The USA Thursday Game of the Week
Encyclopedia
The USA Thursday Game of the Week is a former television program
that broadcast Major League Baseball
games on the USA Network
.
, Houston Astros
, New York Mets
, and St. Louis Cardinals
) took part in a one-year cable
deal with UA
-Columbia
(then owners of the USA Network
). The deal involved the airing of a Thursday night Game of the Week in markets at least 50 miles (80 km) from a major league park. The deal earned Major League Baseball less than $
500,000, but led to a new two-year contract for 40–45 games per season. The program ran through the 1983 season.
: Cleveland
at Kansas City
(Jim Woods
and Bud Harrelson
announcing) followed by Baltimore
at California
(Monte Moore
and Maury Wills
announcing). The second game of the night was typically, based out of the West Coast
. The games were usually blacked out
in the competing teams' cities. Once in a while, when USA did a repeat of the telecast late at night, local cities were allowed to show the rerun.
From 1980–1981, Jim Woods and Nelson Briles
(replacing Bud Harrelson) did the early games (except for a game at Montreal
on October 2, 1980, which reunited Jim Woods and Ned Martin
, with whom Woods had paired on Boston Red Sox
radio broadcasts in the 1970s), while Monte Moore and Wes Parker
(replacing Maury Wills) called the late game.
With USA's coverage of the 1981 Stanley Cup Playoffs, it marked the first time that there was "blanket" American television coverage of the NHL playoffs. In other words, more often than not that, whenever a game was played it was televised on a national outlet (whether it was broadcast or cable). USA however, didn't televise Game 1 of the playoff series between Philadelphia Flyers
and Calgary Flames
(April 16) because of they were instead, broadcasting a baseball game between the Pittsburgh Pirates
and Philadelphia Phillies
. Meanwhile, they also skipped Games 2 through 6 (on April 17, 22 and 24) of the Philadelphia–Calgary series because of their coverage
of the NBA playoffs
. USA also didn't televise Games 2 and 5 of the playoff series between the Calgary Flames
and Minnesota North Stars
(April 30 and May 7 respectively) because of baseball games involving the Minnesota Twins
vs. the Boston Red Sox
and the Los Angeles Dodgers
vs. the Philadelphia Phillies
respectively.
In 1982, doubleheaders
did not start until June 17. Prior to the doubleheaders starting, Monte Moore and Wes Parker did the individual game until then. When the doubleheaders finally began, Moore and Parker moved over to the late game for the rest of the year. Meanwhile, Eddie Doucette
(replacing Jim Woods) and Nelson Briles were assigned to call the early game.
USA continued with the plan of not starting doubleheaders until June in the final year of the package in 1983. Steve Zabriskie and Al Albert filled in for Eddie Doucette in September 1982 (Steve Grad also occasionally substituted) while Albert replaced Doucette for a game or more in 1983.
/St. Louis Cardinals
game in 1981 (the last game before the strike). The game in question featured Fernando Valenzuela
picking up his eighth consecutive win to start the season. Valenzuela gave up a home run in the ninth to tie the game 1–1, but Pedro Guerrero hit one himself in the bottom of the ninth for the win.
One year later, during a September 16 game between the San Diego Padres
and the San Francisco Giants
, Darrell Evans
went 3-for-5 with four RBI in Giants' 9–3 victory.
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
that broadcast 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...
games on the USA Network
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
.
Background
In 1979, 22 teams (all but the Atlanta BravesAtlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....
, Houston 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...
, New York 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 St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
) took part in a one-year cable
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
deal with UA
United Artists Television
-Background:UA purchased Associated Artists Productions in 1958, giving UA access to the pre-1950 Warner Bros. library and the Popeye cartoons made by Fleischer Studios and Famous Studios between 1933 and 1957....
-Columbia
Columbia Pictures Television
Columbia Pictures Television was the second name of the Columbia Pictures television division Screen Gems . The studio changed its name on September 4, 1974.-1974-1982:...
(then owners of the USA Network
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
). The deal involved the airing of a Thursday night Game of the Week in markets at least 50 miles (80 km) from a major league park. The deal earned Major League Baseball less than $
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....
500,000, but led to a new two-year contract for 40–45 games per season. The program ran through the 1983 season.
Coverage history
The series began April 26, 1979 with a doubleheaderDoubleheader (television)
Doubleheader is used by network television to refer to two games in any sport aired back-to-back on the same network, even though they do not involve the same two teams . A doubleheader purposely coincides with a league's scheduling of "early" and "late" games...
: Cleveland
1979 Cleveland Indians season
- Offseason :* October 3, 1978: Larvell Blanks and Jim Kern were traded by the Indians to the Texas Rangers for Len Barker and Bobby Bonds.* December 5, 1978: Carmen Castillo was drafted by the Indians from the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1978 minor league draft....
at Kansas City
1979 Kansas City Royals season
The 1979 Kansas City Royals season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Royals finishing second in the American League West with a record of 85 wins and 77 losses.- Offseason :...
(Jim Woods
Jim Woods
James M. Woods was an American sportscaster, best known for his play-by-play work on Major League Baseball broadcasts.-Early life:...
and Bud Harrelson
Bud Harrelson
Derrel McKinley "Bud" Harrelson is a former Major League Baseball shortstop who played for the New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies and Texas Rangers from to . After retiring, he served as a coach for the World Champion Mets, and as manager of the Mets in 1990 and 1991...
announcing) followed by Baltimore
1979 Baltimore Orioles season
The 1979 Baltimore Orioles season was a season in American baseball. The Orioles finished first in the American League East division of Major League Baseball with a record of 102 wins and 57 losses...
at California
1979 California Angels season
The 1979 California Angels season involved the Angels finishing first in the American League West with a record of 88 wins and 74 losses. They went on to lose to the Baltimore Orioles in the 1979 American League Championship Series, three games to one....
(Monte Moore
Monte Moore
Monte Moore is a former radio and television broadcaster for the Kansas City Athletics and Oakland Athletics baseball teams.-Voice of the Athletics:...
and Maury Wills
Maury Wills
Maurice Morning "Maury" Wills is a former Major League Baseball shortstop and switch-hitting batter who played most prominently with the Los Angeles Dodgers , and also with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Montreal Expos...
announcing). The second game of the night was typically, based out of 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...
. The games were usually blacked out
Blackout (broadcasting)
Blackout usually relates to the broadcasting of sports events, television programming, that is prohibited in a certain media market.The purpose is theoretically to generate more revenue by obliging certain actions from fans, either by making them buy tickets or watch other games on TV...
in the competing teams' cities. Once in a while, when USA did a repeat of the telecast late at night, local cities were allowed to show the rerun.
From 1980–1981, Jim Woods and Nelson Briles
Nelson Briles
Nelson Kelley "Nellie" Briles was a pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the St. Louis Cardinals , Pittsburgh Pirates , Kansas City Royals , Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles...
(replacing Bud Harrelson) did the early games (except for a game at Montreal
1980 Montreal Expos season
- Offseason :* December 7, 1979: Dan Schatzeder was traded by the Expos to the Detroit Tigers for Ron LeFlore.* December 6, 1979: Rowland Office was signed as a free agent by the Expos....
on October 2, 1980, which reunited Jim Woods and Ned Martin
Ned Martin
Edwin Martin was an American sportscaster, known primarily as a play-by-play announcer for Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox from to...
, with whom Woods had paired on Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
radio broadcasts in the 1970s), while Monte Moore and Wes Parker
Wes Parker
Maurice Wesley Parker III is a former first baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers from to...
(replacing Maury Wills) called the late game.
With USA's coverage of the 1981 Stanley Cup Playoffs, it marked the first time that there was "blanket" American television coverage of the NHL playoffs. In other words, more often than not that, whenever a game was played it was televised on a national outlet (whether it was broadcast or cable). USA however, didn't televise Game 1 of the playoff series between Philadelphia Flyers
1980–81 Philadelphia Flyers season
The 1980–81 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Flyers' 14th season in the National Hockey League .The Flyers finished second in the Patrick Division. After a tough, five-game preliminary round series win against the Quebec Nordiques, the Flyers moved on to face the Calgary Flames in the quarterfinals...
and Calgary Flames
1980–81 Calgary Flames season
The 1980–81 Calgary Flames season was the first season in Calgary and ninth for the Flames in the National Hockey League. The Flames came to southern Alberta from Atlanta, Georgia, where the franchise was known as the Atlanta Flames for the first eight years of its existence...
(April 16) because of they were instead, broadcasting a baseball game between the Pittsburgh Pirates
1981 Pittsburgh Pirates season
The Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 100th in franchise history.- Offseason :* December 9, 1980: Bert Blyleven and Manny Sanguillén were traded by the Pirates to the Cleveland Indians for Gary Alexander, Víctor Cruz, Rafael Vásquez, and Bob Owchinko....
and Philadelphia Phillies
1981 Philadelphia Phillies season
The Philadelphia Phillies' 1981 season was a season in American baseball.- Offseason :* November 25, 1980: Rick Schu was signed as an amateur free agent by the Phillies....
. Meanwhile, they also skipped Games 2 through 6 (on April 17, 22 and 24) of the Philadelphia–Calgary series because of their coverage
NBA on USA
The NBA on USA is the de facto name is for the USA Network's National Basketball Association television coverage. The program ran from the season through the season.-Manhattan Cable and HBO:...
of the NBA playoffs
1981 NBA Playoffs
The 1981 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament which followed National Basketball Association's 1980–81 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics winning their 14th overall championship by defeating the Western Conference champion Houston Rockets in...
. USA also didn't televise Games 2 and 5 of the playoff series between the Calgary Flames
1980–81 Calgary Flames season
The 1980–81 Calgary Flames season was the first season in Calgary and ninth for the Flames in the National Hockey League. The Flames came to southern Alberta from Atlanta, Georgia, where the franchise was known as the Atlanta Flames for the first eight years of its existence...
and Minnesota North Stars
1980–81 Minnesota North Stars season
The 1980–81 Minnesota North Stars season was the North Stars' 14th season. Although the North Stars finished the season with one less win and one less point than the previous year, they made a surprise appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals against the New York Islanders, which they lost 4 games to...
(April 30 and May 7 respectively) because of baseball games involving the Minnesota Twins
1981 Minnesota Twins season
The Minnesota Twins finished a combined 41-68, seventh in the American League West. In the strike split season, the Twins were 17-39, seventh place in the first half and 24-29, fourth place in the second half. 469,090 fans attended Twins games, the lowest total in the American League...
vs. the Boston Red Sox
1981 Boston Red Sox season
The Boston Red Sox season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Red Sox finishing 5th in the American League East with a record of 59 wins and 49 losses...
and the Los Angeles Dodgers
1981 Los Angeles Dodgers season
The Los Angeles Dodgers season got off to a strong start when rookie pitcher Fernando Valenzuela pitched a shutout on opening day, starting the craze that came to be known as "Fernandomania." Fernando went on to win both the Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Awards.The season was divided into two...
vs. the Philadelphia Phillies
1981 Philadelphia Phillies season
The Philadelphia Phillies' 1981 season was a season in American baseball.- Offseason :* November 25, 1980: Rick Schu was signed as an amateur free agent by the Phillies....
respectively.
In 1982, doubleheaders
Doubleheader (baseball)
A doubleheader is a set of two baseball games played between the same two teams on the same day in front of the same crowd. In addition, the term is often used unofficially to refer to a pair of games played by a team in a single day, but in front of different crowds and not in immediate...
did not start until June 17. Prior to the doubleheaders starting, Monte Moore and Wes Parker did the individual game until then. When the doubleheaders finally began, Moore and Parker moved over to the late game for the rest of the year. Meanwhile, Eddie Doucette
Eddie Doucette
Eddie Doucette is the president of Doucette Promotions Inc. He is a former television and radio announcer. He was the original radio voice of the Milwaukee Bucks where he broadcast games for 16 years. He also broadcast games for Indiana Pacers, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers and Portland...
(replacing Jim Woods) and Nelson Briles were assigned to call the early game.
USA continued with the plan of not starting doubleheaders until June in the final year of the package in 1983. Steve Zabriskie and Al Albert filled in for Eddie Doucette in September 1982 (Steve Grad also occasionally substituted) while Albert replaced Doucette for a game or more in 1983.
Memorable moments
One particular game of note was a Los Angeles Dodgers1981 Los Angeles Dodgers season
The Los Angeles Dodgers season got off to a strong start when rookie pitcher Fernando Valenzuela pitched a shutout on opening day, starting the craze that came to be known as "Fernandomania." Fernando went on to win both the Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Awards.The season was divided into two...
/St. Louis Cardinals
1981 St. Louis Cardinals season
The St. Louis Cardinals 1981 season was the team's 100th season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 90th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 59-43 during the season and finished second in the National League East in the first and second halves of the season...
game in 1981 (the last game before the strike). The game in question featured Fernando Valenzuela
Fernando Valenzuela
Fernando Valenzuela Anguamea is a Mexican former left-handed pitcher, most notably with the Los Angeles Dodgers.In 1981, the 20-year-old Valenzuela took Los Angeles by storm, winning his first 8 decisions and leading the Dodgers to the World Championship...
picking up his eighth consecutive win to start the season. Valenzuela gave up a home run in the ninth to tie the game 1–1, but Pedro Guerrero hit one himself in the bottom of the ninth for the win.
One year later, during a September 16 game between the San Diego Padres
1982 San Diego Padres season
The San Diego Padres season was the fourteenth in franchise history.-Offseason:* December 10, 1981: Ozzie Smith, Steve Mura and a player to be named later were traded by the Padres to the St...
and the San Francisco Giants
1982 San Francisco Giants season
The1982 San Francisco Giants season was the franchise's 100th season and 25th season in San Francisco.- Offseason :* December 9, 1981: Larry Herndon was traded by the Giants to the Detroit Tigers for Dan Schatzeder and Mike Chris....
, Darrell Evans
Darrell Evans
Darrell Wayne Evans is a former third baseman and first baseman in Major League Baseball who played from 1969 to 1989 with the Atlanta Braves , San Francisco Giants and Detroit Tigers . He is also the former manager and director of player personnel for the Victoria Seals of the Golden Baseball...
went 3-for-5 with four RBI in Giants' 9–3 victory.
Announcers
- Al Albert (1982–1983)
- Nelson BrilesNelson BrilesNelson Kelley "Nellie" Briles was a pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the St. Louis Cardinals , Pittsburgh Pirates , Kansas City Royals , Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles...
(1980–1983) - Eddie DoucetteEddie DoucetteEddie Doucette is the president of Doucette Promotions Inc. He is a former television and radio announcer. He was the original radio voice of the Milwaukee Bucks where he broadcast games for 16 years. He also broadcast games for Indiana Pacers, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers and Portland...
(1982–1983) - Steve Grad
- Bud HarrelsonBud HarrelsonDerrel McKinley "Bud" Harrelson is a former Major League Baseball shortstop who played for the New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies and Texas Rangers from to . After retiring, he served as a coach for the World Champion Mets, and as manager of the Mets in 1990 and 1991...
(1979) - Ned MartinNed MartinEdwin Martin was an American sportscaster, known primarily as a play-by-play announcer for Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox from to...
(1980) - Monte MooreMonte MooreMonte Moore is a former radio and television broadcaster for the Kansas City Athletics and Oakland Athletics baseball teams.-Voice of the Athletics:...
(1979–1983) - Wes ParkerWes ParkerMaurice Wesley Parker III is a former first baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers from to...
(1980–1983) - Maury WillsMaury WillsMaurice Morning "Maury" Wills is a former Major League Baseball shortstop and switch-hitting batter who played most prominently with the Los Angeles Dodgers , and also with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Montreal Expos...
(1979) - Jim WoodsJim WoodsJames M. Woods was an American sportscaster, best known for his play-by-play work on Major League Baseball broadcasts.-Early life:...
(1979–1981) - Steve Zabriskie (1982–1983)