the Florida Marlins played host to the Los Angeles Dodgers.-Regular season:...
. While NBC would maintain rights to certain games, the growing Fox network
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
became the league's new national broadcast partner beginning in .
Background
After the fall-out from CBS' financial problems from their exclusive, four year long television contract with Major League Baseball (a contract that cost the network $United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
500 million), Major League Baseball decided to go into the business of producing the telecasts themselves. In reaction to the failed trial with CBS, Major League Baseball was desperately grasping for every available dollar.
After a four year hiatus, ABC and NBC (who last
1989 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*World Series: Oakland Athletics over San Francisco Giants ; Dave Stewart, MVP*American League Championship Series MVP: Rickey Henderson*National League Championship Series MVP: Will Clark...
aired Thursday Night Baseball
Thursday Night Baseball
Thursday Night Baseball is the title of a presentation of Major League Baseball on cable and satellite channel MLB Network, that premiered on April 9, 2009. Longtime NBC Sports broadcaster Bob Costas is one of the play-by-play voices of the broadcasts. Matt Vasgersian also does play-by-play on some...
games and the Saturday afternoon Game of the Week
Major League Baseball Game of the Week
The Major League Baseball Game of the Week is the de facto title for over-the-air, nationally televised coverage of regular season Major League Baseball games...
respectively) returned to Major League Baseball under the umbrella of a revenue
Revenue
In business, revenue is income that a company receives from its normal business activities, usually from the sale of goods and services to customers. In many countries, such as the United Kingdom, revenue is referred to as turnover....
sharing venture called The Baseball Network. Under a six year plan, Major League Baseball was intended to receive 85%
Percentage
In mathematics, a percentage is a way of expressing a number as a fraction of 100 . It is often denoted using the percent sign, “%”, or the abbreviation “pct”. For example, 45% is equal to 45/100, or 0.45.Percentages are used to express how large/small one quantity is, relative to another quantity...
of the first $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
140 million in advertising revenue (or 87.5% of advertising revenues and corporate sponsorship from the games until sales top a specified level), 50% of the next $30 million, and 80% of any additional money. Prior to this, Major League Baseball was projected to take a projected 55% cut in rights fees and receive a typical rights fee from the networks. When compared to the previous TV deal with CBS, The Baseball Network was supposed to bring in 50% less of the broadcasting revenue. The advertisers were reportedly excited about the arrangement with The Baseball Network because the new package included several changes intended to boost ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
, especially among younger viewers.
Arranging broadcasts through The Baseball Network seemed, on the surface, to benefit NBC and ABC since it gave them a monopoly
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
on broadcasting Major League Baseball games. The deal was similar to a time-buy
Brokered programming
Brokered programming is a form of broadcast content in which the show's producer pays a radio or television station for air time, rather than exchanging programming for pay or the opportunity to play spot commercials...
, instead of a traditional rights fee situation. It also stood to benefit the networks because they reduced the risk associated with purchasing the broadcast rights outright (in stark contrast to CBS' disastrous contract with Major League Baseball from the - seasons). NBC and ABC were to create a loss-free environment for each other and keep an emerging Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
, who had recently made an aggressive and ultimately successful $1.58 billion bid for the television rights
NFL on television
The television rights to broadcast National Football League games are the most lucrative and expensive rights of any American sport. It was television that brought professional football into prominence in the modern era after World War II...
for National Football Conference
National Football Conference
The National Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . This conference and its counterpart, the American Football Conference , currently contain 16 teams each, making up the 32 teams of the NFL.-Current teams:Since 2002, the NFC has comprised 16 teams,...
games (thus, becoming a large player in the sports broadcasting game in the process), at bay. As a result of Fox's NFL gain, CBS was weakened further by affiliate changes
Fox affiliate switches of 1994
The United States television network affiliate switches of 1994 were a series of events resulting from a multi-million dollar deal between Fox Broadcasting Company, known commonly as Fox, and New World Communications, an owner of several VHF television stations affiliated with major networks,...
, as a number of stations jumped to Fox from CBS. For example, in Detroit
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
, WWJ-TV
WWJ-TV
WWJ-TV, virtual channel 62 , is the CBS-owned and operated television station in Detroit, Michigan. It is co-owned with Detroit's CW station, WKBD-TV , and the two stations share a studio in Southfield, Michigan, a Detroit suburb....
replaced WJBK
WJBK
WJBK is the Fox–owned and operated television station in Detroit, Michigan broadcasting on digital channel 7...
.
Key figures involved in the creation and production for The Baseball Network:
- David Alworth (vice president of broadcasting and production management)
- Chris Bevilacqua (director of corporate sponsorships)
- Rick Clifford
- Ed Delaney (vice president of operations)
- Dick EbersolDick EbersolDuncan "Dick" Ebersol is an American television executive and a senior adviser for . He had previously been the chairman of NBC Sports, producing large scale television events such as the Olympic Games and National Football League broadcasts....
(president of NBC Sports) - Eddie EinhornEddie EinhornEddie Einhorn is minority owner and Vice Chairman of the Chicago White Sox.Einhorn produced the nationally syndicated radio broadcast of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship in 1958...
(vice chairman of the Chicago White SoxChicago White SoxThe Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...
, television producer and a member of Major League Baseball's television committee) - John Filippelli (coordinating producer)
- Ross LevinsohnRoss LevinsohnRoss Levinsohn is the EVP of "Americas" at Yahoo where he oversees the US, Canada, Latin and South American businesses for the Internet giant. He was named to this post in November, 2010, after nearly three years as managing director of Fuse Capital, a technology and media investment firm based in...
- Jon Litner (vice president of business affairs)
- Jed Petrick (vice president of sales)
- Ken Schanzer (president and chief operating officer)
- Bud SeligBud SeligAllan Huber "Bud" Selig is the ninth and current Commissioner of Major League Baseball, having served in that capacity since 1992 as the acting commissioner, and as the official commissioner since 1998...
(owner of the Milwaukee BrewersMilwaukee BrewersThe Milwaukee Brewers are a professional baseball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, currently playing in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
and acting commissioner of Major League Baseball) - Dennis Swanson (president of ABC Sports)
- Tom WernerTom WernerThomas Charles "Tom" Werner is an American television producer and businessman who, via his investment in New England Sports Ventures, is chairman of the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool Football Club....
(owner of the San Diego PadresSan Diego PadresThe San Diego Padres are a Major League Baseball team based in San Diego, California. They play in the National League Western Division. Founded in 1969, the Padres have won the National League Pennant twice, in 1984 and 1998, losing in the World Series both times...
and a member of Major League Baseball's television committee)
Coverage
The Baseball Network kicked off its coverage on July 12, 1994 with the All-Star Game1994 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The 1994 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 65th playing of the midsummer classic between the all-stars of the American League and National League , the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball...
out of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
's Three Rivers Stadium
Three Rivers Stadium
Three Rivers Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1970 to 2000. It was home to the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Pittsburgh Steelers, the city's Major League Baseball franchise and National Football League franchise respectively.Built as a replacement to...
. The game was televised on NBC with Bob Costas
Bob Costas
Robert Quinlan "Bob" Costas is an American sportscaster, on the air for the NBC network since the early 1980s.-Early life:...
, Joe Morgan
Joe Morgan
Joe Leonard Morgan is a former Major League Baseball second baseman who played for the Houston Astros, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies, and Oakland Athletics from 1963 to 1984. He won two World Series championships with the Reds in 1975 and 1976 and was also named the...
, and Bob Uecker
Bob Uecker
Robert George "Bob" Uecker is an American former Major League Baseball player, later a sportscaster, comedian, and actor. Uecker was given the title of "Mr. Baseball" by Johnny Carson...
calling the action and Greg Gumbel
Greg Gumbel
Greg Gumbel is an American television sportscaster. He is best known for his various assignments on the CBS network...
hosting the pre-game show. Helping with interviews were Hannah Storm
Hannah Storm
Hannah Storm is an American television sports journalist, serving as co-anchor of ESPN's SportsCenter Monday–Thursday mornings, and is also host of the NBA Countdown pregame show on ABC as part of the network's NBA Sunday game coverage.-Early life and career:Storm was born in Oak Park, Illinois,...
and Johnny Bench
Johnny Bench
Johnny Lee Bench is a former professional baseball catcher who played in the Major Leagues for the Cincinnati Reds from 1967 to 1983 and is a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame...
. The 1994 All-Star Game reportedly sold out all its advertising slots. This was considered an impressive financial accomplishment, given that one thirty-second spot cost $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
300,000.
Theme music and graphics
The slogan for The Baseball Network was "Welcome to the Show." Meanwhile, the rather fast-paced, bombastic, and/or fanfare sounding theme music for The Baseball Network's telecasts was composed by Scott SchreerScott Schreer
Scott Schreer is an award-winning BMI composer and producer of theme songs for television programs, including NFL on Fox, NHL on Fox, MLB on Fox, NASCAR on Fox, Hope and Faith, The Cosby Show, and The O'Reilly Factor. As a musician and producer, he has garnered six Emmy nominations and has...
of the New York recording studio company NJJ Music (who would also composed the themes used for the Fox Network
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
's sports coverage
Fox Sports (USA)
Fox Sports is a division of the Fox Broadcasting Company . It was formed in 1994 with Fox's acquisition of broadcast rights to National Football League games...
, which would later include Major League Baseball as previously alluded to). As an MLB production (as opposed to strictly being an ABC Sports or NBC Sports production respectively), network branding on the telecasts was minimal, except for the placement of the network logo on microphone flags alongside that of The Baseball Network.
The primary colors for the graphics department on Baseball Network telecasts were #1 blue, #2 white, and #3 red. ABC and NBC shared the same on-air graphics and even the microphone "flags" had the Baseball Network's logo on it with the respective network logo. The official Baseball Network logo was a black television set slightly titled upwards to the right. In the blue screen of the television set contained in bold white, the words The Baseball Network.
Baseball Night in America
After the All-Star Game was complete, ABC (with a reunited Al MichaelsAl Michaels
Alan Richard "Al" Michaels is an American television sportscaster. Now employed by NBC Sports after nearly three decades with ABC Sports, Michaels is one of the most prominent members of his profession...
, Tim McCarver
Tim McCarver
James Timothy "Tim" McCarver is an American former Major League Baseball catcher, and a current sportscaster in residence for Fox Sports.-Playing career:...
, and Jim Palmer
Jim Palmer
James Alvin "Jim" Palmer , nicknamed "Cakes", is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He played his entire 20-year baseball career for the Baltimore Orioles . He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in .As of 2008, Palmer and his wife Susan have homes in Palm Beach, Florida, and...
along with CBS baseball alumnus Lesley Visser
Lesley Visser
Lesley Candace Visser is an American sportscaster, radio personality, and sportswriter. Visser is the first female NFL analyst on TV, and the only sportscaster in history, male or female, who has worked on Final Four, NBA Finals, World Series, Triple Crown, Monday Night Football, the Olympics, the...
as the primary broadcasting crew) was scheduled to televise six regular season games on Saturdays or Mondays in prime time
Prime time
Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast programming during the middle of the evening for television programing.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period—for example, from 19:00 to 22:00 or 20:00 to 23:00 Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast...
. On the subject of play-by-play man Al Michaels returning to baseball for the first time since the infamous, earthquake interrupted the 1989 World Series
1989 World Series
†: Game 3 was originally slated for October 17 at 5:35 pm; however, it was postponed when an earthquake occurred at 5:04 pm.-Game 1:Saturday, October 14, 1989 at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California...
, Jim Palmer said, "Here Al is, having done five games since 1989
1989 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*World Series: Oakland Athletics over San Francisco Giants ; Dave Stewart, MVP*American League Championship Series MVP: Rickey Henderson*National League Championship Series MVP: Will Clark...
, and steps right in. It's hard to comprehend how one guy could so amaze." NBC would then pick up where ABC left off by televising six more regular season Friday night games.
The networks had exclusive rights for the twelve regular season dates, in that no regional or national cable service (e.g. ESPN
ESPN Major League Baseball
ESPN Major League Baseball is a promotion of Major League Baseball on ESPN and ESPN2, with simulcasts on ESPNHD or ESPN2HD. ESPN's MLB coverage debuted on April 9, 1990 with three Opening Day telecasts. ESPN Major League Baseball is guaranteed to remain on air until 2013.The title is derived from...
or superstation
Major League Baseball on superstations
-Boston Red Sox:WSBK-TV generally broadcasts syndicated programs and movies. However, the station is best known in the Boston area for being the long-time television home of the Boston Red Sox. WSBK became the Red Sox's over-air flagship station in 1975 and remained so for 20 years losing the...
's like Chicago's WGN
WGN-TV
WGN-TV, virtual channel 9 , is the CW-affiliated television station in Chicago, Illinois built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WGN-TV's studios and offices are located at 2501 W...
or Atlanta's WTBS
Braves TBS Baseball
Braves TBS Baseball or Braves Baseball on TBS is a Major League Baseball broadcast on the TBS cable network by Turner Sports, featuring Atlanta Braves regular season games...
) or over-the-air broadcaster was allowed to telecast a Major League Baseball game on those dates. Baseball Night in America (which premiered on July 16, 1994) usually aired up to fourteen games based on the viewers' region (affiliates chose games of local interest to carry) as opposed to a traditional coast-to-coast format. Normally, announcers who represented each of the teams playing in the respective games were paired with each other.
Every Baseball Night in America game was scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time
North American Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
(or 8:00 p.m. Pacific Time
Pacific Time Zone
The Pacific Time Zone observes standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time . The clock time in this zone is based on the mean solar time of the 120th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory. During daylight saving time, its time offset is UTC-7.In the United States...
if the game occurred on the West Coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
). A single starting time gave the networks the opportunity to broadcast one game and then, simultaneously, cut to another game when there was a break in action.
Games involving the Toronto Blue Jays
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are a professional baseball team located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Jays are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball 's American League ....
and Montreal Expos
Montreal Expos
The Montreal Expos were a Major League Baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec from 1969 through 2004, holding the first MLB franchise awarded outside the United States. After the 2004 season, MLB moved the Expos to Washington, D.C. and renamed them the Nationals.Named after the Expo 67 World's...
, were not always included in the Baseball Night in America package. Canadian rights holders were allowed to broadcast the games. When TSN (who owned the cable rights to the Blue Jays and Expos) covered the game in Canada, they re-broadcast the BNA feed across their network. Typically, if the Blue Jays were idle for the day, the Expos would be featured on TSN. Also, CBET
CBET
CBET, channel 9, is the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's owned-and-operated television station in Windsor, Ontario. The station's signal also covers the Detroit, Michigan area across the international border in the United States, and is counted as a Detroit station for the purposes of...
(the CBC
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
affiliate in Windsor, Ontario
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, Ontario, although administratively separated from the county government. Separated by the Detroit River, Windsor...
) would air Blue Jays games if the Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
weren't at home that night or if the Blue Jays scheduled to play in Detroit. Whether or not the game would air in the opposing team's market would depend on which time zone they were from, or if they shared a market with another team.
1994 schedule
| Date | Teams | Play-by-play | Color commentator Color commentator A color commentator is a sports commentator who assists the play-by-play announcer, often by filling in any time when play is not in progress. The color analyst and main commentator will often exchange comments freely throughout the broadcast, when the play-by-play announcer is not describing the... s |
| July 16 | Baltimore @ California 1994 California Angels season The California Angels 1994 season involved the Angels finishing 4th in the American League west with a record of 47 wins and 68 losses. The season was cut short by the infamous 1994 player's strike.-Offseason:... |
Ken Wilson | Bert Blyleven Bert Blyleven Bert Blyleven is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played from to , and was best known for his curveball. Blyleven was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011... |
| Cleveland 1994 Cleveland Indians season -Offseason:* November 2, 1993: Heathcliff Slocumb was traded by the Indians to the Philadelphia Phillies for Ruben Amaro, Jr..* December 2, 1993: Dennis Martínez was signed as a free agent by the Indians.... @ Chicago White Sox 1994 Chicago White Sox season The 1994 Chicago White Sox season was the White Sox's 94th season in the major leagues, and their 95th season overall. They finished with a record 67-46, good enough for 1st place in the American League Central, 1 game ahead of the 2nd place Cleveland Indians.... |
Ken Harrelson Ken Harrelson Kenneth Smith Harrelson , nicknamed "The Hawk" due to his distinctive profile, is a former All-Star first baseman and outfielder in Major League Baseball... |
Lary Sorensen Lary Sorensen Lary Alan Sorensen is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the Milwaukee Brewers , St... |
|
| Detroit 1994 Detroit Tigers season The Detroit Tigers' 1994 season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Detroit Tigers attempting to win the AL Central.-Offseason:* November 1, 1993: Eric Davis was signed as a free agent by the Tigers.... @ Kansas City 1994 Kansas City Royals season The Kansas City Royals season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Royals finishing 3rd in the American League Central with a record of 64 wins and 51 losses. The season was cut short by the 1994 player's strike... |
Tom Hammond Tom Hammond Tom Hammond is an American sportscaster for NBC Sports television. Hammond is one of the network's staple on-air presenters, along with Bob Costas and Dan Hicks... |
Tommy Hutton Tommy Hutton Thomas George Hutton is a former Major League Baseball player and is currently the color analyst for Miami Marlins baseball broadcasts on FSN Florida and Sun Sports - a position he has held since the 1997 season... |
|
| Milwaukee 1994 Milwaukee Brewers season The Milwaukee Brewers' 1994 season involved the Brewers' finishing 5th in the American League Central with a record of 53 wins and 62 losses.-Offseason:* December 14, 1993: Tony Diggs was traded by the Brewers to the St... @ Minnesota |
George Grande George Grande George Grande is an American sportscaster who hosted the very first broadcast of SportsCenter on ESPN in 1979.-Early life and career:He graduated from the University of Southern California in 1969, where he won the 1968 College World Series... |
George Frazier | |
| Boston 1994 Boston Red Sox season The Boston Red Sox season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Red Sox finishing 4th in the American League East with a record of 54 wins and 61 losses... @ Oakland 1994 Oakland Athletics season The Oakland Athletics' 1994 season involved the A's finishing 2nd in the American League West with a record of 51 wins and 63 losses. The season was cut short by the infamous 1994 player's strike.-Offseason:... |
Dick Stockton Dick Stockton Dick Stockton is an American sportscaster. He is currently employed by Fox Sports and Turner Sports as a football, baseball, and basketball play-by-play announcer.-Early life and career:... |
Jerry Remy Jerry Remy Gerald Peter "Rem Dawg" Remy is a Major League Baseball broadcaster and former Major League Baseball second baseman. Remy grew up in Somerset, Massachusetts.-Playing career:... |
|
| New York Yankees 1994 New York Yankees season The New York Yankees' 1994 season was the 92nd season for the Yankees. New York was managed by Buck Showalter and played at Yankee Stadium. The team finished with a record of 70-43 finishing games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles, having the best record in the American League and the second-best... @ Seattle 1994 Seattle Mariners season The Seattle Mariners 1994 season was their 18th since the franchise creation, and ended the season finishing 3rd in the American League West, finishing with a record of 49-63... |
Al Michaels Al Michaels Alan Richard "Al" Michaels is an American television sportscaster. Now employed by NBC Sports after nearly three decades with ABC Sports, Michaels is one of the most prominent members of his profession... |
Jim Palmer Jim Palmer James Alvin "Jim" Palmer , nicknamed "Cakes", is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He played his entire 20-year baseball career for the Baltimore Orioles . He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in .As of 2008, Palmer and his wife Susan have homes in Palm Beach, Florida, and... and Tim McCarver Tim McCarver James Timothy "Tim" McCarver is an American former Major League Baseball catcher, and a current sportscaster in residence for Fox Sports.-Playing career:... |
|
| Toronto 1994 Toronto Blue Jays season The Toronto Blue Jays season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Blue Jays finishing 3rd in the American League East with a record of 55 wins and 60 losses. Cito Gaston was the manager for the American League squad at the All-Star Game. The Mid-Summer classic was played on July 12... @ Texas 1994 Texas Rangers season The Texas Rangers season involved the Rangers finishing first in the American League West with a record of 52 wins and 62 losses. The season was cut short by the infamous 1994 player's strike.-Offseason:... |
Steve Busby Steve Busby Steven Lee Busby is a former starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Kansas City Royals . He batted and threw right-handed.-Professional career:... |
Buck Martinez | |
| San Francisco 1994 San Francisco Giants season The 1994 San Francisco Giants season was the franchise's 112th season and 37th season in San Francisco. After winning 103 games in 1993, the Giants record dropped to 55-60 in a strike-shortened season... @ Montreal 1994 Montreal Expos season The Montreal Expos finished the season with the best record in Major League Baseball. The Expos had 74 wins compared to 40 losses. The 1994 Major League Baseball strike forced an end to the season and any postseason aspirations that the franchise had... |
Claude Raymond Claude Raymond (baseball) Jean Claude Marc Raymond was a pitcher for the Chicago White Sox , Milwaukee Braves/Atlanta Braves , Houston Colt .45's/Houston Astros and Montreal Expos... |
Camille Dube | |
| San Diego 1994 San Diego Padres season The 1994 San Diego Padres season was the 26th season in franchise history.-Offseason:* November 18, 1993: Jarvis Brown was selected off waivers from the Padres by the Atlanta Braves.... @ New York Mets 1994 New York Mets season The New York Mets' 1994 season was the 33rd regular season for the Mets. They went 55-58 and finished 3rd in the NL East. They were managed by Dallas Green. They played home games at Shea Stadium... |
Gary Thorne Gary Thorne Gary Thorne is a play-by-play announcer for ESPN and ABC, working Major League Baseball, College football and Frozen Four hockey contests. He is also the television play-by-play voice of the Baltimore Orioles... |
Bob Murphy | |
| Los Angeles 1994 Los Angeles Dodgers season The Dodgers were leading the National League's Western Division in the 1994 season when a players strike halted the season.-Offseason:*November 17, 1993: Acquired Delino DeShields from the Montreal Expos for Pedro Martínez... @ Philadelphia 1994 Philadelphia Phillies season -Offseason:*November 2, 1993: Heathcliff Slocumb was traded by the Cleveland Indians to the Philadelphia Phillies for Ruben Amaro. * December 2, 1993: Mitch Williams was traded by the Philadelphia Phillies to the Houston Astros for Doug Jones and Jeff Juden.... |
Chris Wheeler Chris Wheeler Chris Wheeler is an announcer and color commentator for the Philadelphia Phillies in Major League Baseball. Nicknamed "Wheels", or alternatively "Muffin" , Wheeler has been broadcasting for the Phillies on TV and radio since 1977. In 1971, he entered the Phillies organization as Assistant Director... |
Jim Kaat Jim Kaat James Lee "Jim" Kaat , nicknamed "Kitty", is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins , Chicago White Sox , Philadelphia Phillies , New York Yankees , and St... |
|
| Houston 1994 Houston Astros season The Houston Astros' 1994 season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Houston Astros attempting to win the National League Central.-Offseason:... @ Pittsburgh 1994 Pittsburgh Pirates season -Offseason:*January 5, 1994: Gary Varsho was signed as a Free Agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates.*March 28, 1994: Gary Varsho was released by the Pittsburgh Pirates.*March 29, 1994: Gary Varsho was signed as a Free Agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates.... |
Lanny Frattare Lanny Frattare Lanny Lawrence Frattare is a former American sportscaster. For 33 years he was a play-by-play announcer for Major League Baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates, the longest such tenure in the team's history... |
Larry Dierker Larry Dierker Lawrence Edward Dierker is a former Major League Baseball pitcher and manager. During a 14-year baseball career as a pitcher, he pitched from 1964–1977 for the Houston Colt .45s/Astros and the St. Louis Cardinals... |
|
| Florida 1994 Florida Marlins season The 1994 Florida Marlins season started off with the team trying to improve on their record from 1993. Their manager was Rene Lachemann. They played home games at Joe Robbie Stadium. They finished with a record of 51-64, last in the National League East... @ Atlanta 1994 Atlanta Braves season -Offseason:*October 15, 1993: Jerry Willard was released by the Atlanta Braves.*October 25, 1993: Marvin Freeman was released by the Atlanta Braves.*November 18, 1993: Jarvis Brown was selected off waivers by the Atlanta Braves from the San Diego Padres.... |
Pete Van Wieren Pete Van Wieren Pete van Wieren is a former American sportscaster best known for his long career calling play-by-play for Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves.-Atlanta Braves:... |
Steve Zabriskie | |
| Chicago Cubs 1994 Chicago Cubs season The 1994 Chicago Cubs season was the 122nd for the franchise. One of the highlights of the season was Karl "Tuffy" Rhodes hitting three home runs on Opening Day. Rhodes would only hit five more homers that season.-Offseason:... @ Cincinnati 1994 Cincinnati Reds season The Cincinnati Reds' 1994 season consisted of the Cincinnati Reds attempting to win the National League Central.-Offseason:* November 2, 1993: Dan Wilson and Bobby Ayala were traded by the Reds to the Seattle Mariners for Bret Boone and Erik Hanson.... |
Marty Brennaman Marty Brennaman Franchester Martin "Marty" Brennaman , is an American sportscaster, known primarily as the radio voice of Major League Baseball's Cincinnati Reds on the Cincinnati Reds Radio Network.-Early life:... |
Thom Brennaman Thom Brennaman Thomas Wade "Thom" Brennaman is an American sportscaster, and the son of current Cincinnati Reds radio sportscaster Marty Brennaman.-Broadcasting career:... |
|
| St. Louis 1994 St. Louis Cardinals season The St. Louis Cardinals 1994 season was the team's 113th season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 103rd season in the National League. The Cardinals went 53-61 during the season and finished 3rd in the National League Central division... @ Colorado 1994 Colorado Rockies season The Colorado Rockies' 1994 season was the 2nd for the Rockies. They tried to win the National League West. Don Baylor was their manager. They played home games at Mile High Stadium.They finished with a record of 53-64, 3rd in the division... |
Joe Buck Joe Buck Joseph Francis "Joe" Buck is an American sportscaster and the son of legendary sportscaster Jack Buck. He has won numerous Sports Emmy Awards for his play-by-play work with Fox Sports.-Education:... |
Dave Campbell | |
| July 18 | Texas 1994 Texas Rangers season The Texas Rangers season involved the Rangers finishing first in the American League West with a record of 52 wins and 62 losses. The season was cut short by the infamous 1994 player's strike.-Offseason:... @ Cleveland 1994 Cleveland Indians season -Offseason:* November 2, 1993: Heathcliff Slocumb was traded by the Indians to the Philadelphia Phillies for Ruben Amaro, Jr..* December 2, 1993: Dennis Martínez was signed as a free agent by the Indians.... |
Tom Hamilton Tom Hamilton (broadcaster) Tom Hamilton , a native of Waterloo, Wisconsin, is the chief radio announcer for the Cleveland Indians Major League Baseball team, and during the off season, serves as a college basketball commentator for The Big Ten Network.... |
Steve Busby Steve Busby Steven Lee Busby is a former starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Kansas City Royals . He batted and threw right-handed.-Professional career:... |
| Kansas City 1994 Kansas City Royals season The Kansas City Royals season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Royals finishing 3rd in the American League Central with a record of 64 wins and 51 losses. The season was cut short by the 1994 player's strike... @ Milwaukee 1994 Milwaukee Brewers season The Milwaukee Brewers' 1994 season involved the Brewers' finishing 5th in the American League Central with a record of 53 wins and 62 losses.-Offseason:* December 14, 1993: Tony Diggs was traded by the Brewers to the St... |
Tom Hammond Tom Hammond Tom Hammond is an American sportscaster for NBC Sports television. Hammond is one of the network's staple on-air presenters, along with Bob Costas and Dan Hicks... |
George Frazier | |
| Minnesota @ Toronto 1994 Toronto Blue Jays season The Toronto Blue Jays season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Blue Jays finishing 3rd in the American League East with a record of 55 wins and 60 losses. Cito Gaston was the manager for the American League squad at the All-Star Game. The Mid-Summer classic was played on July 12... |
Jim Hughson Jim Hughson Jim Hughson is a Canadian sportscaster, best known for his play-by-play of professional ice hockey and baseball.-Biography:... |
Buck Martinez | |
| Boston 1994 Boston Red Sox season The Boston Red Sox season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Red Sox finishing 4th in the American League East with a record of 54 wins and 61 losses... @ California 1994 California Angels season The California Angels 1994 season involved the Angels finishing 4th in the American League west with a record of 47 wins and 68 losses. The season was cut short by the infamous 1994 player's strike.-Offseason:... |
Al Michaels Al Michaels Alan Richard "Al" Michaels is an American television sportscaster. Now employed by NBC Sports after nearly three decades with ABC Sports, Michaels is one of the most prominent members of his profession... |
Jim Palmer Jim Palmer James Alvin "Jim" Palmer , nicknamed "Cakes", is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He played his entire 20-year baseball career for the Baltimore Orioles . He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in .As of 2008, Palmer and his wife Susan have homes in Palm Beach, Florida, and... and Tim McCarver Tim McCarver James Timothy "Tim" McCarver is an American former Major League Baseball catcher, and a current sportscaster in residence for Fox Sports.-Playing career:... |
|
| Detroit 1994 Detroit Tigers season The Detroit Tigers' 1994 season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Detroit Tigers attempting to win the AL Central.-Offseason:* November 1, 1993: Eric Davis was signed as a free agent by the Tigers.... @ Chicago White Sox 1994 Chicago White Sox season The 1994 Chicago White Sox season was the White Sox's 94th season in the major leagues, and their 95th season overall. They finished with a record 67-46, good enough for 1st place in the American League Central, 1 game ahead of the 2nd place Cleveland Indians.... |
Ken Harrelson Ken Harrelson Kenneth Smith Harrelson , nicknamed "The Hawk" due to his distinctive profile, is a former All-Star first baseman and outfielder in Major League Baseball... |
Lary Sorensen Lary Sorensen Lary Alan Sorensen is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the Milwaukee Brewers , St... |
|
| New York Yankees 1994 New York Yankees season The New York Yankees' 1994 season was the 92nd season for the Yankees. New York was managed by Buck Showalter and played at Yankee Stadium. The team finished with a record of 70-43 finishing games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles, having the best record in the American League and the second-best... @ Oakland 1994 Oakland Athletics season The Oakland Athletics' 1994 season involved the A's finishing 2nd in the American League West with a record of 51 wins and 63 losses. The season was cut short by the infamous 1994 player's strike.-Offseason:... |
Dick Stockton Dick Stockton Dick Stockton is an American sportscaster. He is currently employed by Fox Sports and Turner Sports as a football, baseball, and basketball play-by-play announcer.-Early life and career:... |
Dewayne Staats Dewayne Staats Dewayne Staats is the play-by-play commentator for the Tampa Bay Rays' television broadcasts . He is teamed with color commentary announcer Brian Anderson. He has previously worked with analysts Joe Magrane and Kevin Kennedy.-Biography:Growing up near St. Louis, Missouri in Wood River, IL, Staats... |
|
| Baltimore @ Seattle 1994 Seattle Mariners season The Seattle Mariners 1994 season was their 18th since the franchise creation, and ended the season finishing 3rd in the American League West, finishing with a record of 49-63... |
Jon Miller Jon Miller Jon Wallace Miller is an American sportscaster, known primarily for his broadcasts of Major League Baseball. He is currently employed as a play-by-play announcer for the San Francisco Giants. He was also a baseball announcer on ESPN until the network chose not to renew his contract following the... |
Ron Fairly Ron Fairly Ronald Ray Fairly is a former Major League Baseball player and broadcaster. He either played in or broadcast over 7,000 major league games from through .-College career:... |
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| San Diego 1994 San Diego Padres season The 1994 San Diego Padres season was the 26th season in franchise history.-Offseason:* November 18, 1993: Jarvis Brown was selected off waivers from the Padres by the Atlanta Braves.... @ Montreal 1994 Montreal Expos season The Montreal Expos finished the season with the best record in Major League Baseball. The Expos had 74 wins compared to 40 losses. The 1994 Major League Baseball strike forced an end to the season and any postseason aspirations that the franchise had... |
Dave Van Horne Dave Van Horne Dave Van Horne, a native of Easton, Pennsylvania, is a Major League Baseball announcer. He is the lead radio play-by-play announcer for the Miami Marlins on the Marlins Radio Network... |
Jerry Coleman Jerry Coleman Gerald Francis "Jerry" Coleman is a former Major League Baseball second baseman for the New York Yankees. Currently, he is an analyst and former play-by-play radio announcer for the San Diego Padres... |
|
| Los Angeles 1994 Los Angeles Dodgers season The Dodgers were leading the National League's Western Division in the 1994 season when a players strike halted the season.-Offseason:*November 17, 1993: Acquired Delino DeShields from the Montreal Expos for Pedro Martínez... @ New York Mets 1994 New York Mets season The New York Mets' 1994 season was the 33rd regular season for the Mets. They went 55-58 and finished 3rd in the NL East. They were managed by Dallas Green. They played home games at Shea Stadium... |
Gary Thorne Gary Thorne Gary Thorne is a play-by-play announcer for ESPN and ABC, working Major League Baseball, College football and Frozen Four hockey contests. He is also the television play-by-play voice of the Baltimore Orioles... |
Jim Kaat Jim Kaat James Lee "Jim" Kaat , nicknamed "Kitty", is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins , Chicago White Sox , Philadelphia Phillies , New York Yankees , and St... |
|
| San Francisco 1994 San Francisco Giants season The 1994 San Francisco Giants season was the franchise's 112th season and 37th season in San Francisco. After winning 103 games in 1993, the Giants record dropped to 55-60 in a strike-shortened season... @ Philadelphia 1994 Philadelphia Phillies season -Offseason:*November 2, 1993: Heathcliff Slocumb was traded by the Cleveland Indians to the Philadelphia Phillies for Ruben Amaro. * December 2, 1993: Mitch Williams was traded by the Philadelphia Phillies to the Houston Astros for Doug Jones and Jeff Juden.... |
Ted Robinson Ted Robinson (sportscaster) Theodore "Ted" Robinson is an American sportscaster. He is currently the radio play-by-play announcer for the San Francisco 49ers, having taken over for longtime 49ers announcer, Joe Starkey, following Starkey's retirement in 2009.-Early life:Ted Robinson grew up in Rockville Centre, New York and... |
Garry Maddox | |
| Atlanta 1994 Atlanta Braves season -Offseason:*October 15, 1993: Jerry Willard was released by the Atlanta Braves.*October 25, 1993: Marvin Freeman was released by the Atlanta Braves.*November 18, 1993: Jarvis Brown was selected off waivers by the Atlanta Braves from the San Diego Padres.... @ Pittsburgh 1994 Pittsburgh Pirates season -Offseason:*January 5, 1994: Gary Varsho was signed as a Free Agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates.*March 28, 1994: Gary Varsho was released by the Pittsburgh Pirates.*March 29, 1994: Gary Varsho was signed as a Free Agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates.... |
Pete Van Wieren Pete Van Wieren Pete van Wieren is a former American sportscaster best known for his long career calling play-by-play for Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves.-Atlanta Braves:... |
Steve Blass Steve Blass Stephen Robert "Steve" Blass is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher and a current broadcast announcer for the Pittsburgh Pirates.-Playing career:Blass was born in Canaan, Connecticut... |
|
| Florida 1994 Florida Marlins season The 1994 Florida Marlins season started off with the team trying to improve on their record from 1993. Their manager was Rene Lachemann. They played home games at Joe Robbie Stadium. They finished with a record of 51-64, last in the National League East... @ Cincinnati 1994 Cincinnati Reds season The Cincinnati Reds' 1994 season consisted of the Cincinnati Reds attempting to win the National League Central.-Offseason:* November 2, 1993: Dan Wilson and Bobby Ayala were traded by the Reds to the Seattle Mariners for Bret Boone and Erik Hanson.... |
Paul Kennedy | Johnny Bench Johnny Bench Johnny Lee Bench is a former professional baseball catcher who played in the Major Leagues for the Cincinnati Reds from 1967 to 1983 and is a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame... |
|
| Chicago Cubs 1994 Chicago Cubs season The 1994 Chicago Cubs season was the 122nd for the franchise. One of the highlights of the season was Karl "Tuffy" Rhodes hitting three home runs on Opening Day. Rhodes would only hit five more homers that season.-Offseason:... @ Colorado 1994 Colorado Rockies season The Colorado Rockies' 1994 season was the 2nd for the Rockies. They tried to win the National League West. Don Baylor was their manager. They played home games at Mile High Stadium.They finished with a record of 53-64, 3rd in the division... |
Steve Physioc | Dave Campbell | |
| St. Louis 1994 St. Louis Cardinals season The St. Louis Cardinals 1994 season was the team's 113th season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 103rd season in the National League. The Cardinals went 53-61 during the season and finished 3rd in the National League Central division... @ Houston 1994 Houston Astros season The Houston Astros' 1994 season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Houston Astros attempting to win the National League Central.-Offseason:... |
Joe Buck Joe Buck Joseph Francis "Joe" Buck is an American sportscaster and the son of legendary sportscaster Jack Buck. He has won numerous Sports Emmy Awards for his play-by-play work with Fox Sports.-Education:... |
Larry Dierker Larry Dierker Lawrence Edward Dierker is a former Major League Baseball pitcher and manager. During a 14-year baseball career as a pitcher, he pitched from 1964–1977 for the Houston Colt .45s/Astros and the St. Louis Cardinals... |
|
| July 25 | Chicago White Sox 1994 Chicago White Sox season The 1994 Chicago White Sox season was the White Sox's 94th season in the major leagues, and their 95th season overall. They finished with a record 67-46, good enough for 1st place in the American League Central, 1 game ahead of the 2nd place Cleveland Indians.... @ Kansas City 1994 Kansas City Royals season The Kansas City Royals season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Royals finishing 3rd in the American League Central with a record of 64 wins and 51 losses. The season was cut short by the 1994 player's strike... |
Ken Harrelson Ken Harrelson Kenneth Smith Harrelson , nicknamed "The Hawk" due to his distinctive profile, is a former All-Star first baseman and outfielder in Major League Baseball... |
Steve Palermo Steve Palermo Stephen Michael Palermo is a former umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the American League from 1977 to 1991. His field career ended when he was shot in the back following his intervention in an altercation outside Campisi's, a Dallas Italian restaurant... |
| Minnesota @ Texas 1994 Texas Rangers season The Texas Rangers season involved the Rangers finishing first in the American League West with a record of 52 wins and 62 losses. The season was cut short by the infamous 1994 player's strike.-Offseason:... |
Steve Busby Steve Busby Steven Lee Busby is a former starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Kansas City Royals . He batted and threw right-handed.-Professional career:... |
George Frazier | |
| Philadelphia 1994 Philadelphia Phillies season -Offseason:*November 2, 1993: Heathcliff Slocumb was traded by the Cleveland Indians to the Philadelphia Phillies for Ruben Amaro. * December 2, 1993: Mitch Williams was traded by the Philadelphia Phillies to the Houston Astros for Doug Jones and Jeff Juden.... @ Florida 1994 Florida Marlins season The 1994 Florida Marlins season started off with the team trying to improve on their record from 1993. Their manager was Rene Lachemann. They played home games at Joe Robbie Stadium. They finished with a record of 51-64, last in the National League East... |
Chris Wheeler Chris Wheeler Chris Wheeler is an announcer and color commentator for the Philadelphia Phillies in Major League Baseball. Nicknamed "Wheels", or alternatively "Muffin" , Wheeler has been broadcasting for the Phillies on TV and radio since 1977. In 1971, he entered the Phillies organization as Assistant Director... |
Mike Schmidt Mike Schmidt Michael Jack Schmidt is a Hall of Fame third baseman popularly considered among the greatest third basemen in the history of Major League Baseball. He played his entire career for the Philadelphia Phillies.... |
|
| Chicago Cubs 1994 Chicago Cubs season The 1994 Chicago Cubs season was the 122nd for the franchise. One of the highlights of the season was Karl "Tuffy" Rhodes hitting three home runs on Opening Day. Rhodes would only hit five more homers that season.-Offseason:... @ Pittsburgh 1994 Pittsburgh Pirates season -Offseason:*January 5, 1994: Gary Varsho was signed as a Free Agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates.*March 28, 1994: Gary Varsho was released by the Pittsburgh Pirates.*March 29, 1994: Gary Varsho was signed as a Free Agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates.... |
Steve Physioc | Steve Blass Steve Blass Stephen Robert "Steve" Blass is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher and a current broadcast announcer for the Pittsburgh Pirates.-Playing career:Blass was born in Canaan, Connecticut... |
|
| New York Mets 1994 New York Mets season The New York Mets' 1994 season was the 33rd regular season for the Mets. They went 55-58 and finished 3rd in the NL East. They were managed by Dallas Green. They played home games at Shea Stadium... @ St. Louis 1994 St. Louis Cardinals season The St. Louis Cardinals 1994 season was the team's 113th season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 103rd season in the National League. The Cardinals went 53-61 during the season and finished 3rd in the National League Central division... |
Gary Thorne Gary Thorne Gary Thorne is a play-by-play announcer for ESPN and ABC, working Major League Baseball, College football and Frozen Four hockey contests. He is also the television play-by-play voice of the Baltimore Orioles... |
Al Hrabosky Al Hrabosky Alan Thomas "Al" Hrabosky is a former Major League Baseball player from - for the St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals and Atlanta Braves and is currently the color commentator on Cardinals regular season broadcasts on FSN Midwest... |
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| Montreal 1994 Montreal Expos season The Montreal Expos finished the season with the best record in Major League Baseball. The Expos had 74 wins compared to 40 losses. The 1994 Major League Baseball strike forced an end to the season and any postseason aspirations that the franchise had... @ Atlanta 1994 Atlanta Braves season -Offseason:*October 15, 1993: Jerry Willard was released by the Atlanta Braves.*October 25, 1993: Marvin Freeman was released by the Atlanta Braves.*November 18, 1993: Jarvis Brown was selected off waivers by the Atlanta Braves from the San Diego Padres.... |
Pete Van Wieren Pete Van Wieren Pete van Wieren is a former American sportscaster best known for his long career calling play-by-play for Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves.-Atlanta Braves:... |
Ken Singleton Ken Singleton Kenneth Wayne Singleton is an American former professional baseball player and current television sports commentator. He played as an outfielder and designated hitter in Major League Baseball for the New York Mets, Montreal Expos, and Baltimore Orioles.-Baseball career:Born in Manhattan, New York... |
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| Houston 1994 Houston Astros season The Houston Astros' 1994 season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Houston Astros attempting to win the National League Central.-Offseason:... @ Cincinnati 1994 Cincinnati Reds season The Cincinnati Reds' 1994 season consisted of the Cincinnati Reds attempting to win the National League Central.-Offseason:* November 2, 1993: Dan Wilson and Bobby Ayala were traded by the Reds to the Seattle Mariners for Bret Boone and Erik Hanson.... |
Brent Musburger Brent Musburger Brent Woody Musburger is an American sportscaster for the ESPN and ABC television networks. Formerly with CBS Sports and one of the original members of their legendary program The NFL Today, Musburger has covered NASCAR, NBA, MLB, NCAA football and basketball games. Musburger has also served as a... |
Larry Dierker Larry Dierker Lawrence Edward Dierker is a former Major League Baseball pitcher and manager. During a 14-year baseball career as a pitcher, he pitched from 1964–1977 for the Houston Colt .45s/Astros and the St. Louis Cardinals... |
|
| Colorado 1994 Colorado Rockies season The Colorado Rockies' 1994 season was the 2nd for the Rockies. They tried to win the National League West. Don Baylor was their manager. They played home games at Mile High Stadium.They finished with a record of 53-64, 3rd in the division... @ San Diego 1994 San Diego Padres season The 1994 San Diego Padres season was the 26th season in franchise history.-Offseason:* November 18, 1993: Jarvis Brown was selected off waivers from the Padres by the Atlanta Braves.... |
Jerry Coleman Jerry Coleman Gerald Francis "Jerry" Coleman is a former Major League Baseball second baseman for the New York Yankees. Currently, he is an analyst and former play-by-play radio announcer for the San Diego Padres... |
Dave Campbell | |
| Los Angeles 1994 Los Angeles Dodgers season The Dodgers were leading the National League's Western Division in the 1994 season when a players strike halted the season.-Offseason:*November 17, 1993: Acquired Delino DeShields from the Montreal Expos for Pedro Martínez... @ San Francisco 1994 San Francisco Giants season The 1994 San Francisco Giants season was the franchise's 112th season and 37th season in San Francisco. After winning 103 games in 1993, the Giants record dropped to 55-60 in a strike-shortened season... |
Al Michaels Al Michaels Alan Richard "Al" Michaels is an American television sportscaster. Now employed by NBC Sports after nearly three decades with ABC Sports, Michaels is one of the most prominent members of his profession... |
Jim Palmer Jim Palmer James Alvin "Jim" Palmer , nicknamed "Cakes", is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He played his entire 20-year baseball career for the Baltimore Orioles . He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in .As of 2008, Palmer and his wife Susan have homes in Palm Beach, Florida, and... and Tim McCarver Tim McCarver James Timothy "Tim" McCarver is an American former Major League Baseball catcher, and a current sportscaster in residence for Fox Sports.-Playing career:... |
|
| August 6 | Cleveland 1994 Cleveland Indians season -Offseason:* November 2, 1993: Heathcliff Slocumb was traded by the Indians to the Philadelphia Phillies for Ruben Amaro, Jr..* December 2, 1993: Dennis Martínez was signed as a free agent by the Indians.... @ Boston 1994 Boston Red Sox season The Boston Red Sox season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Red Sox finishing 4th in the American League East with a record of 54 wins and 61 losses... |
Tom Hamilton Tom Hamilton (broadcaster) Tom Hamilton , a native of Waterloo, Wisconsin, is the chief radio announcer for the Cleveland Indians Major League Baseball team, and during the off season, serves as a college basketball commentator for The Big Ten Network.... |
Bob Montgomery |
| Baltimore @ Milwaukee 1994 Milwaukee Brewers season The Milwaukee Brewers' 1994 season involved the Brewers' finishing 5th in the American League Central with a record of 53 wins and 62 losses.-Offseason:* December 14, 1993: Tony Diggs was traded by the Brewers to the St... |
Steve Zabriskie | Mike Flanagan Mike Flanagan Mike Flanagan may refer to:* Mike Flanagan , American football center* Mike Flanagan , former pitcher and television broadcaster... |
|
| Detroit 1994 Detroit Tigers season The Detroit Tigers' 1994 season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Detroit Tigers attempting to win the AL Central.-Offseason:* November 1, 1993: Eric Davis was signed as a free agent by the Tigers.... @ Toronto 1994 Toronto Blue Jays season The Toronto Blue Jays season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Blue Jays finishing 3rd in the American League East with a record of 55 wins and 60 losses. Cito Gaston was the manager for the American League squad at the All-Star Game. The Mid-Summer classic was played on July 12... |
Bob Carpenter Bob Carpenter Robert E. Carpenter, Jr. is a former professional ice hockey center who played in the National Hockey League for 18 seasons from 1981–82 until 1998–99. In his NHL career that spanned 18 years, Carpenter played 1,178 games, scoring 320 goals and 408 assists for 728 points. He has the distinction of... |
Rick Cerone Rick Cerone Richard Aldo Cerone from Seton Hall University is a former Major League Baseball player from 1975 to 1992 for the Cleveland Indians, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, and Montreal Expos... |
|
| Chicago White Sox 1994 Chicago White Sox season The 1994 Chicago White Sox season was the White Sox's 94th season in the major leagues, and their 95th season overall. They finished with a record 67-46, good enough for 1st place in the American League Central, 1 game ahead of the 2nd place Cleveland Indians.... @ California 1994 California Angels season The California Angels 1994 season involved the Angels finishing 4th in the American League west with a record of 47 wins and 68 losses. The season was cut short by the infamous 1994 player's strike.-Offseason:... |
Ken Harrelson Ken Harrelson Kenneth Smith Harrelson , nicknamed "The Hawk" due to his distinctive profile, is a former All-Star first baseman and outfielder in Major League Baseball... |
Bert Blyleven Bert Blyleven Bert Blyleven is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played from to , and was best known for his curveball. Blyleven was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011... |
|
| Seattle 1994 Seattle Mariners season The Seattle Mariners 1994 season was their 18th since the franchise creation, and ended the season finishing 3rd in the American League West, finishing with a record of 49-63... @ Kansas City 1994 Kansas City Royals season The Kansas City Royals season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Royals finishing 3rd in the American League Central with a record of 64 wins and 51 losses. The season was cut short by the 1994 player's strike... |
Dave Niehaus Dave Niehaus David Arnold Niehaus was an American sportscaster. He was the lead play-by-play announcer for the American League's Seattle Mariners from their inaugural season in until his death after the 2010 season. In 2008, the National Baseball Hall of Fame awarded Niehaus with the Ford C. Frick Award, the... |
Billy Sample Billy Sample William Amos Sample , is a former professional baseball player who played in the Major Leagues primarily as an outfielder from 1978-1986. Sample played for the Texas Rangers , New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves .... |
|
| New York Yankees 1994 New York Yankees season The New York Yankees' 1994 season was the 92nd season for the Yankees. New York was managed by Buck Showalter and played at Yankee Stadium. The team finished with a record of 70-43 finishing games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles, having the best record in the American League and the second-best... @ Minnesota |
Al Michaels Al Michaels Alan Richard "Al" Michaels is an American television sportscaster. Now employed by NBC Sports after nearly three decades with ABC Sports, Michaels is one of the most prominent members of his profession... |
Jim Palmer Jim Palmer James Alvin "Jim" Palmer , nicknamed "Cakes", is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He played his entire 20-year baseball career for the Baltimore Orioles . He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in .As of 2008, Palmer and his wife Susan have homes in Palm Beach, Florida, and... and Tim McCarver Tim McCarver James Timothy "Tim" McCarver is an American former Major League Baseball catcher, and a current sportscaster in residence for Fox Sports.-Playing career:... |
|
| Texas 1994 Texas Rangers season The Texas Rangers season involved the Rangers finishing first in the American League West with a record of 52 wins and 62 losses. The season was cut short by the infamous 1994 player's strike.-Offseason:... @ Oakland 1994 Oakland Athletics season The Oakland Athletics' 1994 season involved the A's finishing 2nd in the American League West with a record of 51 wins and 63 losses. The season was cut short by the infamous 1994 player's strike.-Offseason:... |
Dick Stockton Dick Stockton Dick Stockton is an American sportscaster. He is currently employed by Fox Sports and Turner Sports as a football, baseball, and basketball play-by-play announcer.-Early life and career:... |
Steve Busby Steve Busby Steven Lee Busby is a former starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Kansas City Royals . He batted and threw right-handed.-Professional career:... |
|
| San Diego 1994 San Diego Padres season The 1994 San Diego Padres season was the 26th season in franchise history.-Offseason:* November 18, 1993: Jarvis Brown was selected off waivers from the Padres by the Atlanta Braves.... @ Chicago Cubs 1994 Chicago Cubs season The 1994 Chicago Cubs season was the 122nd for the franchise. One of the highlights of the season was Karl "Tuffy" Rhodes hitting three home runs on Opening Day. Rhodes would only hit five more homers that season.-Offseason:... |
Steve Physioc | Lary Sorensen Lary Sorensen Lary Alan Sorensen is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the Milwaukee Brewers , St... |
|
| Florida 1994 Florida Marlins season The 1994 Florida Marlins season started off with the team trying to improve on their record from 1993. Their manager was Rene Lachemann. They played home games at Joe Robbie Stadium. They finished with a record of 51-64, last in the National League East... @ New York Mets 1994 New York Mets season The New York Mets' 1994 season was the 33rd regular season for the Mets. They went 55-58 and finished 3rd in the NL East. They were managed by Dallas Green. They played home games at Shea Stadium... |
Gary Thorne Gary Thorne Gary Thorne is a play-by-play announcer for ESPN and ABC, working Major League Baseball, College football and Frozen Four hockey contests. He is also the television play-by-play voice of the Baltimore Orioles... |
Bob Murphy | |
| Montreal 1994 Montreal Expos season The Montreal Expos finished the season with the best record in Major League Baseball. The Expos had 74 wins compared to 40 losses. The 1994 Major League Baseball strike forced an end to the season and any postseason aspirations that the franchise had... @ Philadelphia 1994 Philadelphia Phillies season -Offseason:*November 2, 1993: Heathcliff Slocumb was traded by the Cleveland Indians to the Philadelphia Phillies for Ruben Amaro. * December 2, 1993: Mitch Williams was traded by the Philadelphia Phillies to the Houston Astros for Doug Jones and Jeff Juden.... |
Dave Van Horne Dave Van Horne Dave Van Horne, a native of Easton, Pennsylvania, is a Major League Baseball announcer. He is the lead radio play-by-play announcer for the Miami Marlins on the Marlins Radio Network... |
Garry Maddox | |
| St. Louis 1994 St. Louis Cardinals season The St. Louis Cardinals 1994 season was the team's 113th season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 103rd season in the National League. The Cardinals went 53-61 during the season and finished 3rd in the National League Central division... @ Pittsburgh 1994 Pittsburgh Pirates season -Offseason:*January 5, 1994: Gary Varsho was signed as a Free Agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates.*March 28, 1994: Gary Varsho was released by the Pittsburgh Pirates.*March 29, 1994: Gary Varsho was signed as a Free Agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates.... |
Joe Buck Joe Buck Joseph Francis "Joe" Buck is an American sportscaster and the son of legendary sportscaster Jack Buck. He has won numerous Sports Emmy Awards for his play-by-play work with Fox Sports.-Education:... |
Steve Blass Steve Blass Stephen Robert "Steve" Blass is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher and a current broadcast announcer for the Pittsburgh Pirates.-Playing career:Blass was born in Canaan, Connecticut... |
|
| Atlanta 1994 Atlanta Braves season -Offseason:*October 15, 1993: Jerry Willard was released by the Atlanta Braves.*October 25, 1993: Marvin Freeman was released by the Atlanta Braves.*November 18, 1993: Jarvis Brown was selected off waivers by the Atlanta Braves from the San Diego Padres.... @ Cincinnati 1994 Cincinnati Reds season The Cincinnati Reds' 1994 season consisted of the Cincinnati Reds attempting to win the National League Central.-Offseason:* November 2, 1993: Dan Wilson and Bobby Ayala were traded by the Reds to the Seattle Mariners for Bret Boone and Erik Hanson.... |
Brent Musburger Brent Musburger Brent Woody Musburger is an American sportscaster for the ESPN and ABC television networks. Formerly with CBS Sports and one of the original members of their legendary program The NFL Today, Musburger has covered NASCAR, NBA, MLB, NCAA football and basketball games. Musburger has also served as a... |
Buck Martinez | |
| San Francisco 1994 San Francisco Giants season The 1994 San Francisco Giants season was the franchise's 112th season and 37th season in San Francisco. After winning 103 games in 1993, the Giants record dropped to 55-60 in a strike-shortened season... @ Houston 1994 Houston Astros season The Houston Astros' 1994 season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Houston Astros attempting to win the National League Central.-Offseason:... |
Ted Robinson Ted Robinson (sportscaster) Theodore "Ted" Robinson is an American sportscaster. He is currently the radio play-by-play announcer for the San Francisco 49ers, having taken over for longtime 49ers announcer, Joe Starkey, following Starkey's retirement in 2009.-Early life:Ted Robinson grew up in Rockville Centre, New York and... |
Larry Dierker Larry Dierker Lawrence Edward Dierker is a former Major League Baseball pitcher and manager. During a 14-year baseball career as a pitcher, he pitched from 1964–1977 for the Houston Colt .45s/Astros and the St. Louis Cardinals... |
Postseason coverage
In even numbered years, NBC would have the rights to the All-Star GameMajor League Baseball All-Star Game
The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual baseball game between players from the National League and the American League, currently selected by a combination of fans, players, coaches, and managers...
and both League Championship Series
League Championship Series
The League Championship Series is the official name for a round of postseason play in Major League Baseball which has been conducted since 1969...
while ABC would have the World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
and newly created Division Series
Division Series
In baseball, the Division Series is the official name for the first round of the Major League Baseball playoffs. Currently, a total of four series are played in this opening round, two each for both the American League and the National League.-1981 season:...
. In odd numbered years the postseason and All-Star Game television rights were supposed to alternate. The networks also promised not to begin any World Series weekend broadcasts after 7:20 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. When CBS held the television rights, postseason games routinely aired on the East Coast
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
at 8:30 p.m. at the earliest. This meant that Joe Carter
Joe Carter
Joseph Christopher Carter is a former right fielder in Major League Baseball who played from to . Carter is most famous for hitting a walk-off home run to win the 1993 World Series for the Toronto Blue Jays....
's dramatic World Series
1993 World Series
-Game 1:Saturday, October 16, 1993 at SkyDome in Toronto, OntarioThe Series' first game sent two staff aces—Curt Schilling for Philadelphia and Juan Guzman for Toronto—against one another. The result was less than a pitcher's duel, however, as both teams scored early and often.The deciding plays...
clinching home run in 1993
1993 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*World Series: Toronto Blue Jays over Philadelphia Phillies ; Paul Molitor, MVP*American League Championship Series MVP: Dave Stewart*National League Championship Series MVP: Curt Schilling...
occurred after midnight in the East. As CBS' baseball coverage progressed, they dropped the 8:00 p.m. pregame coverage (in favor of sitcoms such as Evening Shade
Evening Shade
Evening Shade was an American sitcom television series that aired on CBS from 1990 to 1994. The series starred Burt Reynolds as Wood Newton, an ex-professional football player for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who returns to rural Evening Shade, Arkansas to coach a high school football team with a long...
) before finally starting their coverage at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The first pitch would generally arrive at approximately 8:45 p.m.
ABC won the rights to the first dibs at the World Series in August 1993 after ABC Sports president Dennis Swanson won a coin toss by calling "heads." Ken Schanzer, who was the CEO
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of The Baseball Network, handled the coin toss. Schanzer agreed to the coin toss by ABC and NBC at the outset as the means of determining the order in which they'd divvy up the playoffs.
What separated The Baseball Network from previous television deals with Major League Baseball (and was by far the most controversial part of the deal) was the fact that none of the postseason games outside of the World Series were guaranteed to be aired nationally. (Some playoff games were shown in 1995
1995 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*World Series: Atlanta Braves over Cleveland Indians ; Tom Glavine, MVP*All-Star Game, July 11 at The Ballpark in Arlington: National League, 3-2; Jeff Conine, MVP-Other champions:...
only because other series had already concluded.) Because of this, games would often be played simultaneously. It also meant that fans everywhere could only see one game per night. This was done mainly in hopes of avoiding the possibilities of playoff games airing in the middle of the day (when most viewers would either be at work or at school). To put it in another way, the main reason why The Baseball Network did this was to maximize the total audience for each telecast by creating "destination viewing."
Major League Baseball was the only professional sport that played postseason games during weekday afternoons. The result was that ratings for daytime LCS games declined by 37%
Percentage
In mathematics, a percentage is a way of expressing a number as a fraction of 100 . It is often denoted using the percent sign, “%”, or the abbreviation “pct”. For example, 45% is equal to 45/100, or 0.45.Percentages are used to express how large/small one quantity is, relative to another quantity...
between 1985
1985 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*World Series: Kansas City Royals over St. Louis Cardinals ; Bret Saberhagen, MVP*American League Championship Series MVP: George Brett*National League Championship Series MVP: Ozzie Smith...
and 1993
1993 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*World Series: Toronto Blue Jays over Philadelphia Phillies ; Paul Molitor, MVP*American League Championship Series MVP: Dave Stewart*National League Championship Series MVP: Curt Schilling...
. With The Baseball Network, hopes were high that games fans were most interested in would be available at a time when they were able to watch.
The Baseball Network in essence set out to create areas of "natural" interest. They scheduled all four first-round playoff games and both LCS for the same time slot, thereby preventing fans from seeing more than one game per night. But because so-called neutral markets summarily fell to one or the other league, the game a given viewer saw depended almost entirely on where that person lived. In cases where two teams from the same city made the playoffs, the networks agreed to show both games in their entirety on their owned-and-operated stations. Despite the frustration of not being able to see both League Championship Series on a national level, the 1995 LCS averaged a 13.1 rating
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
.
Besides the 1994 All-Star Game
1994 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The 1994 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 65th playing of the midsummer classic between the all-stars of the American League and National League , the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball...
and Game 6 of the 1995 World Series
1995 World Series
-Game 1:Saturday, October 21, 1995 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta ace Greg Maddux pitched a two-hit complete game victory in his first World Series appearance ....
, arguably, the most famous Baseball Network broadcast was Game 5 of the 1995 American League Division Series
1995 American League Division Series
-Seattle Mariners vs. New York Yankees:-Game 1, Tuesday, October 3:Jacobs Field in Cleveland, OhioAfter a 39-minute rain delay, Game 1 got underway with two veterans, Roger Clemens and Dennis Martínez, starting the opener. The Red Sox jumped in front first in the third on John Valentin's two run...
between the New York Yankees
1995 New York Yankees season
The New York Yankees' 1995 season was the 93rd season for the Yankees, their 71st playing home games at Yankee Stadium. Managed by Buck Showalter, the team finished with a record of 79-65, seven games behind the Boston Red Sox. They won the first American League Wild Card...
and the Seattle Mariners
1995 Seattle Mariners season
The Seattle Mariners' 1995 season was the 19th in the history of the franchise. The team finished with a regular season record of 79–66, tying the California Angels for first in the American League West...
, broadcast on ABC. It ended with the Mariners winning in 11 innings (via Edgar Martinez
Edgar Martinez
Edgar Martínez , nicknamed "Gar" and "Papi", is a former Major League Baseball third baseman and designated hitter. He spent his entire 18-year Major League career with the Seattle Mariners. He is the cousin of Carmelo Martínez.-Seattle Mariners:On December 19, 1982, the Seattle Mariners signed...
's game winning double), to clinch their first ever trip to the American League Championship Series
1995 American League Championship Series
-Game 1:Tuesday, October 10, 1995 at Kingdome in Seattle, WashingtonThe Indians called on the veteran Dennis Martinez for Game 1. The Mariners rode the arm of Bob Wolcott. Wolcott got off to a shaky start by walking three straight hitters to open the game. But he would get out of the bases loaded...
.
Criticisms
A major problem with Baseball Night in America was the idea that viewers couldn't watch "important" games. Marty Noble put it in perspective by saying "With the Network determining when games will begin and which games are made available to which TV markets, Major League Baseball can conduct parts of its pennant races in relative secrecy."What added to the troubles of The Baseball Network was the fact that Baseball Night in America held exclusivity over every market. This most severely impacted markets with two teams, specifically New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
(Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
and Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
), the Greater Los Angeles Area
Greater Los Angeles Area
The Greater Los Angeles Area, or the Southland, is a term used for the Combined Statistical Area sprawled over five counties in the southern part of California, namely Los Angeles County, Orange County, San Bernardino County, Riverside County and Ventura County...
(Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
and Angels
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are a professional baseball team based in Anaheim, California, United States. The Angels are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The "Angels" name originates from the city in which the team started, Los Angeles...
), Chicago (Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
and White Sox
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...
), the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
(Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
and A's
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....
), and even Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
(Astros
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team located in Houston, Texas. They are a member of the National League Central division. The Astros are expected to join the American League West division in 2013. Since , they have played their home games at Minute Maid Park, known as Enron Field...
and Rangers
Texas Rangers (baseball)
The Texas Rangers are a professional baseball team in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, based in Arlington, Texas. The Rangers are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League, and are the reigning A.L. Western Division and A.L. Champions. Since , the Rangers have...
). For example, if Baseball Night in America showed a Yankees game, this meant that nobody in New York could see that night's Mets game and vice versa.
Things got so bad for The Baseball Network that even local broadcasters objected to its operations. KSMO-TV
KSMO-TV
KSMO-TV, virtual channel 62, is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for the Kansas City Metropolitan Area licensed to the Missouri side. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 47 from a transmitter in Independence, Missouri...
in Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
, the primary over-the-air station for the Kansas City Royals
Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals are a Major League Baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals are a member of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From 1973 to the present, the Royals have played in Kauffman Stadium...
, went as far as to sue the Royals for breach of contract resulting from their broadcasts being "overexposed" and violating its territorial exclusivity.
Worse yet, even if a market had only one team, the ABC or NBC affiliate could still not broadcast that team's game if the start time was not appropriate for the time zone. For example, if the Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
(the only team in their market) played a road game in Seattle
Kingdome
The Kingdome was a multi-purpose stadium located in Seattle's SoDo neighborhood. Owned and operated by King County, the Kingdome opened in 1976 and was best known as the home stadium of the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League , the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball , and the...
, Oakland or Anaheim
Angel Stadium of Anaheim
Angel Stadium of Anaheim is a modern-style ballpark located in Anaheim, California. It is the home ballpark to Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of the American League, and was previously home to the NFL's Los Angeles Rams...
beginning at 8:00 p.m. PT (a late game), Detroit's Baseball Network affiliate couldn't air the game because the start time was too late for the Detroit area (11:00 p.m. ET). Detroit viewers only had the option of viewing the early game of the night.
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
s Tom Verducci
Tom Verducci
Tom Verducci is an American sportswriter who is currently writing for Sports Illustrated and its online magazine SI.com. He writes primarily about baseball. He is also a field reporter for the MLB postseason on TBS...
for one, was very harsh on The Baseball Network, dubbing it both "America's regional pastime" and an "abomination." ABC Sports
ESPN on ABC
ESPN on ABC is the brand used for sports programming on the ABC television network. Officially the broadcast network retains its own sports division; however, for all practical purposes, ABC's sports division has been merged with ESPN, a sports cable network majority-owned by ABC's parent, The...
president Dennis Swanson, in announcing the dissolution of The Baseball Network, said "The fact of the matter is, Major League Baseball seems incapable at this point in time, of living with any long term relationships, whether it's with fans, with players, with the political community in Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, with the advertising community here in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, or with its TV partners."
Five years after The Baseball Network dissolved, NBC Sports
NBC Sports
NBC Sports is the sports division of the NBC television network. Formerly "a service of NBC News," it broadcasts a diverse array of programs, including the Olympic Games, the NFL, the NHL, MLS, Notre Dame football, the PGA Tour, the Triple Crown, and the French Open, among others...
play-by-play man Bob Costas
Bob Costas
Robert Quinlan "Bob" Costas is an American sportscaster, on the air for the NBC network since the early 1980s.-Early life:...
wrote in his book Fair Ball: A Fan's Case for Baseball that The Baseball Network was "stupid and an abomination." Costas wrote that the agreement involving the World Series being the only instance of The Baseball Network broadcasting a nationally was an unprecedented surrender of prestige, as well as a slap to all serious fans. Unlike the NHL
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
and the NBA
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
, the so-called Big Two of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n professional sports leagues: the NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
and Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
had nationally televised all playoff games for decades. Costas believed that The Baseball Network fundamentally corrupted the game and acknowledged that the most impassioned fans in baseball were now prevented from watching many of the playoff games that they wanted to see. Costas added that both the divisional series and the League Championship Series now merited scarcely higher priority than regional coverage provided for a Big Ten
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
game between Wisconsin
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
and Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
.
According to Curt Smith
Curt Smith (author)
Curt Smith is an American author, media host and columnist.Smith is a 1973 graduate of SUNY at Geneseo. He worked as a Gannett Company reporter, a speechwriter to former Texas Governor John Connolly, and an editor at the Saturday Evening Post. In 1989 he joined the George H.W...
's book, The Voice - Mel Allen's Untold Story, the longtime New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
broadcaster and This Week in Baseball
This Week in Baseball
This Week in Baseball is a weekly television program, originally designed to show highlights of the previous week's Major League Baseball action. TWIB debuted in .-Genesis of the series:...
host
Mel Allen
Mel Allen was an American sportscaster, best known for his long tenure as the primary play-by-play announcer for the New York Yankees. During the peak of his career in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, Allen was arguably the most prominent member of his profession, his voice familiar to millions...
was quoted as saying "You wonder how anything would be worse [than CBS]. What kind of show cancels a twenty-six-week-season's first fourteen weeks?" (in response to TBN's tagline, "Welcome to the Show")
During the 1995 Division Series the fan frustration with The Baseball Network was so bad that the mere mention of it during the Mariners
1995 Seattle Mariners season
The Seattle Mariners' 1995 season was the 19th in the history of the franchise. The team finished with a regular season record of 79–66, tying the California Angels for first in the American League West...
-Yankees
1995 New York Yankees season
The New York Yankees' 1995 season was the 93rd season for the Yankees, their 71st playing home games at Yankee Stadium. Managed by Buck Showalter, the team finished with a record of 79-65, seven games behind the Boston Red Sox. They won the first American League Wild Card...
ALDS
1995 American League Division Series
-Seattle Mariners vs. New York Yankees:-Game 1, Tuesday, October 3:Jacobs Field in Cleveland, OhioAfter a 39-minute rain delay, Game 1 got underway with two veterans, Roger Clemens and Dennis Martínez, starting the opener. The Red Sox jumped in front first in the third on John Valentin's two run...
from public address announcer Tom Hutyler
Tom Hutyler
Tom Hutyler is a Seattle, Washington radio personality and, since 1987, the public address announcer for the Seattle Mariners. Hutyler is also currently a sports reporter for KOMO. Hutyler began his radio career in 1978 in Spokane, Washington, where he was born...
at Seattle
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
's Kingdome
Kingdome
The Kingdome was a multi-purpose stadium located in Seattle's SoDo neighborhood. Owned and operated by King County, the Kingdome opened in 1976 and was best known as the home stadium of the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League , the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball , and the...
brought boos from most of the crowd.
Downfall and demise
The long term plans for The Baseball Network began to crumble after players and owners went on strike on August 12, 1994. In addition to the cancellation of that year's World Series1994 World Series
The 1994 World Series was canceled on September 14 of that year due to an ongoing strike by the Major League Baseball Players Association, which had begun on August 12...
, ABC was denied its remaining Baseball Night in America telecasts and NBC was shut out of their's altogether. Both networks elected to dissolve the partnership with Major League Baseball on June 22, 1995. Both networks figured that as the delayed 1995
1995 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*World Series: Atlanta Braves over Cleveland Indians ; Tom Glavine, MVP*All-Star Game, July 11 at The Ballpark in Arlington: National League, 3-2; Jeff Conine, MVP-Other champions:...
baseball season opened without a labor agreement, there was no guarantee against another strike. To salvage the remains of the partnership, ABC and NBC elected to share coverage of the World Series. ABC, by virtue of their win of the 1994 coin toss, covered the odd numbered games and NBC the even numbered games; the decisive game of the 1995 World Series, thus, was aired on NBC.
Others would argue that a primary reason for its failure was its abandoning of localized markets in favor of more lucrative and stable advertising contracts afforded by turning to a national model of broadcasting, similar to the National Football League's television package
NFL on television
The television rights to broadcast National Football League games are the most lucrative and expensive rights of any American sport. It was television that brought professional football into prominence in the modern era after World War II...
, which focuses on localized games, with one or two "national" games.
Aftermath
Both networks (but not corporations) soon publicly vowed to cut all ties with Major League Baseball for the remainder of the 20th century, and Fox signed on to be the exclusive network carrier of Major League Baseball regular season games in . However, NBC kept a postseason-only (with the exception of even numbered years when NBC had the rights to the All-Star GameMajor League Baseball All-Star Game
The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual baseball game between players from the National League and the American League, currently selected by a combination of fans, players, coaches, and managers...
) deal in the end, signing a deal to carry three Division Series games, one half of the League Championship Series
League Championship Series
The League Championship Series is the official name for a round of postseason play in Major League Baseball which has been conducted since 1969...
(the ALCS
American League Championship Series
In Major League Baseball, the American League Championship Series , played in October, is a round in the postseason that determines the winner of the American League pennant...
in even numbered years and the NLCS
National League Championship Series
In Major League Baseball, the National League Championship Series is a round in the postseason that determines who wins the National League pennant and advances to Major League Baseball's championship, the World Series, facing the winner of the American League Championship Series. The reigning...
in odd numbered years; Fox would televise the other LCS in said years), and the and 1999 World Series
1999 World Series
The 1999 World Series, the 95th edition of Major League Baseball's championship series, featured a rematch between the defending champions New York Yankees against the Atlanta Braves during the month of October, with the Yankees sweeping the Series in four games for their second title in a row,...
respectively (Fox had exclusive rights to the , and 2000 World Series
2000 World Series
-Game 1:Saturday, October 21, 2000 at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New YorkThe opener fell on two anniversaries. Twenty-five years prior, Boston Red Sox's catcher Carlton Fisk ended Game 6 of the 1975 World Series with his famous home run off the left field foul pole in Fenway Park in Boston to beat...
).
With ABC being sold to the Walt Disney Company in 1996, ESPN
ESPN Major League Baseball
ESPN Major League Baseball is a promotion of Major League Baseball on ESPN and ESPN2, with simulcasts on ESPNHD or ESPN2HD. ESPN's MLB coverage debuted on April 9, 1990 with three Opening Day telecasts. ESPN Major League Baseball is guaranteed to remain on air until 2013.The title is derived from...
would pick up Division Series day and late-night games with a provision similar to ESPN's National Football League games
ESPN Sunday Night Football
ESPN Sunday Night Football is the ESPN cable network's weekly television broadcasts of Sunday evening National Football League games. The first ESPN Sunday night broadcast occurred on November 8, 1987, while the last one aired on January 1, 2006....
, where the games would air on network affiliates in the local markets of the two teams only. ESPN's Major League Baseball contract was not affected then but would take a hit in 1998 with the new National Football League contract.
In the end, the venture would lose $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
95 million in advertising and nearly $500 million in national and local spending.
Announcers
Announcers who represented each of the teams playing in the respective games were typically paired with each other during games on regular season Baseball Night in America telecasts. Also as previously mentioned, ABC used Al MichaelsAl Michaels
Alan Richard "Al" Michaels is an American television sportscaster. Now employed by NBC Sports after nearly three decades with ABC Sports, Michaels is one of the most prominent members of his profession...
, Jim Palmer
Jim Palmer
James Alvin "Jim" Palmer , nicknamed "Cakes", is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He played his entire 20-year baseball career for the Baltimore Orioles . He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in .As of 2008, Palmer and his wife Susan have homes in Palm Beach, Florida, and...
, Tim McCarver
Tim McCarver
James Timothy "Tim" McCarver is an American former Major League Baseball catcher, and a current sportscaster in residence for Fox Sports.-Playing career:...
, and Lesley Visser
Lesley Visser
Lesley Candace Visser is an American sportscaster, radio personality, and sportswriter. Visser is the first female NFL analyst on TV, and the only sportscaster in history, male or female, who has worked on Final Four, NBA Finals, World Series, Triple Crown, Monday Night Football, the Olympics, the...
as the lead broadcasting team (Brent Musburger
Brent Musburger
Brent Woody Musburger is an American sportscaster for the ESPN and ABC television networks. Formerly with CBS Sports and one of the original members of their legendary program The NFL Today, Musburger has covered NASCAR, NBA, MLB, NCAA football and basketball games. Musburger has also served as a...
, CBS alumnus Jim Kaat
Jim Kaat
James Lee "Jim" Kaat , nicknamed "Kitty", is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins , Chicago White Sox , Philadelphia Phillies , New York Yankees , and St...
, and Jack Arute
Jack Arute
Jack Arute, Jr. currently covers the NFL and college sports for Sirius XM Radio. He is the president of the Stafford Motor Speedway in Connecticut...
became the number two team for ABC). Meanwhile, NBC used Bob Costas
Bob Costas
Robert Quinlan "Bob" Costas is an American sportscaster, on the air for the NBC network since the early 1980s.-Early life:...
, Joe Morgan
Joe Morgan
Joe Leonard Morgan is a former Major League Baseball second baseman who played for the Houston Astros, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies, and Oakland Athletics from 1963 to 1984. He won two World Series championships with the Reds in 1975 and 1976 and was also named the...
, Bob Uecker
Bob Uecker
Robert George "Bob" Uecker is an American former Major League Baseball player, later a sportscaster, comedian, and actor. Uecker was given the title of "Mr. Baseball" by Johnny Carson...
and Jim Gray
Jim Gray (sportscaster)
Jim Gray is an American sportscaster. He has previously worked as a reporter with NBC Sports and CBS Sports. He is currently with Westwood One radio network, Showtime, Golf Channel, the Sacramento Kings, and ESPN/ESPN on ABC...
as their lead broadcasting team. John Saunders was the studio host for ABC's Baseball Night in America coverage. Hannah Storm
Hannah Storm
Hannah Storm is an American television sports journalist, serving as co-anchor of ESPN's SportsCenter Monday–Thursday mornings, and is also host of the NBA Countdown pregame show on ABC as part of the network's NBA Sunday game coverage.-Early life and career:Storm was born in Oak Park, Illinois,...
hosted NBC's studio show for the lone season the network was able to participate in The Baseball Network; Greg Gumbel
Greg Gumbel
Greg Gumbel is an American television sportscaster. He is best known for his various assignments on the CBS network...
was NBC's studio host for its coverage of the 1994 All-Star Game (as previously mentioned). In 1995
1995 Major League Baseball season
Due to the 1994 Major League Baseball strike which carried into the 1995 season, a shortened 144 game schedule commenced on April 25, when the Florida Marlins played host to the Los Angeles Dodgers.-Regular season:...
, Gumbel became the number two play-by-play announcer for NBC (working with Joe Morgan on the National League Championship Series
1995 National League Championship Series
-Game 1:Tuesday, October 10, 1995 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, OhioThe opening game of the 1995 NLCS would be well-pitched and decided in extra innings. The only run allowed by Tom Glavine, who would go seven innings, came on a Ron Gant single following a Barry Larkin triple in the fourth...
) behind Bob Costas.
All-Star Game
| Year | Rating | Share | Households |
| 1994 1994 Major League Baseball All-Star Game The 1994 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 65th playing of the midsummer classic between the all-stars of the American League and National League , the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball... |
15.7 | 28 | 14,790,000 |
| 1995 1995 Major League Baseball All-Star Game The 1995 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 66th playing of the midsummer classic between the all-stars of the American League and National League , the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was held on July 11, 1995 at The Ballpark in Arlington in Arlington, Texas, the... |
13.9 | 25 | 13,260,000 |
1995 World Series
| Rating | Share |
| 19.5 | 33 |
See also
- 1994 Major League Baseball All-Star Game1994 Major League Baseball All-Star GameThe 1994 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 65th playing of the midsummer classic between the all-stars of the American League and National League , the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball...
- 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike
- 1994 World Series1994 World SeriesThe 1994 World Series was canceled on September 14 of that year due to an ongoing strike by the Major League Baseball Players Association, which had begun on August 12...
- 1994 World Series
- 1995 Major League Baseball All-Star Game1995 Major League Baseball All-Star GameThe 1995 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 66th playing of the midsummer classic between the all-stars of the American League and National League , the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was held on July 11, 1995 at The Ballpark in Arlington in Arlington, Texas, the...
- 1995 American League Division Series1995 American League Division Series-Seattle Mariners vs. New York Yankees:-Game 1, Tuesday, October 3:Jacobs Field in Cleveland, OhioAfter a 39-minute rain delay, Game 1 got underway with two veterans, Roger Clemens and Dennis Martínez, starting the opener. The Red Sox jumped in front first in the third on John Valentin's two run...
- The Double (Seattle Mariners)
- 1995 National League Division Series1995 National League Division Series-Cincinnati Reds vs. Los Angeles Dodgers:-Game 1, October 3:Coors Field in Denver, ColoradoGame 1 was a match-up between aces: Greg Maddux for the Atlanta Braves and Kevin Ritz for the Colorado Rockies. Ritz and Maddux worked their way out of minor trouble early on, but, in the top of the third,...
- 1995 American League Championship Series1995 American League Championship Series-Game 1:Tuesday, October 10, 1995 at Kingdome in Seattle, WashingtonThe Indians called on the veteran Dennis Martinez for Game 1. The Mariners rode the arm of Bob Wolcott. Wolcott got off to a shaky start by walking three straight hitters to open the game. But he would get out of the bases loaded...
- 1995 National League Championship Series1995 National League Championship Series-Game 1:Tuesday, October 10, 1995 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, OhioThe opening game of the 1995 NLCS would be well-pitched and decided in extra innings. The only run allowed by Tom Glavine, who would go seven innings, came on a Ron Gant single following a Barry Larkin triple in the fourth...
- 1995 World Series1995 World Series-Game 1:Saturday, October 21, 1995 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta ace Greg Maddux pitched a two-hit complete game victory in his first World Series appearance ....