On May 8, 1993, Karl Ravech joined ESPN.
Twenty years later, Ravech remains one of ESPN’s most prominent voices and one of Major League Baseball’s most respected commentators. continue reading…
Category: ‘MLBonESPN’
posted by Ben Cafardo on May 8, 2013 3:05 PM
Colleagues hail Baseball Tonight host Karl Ravech, who today celebrates his 20th anniversary with ESPN
posted by Carrie Kreiswirth on May 7, 2013 4:30 PM
Perfection dissection in tonight’s E:60′s ‘Perfect Game’ feature
In 2004, Randy Johnson celebrated his perfect game. (Credit: Getty Images)
The perfect game in baseball is one of the rarest achievements in all of sports: 27 up, 27 down. Since 1876, there have been more than 200,000 major league baseball games, yet only 23 have ended in a perfect game.
In tonight’s edition of E:60 (7 p.m. ET, ESPN), many of the pitchers in this exclusive group — from Don Larsen to David Cone to Randy Johnson — reflect on their historic feats. Feature Producer Martin Khodabakhshian walks us through how the “Perfect Game” feature came together: continue reading…
posted by Ben Cafardo on May 3, 2013 4:18 PM
Sunday Night Baseball’s Shulman, Olney ponder Dodgers vs. Giants
Matt Cain is scheduled to be the Giants’ starting pitcher against the Dodgers on Sunday.
(Scott Clarke / ESPN Images)
Editor’s note: Sunday Night Baseball is available on ESPN, ESPN Radio, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Deportes Radio and WatchESPN.
ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball emanates this week from AT&T Park when the defending World Series Champion San Francisco Giants play host to the Los Angeles Dodgers at 8 p.m. ET.
One-half of ESPN’s Sunday Night quartet — play-by-play commentator Dan Shulman and Senior Writer/Baseball Analyst Buster Olney — sat down with Front Row to preview this weekend’s telecast. (They are joined by analysts Orel Hershiser and John Kruk every Sunday night). continue reading…
posted by Ben Cafardo on April 30, 2013 4:34 PM
Analysts Mark Mulder, Doug Glanville stake out Braves, Nationals dugouts for Wednesday Night Baseball telecast
ESPN MLB analyst Mark Mulder (left) won’t be sharing the booth with Sean McDonough (right) on Wednesday.
(Phil Ellsworth/ESPN Images)
At the start of the 2013 Major League Baseball season, ESPN announced an unconventional concept for its Wednesday Night Baseball telecasts: a rotating booth. The idea served two purposes: 1) to strategically place ESPN MLB analysts in the booth when they have a distinct connection to a game; 2) to utilize ESPN’s deep roster of baseball commentators.
This Wednesday, analysts Mark Mulder and Doug Glanville will join play-by-play commentator Sean McDonough to call the Washington Nationals at Atlanta Braves game — the third consecutive night Nationals’ star Bryce Harper will be front and center on ESPN. (ESPN televised Nationals-Braves on Monday Night Baseball and debuts the one-hour special Bryce Begins tonight at 9 p.m. ET). continue reading…
posted by Ben Cafardo on April 26, 2013 3:31 PM
ScreenGrabbed: ESPN Baseball Tonight analyst Curt Schilling provides insight on Verlander injury
ESPN Baseball Tonight analyst Curt Schilling provides insight on Justin Verlander’s right thumb injury.
ESPN Front Row presents ScreenGrabbed: What You See On-Air And How It Gets There
Detroit Tigers ace pitcher Justin Verlander left the game against Kansas City Thursday with what the team described as cracked skin on his right thumb.
His injury status is day-to-day. Thursday night on SportsCenter, ESPN Baseball Tonight analyst Curt Schilling and host Karl Ravech reviewed an interview Schilling had with Verlander in Spring Training.
In that interview, Verlander demonstrated his unique curveball grip. On SportsCenter, Schilling points to how the grip contributed to the cracked skin on Verlander’s right thumb.
Schilling gave Front Row further background: “The BBTN team collaborated in Spring Training around content that seemed ‘appropriate’for me, talking with pitchers about pitching. In the segments I had a chance to talk to the game’s best pitchers about things I thought were interesting: grip, approach, preparation, etc.
“As with every pitcher, I spoke to Justin about grip and he explained his very unique curveball grip — very similar to Jarrod Parker’s one-of-a-kind changeup grip. I missed it the first time watching the video, but if you look closely at the image, [Verlander] clearly already has skin issues on the thumb in the area he was ‘hurting’ yesterday, and that was the second or third week of camp.”
posted by Amy Phillips on April 24, 2013 3:50 PM
Dodgers star Clayton Kershaw’s blazing pencils have Jay Harris on edge in latest This Is SportsCenter spot
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, known for his power and control when placing a baseball over the plate, shows those skills can be dangerous in the workplace in ESPN’s latest This is SportsCenter spot, debuting today.
As Kershaw nonchalantly tosses pencils toward the ceiling of his cube at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Conn., SportsCenter anchor Jay Harris “fears” potential injury in the cube above. Front Row asked Harris for his take on the latest of his many This is SportsCenter appearances. continue reading…
posted by Ben Cafardo on April 12, 2013 4:40 PM
O’s return to Sunday Night Baseball spotlight under former ESPN analyst Buck Showalter’s guidance
Buck Showalter impressed a lot of folks at ESPN during his time with the network. (ESPN Images)
Since 1990, ESPN has been committed to serving baseball fans by showcasing the best teams, biggest stars and fiercest rivalries on Sunday Night Baseball, the exclusive national Major League Baseball game of the week.
One team that’s played its way back into the national conversation is the Baltimore Orioles. continue reading…
posted by Ben Cafardo on April 5, 2013 8:00 AM
Five-tool journalist Buster Olney continues to deliver on ESPN’s MLB coverage
Buster Olney and Tim Kurkjian (L) on the set of Baseball Tonight.
(Joe Faraoni / ESPN Images)
If the term “five-tool player” was used to describe sports journalists, ESPN MLB Insider Buster Olney would be one of them.
The reporting-face of ESPN’s Major League Baseball coverage, and a 10-year veteran at the company, Olney can be seen on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, heard on his new podcast Baseball Tonight with Buster Olney, and read on ESPN.com and in the pages of ESPN The Magazine. continue reading…
posted by Rob Tobias on April 1, 2013 1:03 PM
ESPN Images takes you behind the scenes of MLB’s #OpeningNight Rangers-Astros game
Editor’s note: Front Row celebrates its second anniversary with a post showcasing ESPN Images’ look at how ESPN produced exclusive national television coverage of the 2013 Major League Baseball season-opener in Houston on Sunday.
It’s official. The 2013 Major League Baseball season is underway.
The historic March 31 Sunday Night Baseball opener on ESPN featured new American League West rivals, the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros. After 50 years in the National League, the Astros won their AL debut 8-2.
ESPN Images freelance sports photographer Cody Duty was at Houston’s Minute Maid Park to capture all the grandeur of #OpeningNight. In the gallery above, Duty provides insights into how ESPN’s baseball production team works behind the scenes. continue reading…
posted by Ben Cafardo on March 31, 2013 2:49 PM
Get ready for Rangers-Astros on #OpeningNight as ESPN covers all the bases for MLB fans
The Baseball Tonight crew talks Opening Day matchup between Texas Rangers and The Houston Astros.
HOUSTON — In just a few hours, ESPN’s commitment to its Major League Baseball coverage will be on full display as the network’s 24th MLB season begins.
Tonight at 8 p.m. ET, ESPN will televise exclusively MLB Opening Night — the Texas Rangers at the Houston Astros — in Houston’s historic American League debut.
Since 1990, ESPN has provided comprehensive coverage of America’s pastime that has changed the way viewers and fans watch the sport. From K-Zone to innovative use of cameras to the recent advent of new-age sabermetrics and statistical analysis, the network has helped drive the sport forward. continue reading…
