With Jon Miller and Joe Morgan jettisoned from ESPN after the World Series, it was speculated that Dan Shulman, Orel Hershiser, and Bobby Valentine would be the new team for the network on Sunday Night Baseball. And when Miller rejected a proposal to call the games on radio, it opened a position there as well. Well, we have the official announcement by ESPN for Sunday Night Baseball for TV and indeed, it’s Shulman, Hershiser and Valentine. Jon Sciambi remains as the Sunday Night Baseball announcer on radio and replacing analyst Dave Campbell is Chris Singleton.
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ESPN’s Shulman, Hershiser and Valentine Form New Sunday Night Baseball BoothJon Sciambi and Chris Singleton New ESPN Radio Sunday Night Baseball TeamDan Shulman will be paired with analysts Orel Hershiser and Bobby Valentine to form ESPN’s new Sunday Night Baseball booth beginning with the 2011 Major League Baseball season, it was announced today by Norby Williamson, ESPN executive vice president, production. Dan Shulman, most recently the voice of ESPN’s Monday Night Baseball, will be the network’s Sunday Night Baseball play-by-play commentator. Orel Hershiser will return as a Sunday Night Baseball analyst, and be joined by Bobby Valentine, a newcomer to the Sunday Night booth.“Dan has broad knowledge of the game, an ability to articulate baseball’s analytics and a conversational tone which will bring out the best in our analysts,” said Williamson. “Pairing him with Orel Hershiser, who made great contributions in the Sunday Night Baseball booth last season, and the unique opinions and fresh perspective of Bobby Valentine, will make for a dynamic Sunday Night team.”Shulman has previously served as the voice of ESPN’s Monday Night Baseball (2008-10) and Wednesday Night Baseball (2002-07), along with ESPN Radio’s MLB postseason (1998-present) and regular-season (2002-07) coverage. Valentine, a former MLB manager, will also be new to the Sunday Night Baseball booth next season. He will continue as a Baseball Tonight analyst as well. Hershiser, a former Major League Baseball pitcher and Cy Young winner, joined Sunday Night Baseball last season.Additionally, ESPN Radio’s new Sunday Night Baseball broadcast team will be play-by-play commentator Jon Sciambi, returning for his second season in the Sunday Night booth, and analyst Chris Singleton. This will be Singleton’s first year contributing to ESPN Radio’s Sunday Night Baseball coverage. He joined ESPN in 2008, providing analysis on Baseball Tonight, before adding Monday Night Baseball responsibilities last season. Singleton contributed to ESPN Radio’s MLB postseason coverage in 2008 and 2009, along with select regular-season games.Dan ShulmanShulman, a Canadian native, joined ESPN in 1995 as a MLB and college basketball commentator. He called Wednesday Night Baseball telecasts from 2002-07 and Monday Night Baseball from 2008-10. Shulman also contributed to ESPN’s MLB coverage on a part-time basis from 1995-2001. He has also served as the play-by-play voice for MLB on ESPN Radio from 2002-07 and has called postseason games for the network since 1998. Shulman’s college basketball responsibilities include pairing with Dick Vitale for ESPN’s Saturday primetime game of the week and other top games throughout the season. He added NBA play-by-play duties in 2007. Shulman previously provided play-by-play for the Toronto Blue Jays on The Sports Network (TSN) in Canada from 1995-2001.Orel HershiserHershiser, a former MLB pitcher and Cy Young Award winner (1988), was a member of ESPN’s baseball team in 2000-01, providing analysis on Wednesday Night Baseball (2001) and Little League World Series coverage (200-01). Hershiser re-joined ESPN in 2006, following four years with the Texas Rangers organization. He has contributed to Monday and Wednesday Night Baseball, Baseball Tonight, and the Little League World Series. Hershiser joined ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball in 2010. Hershiser has also been an analyst for ESPN Radio’s postseason coverage.Hershiser, a three-time National League All-Star, pitched 18 seasons in the Major Leagues with the Los Angeles Dodgers (1983-94, 2000), Cleveland (1995-97), San Francisco (1998) and New York Mets (1999). In addition to the Cy Young Award, Hershiser also was named World Series Most Valuable Player, Associated Press Athlete of the Year and Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year in 1988. After missing the 1990 season due to shoulder surgery, Hershiser returned to the Dodgers in 1991 and was named UPI Comeback Player of the Year.Bobby ValentineValentine worked for ESPN in 2003 as a studio analyst and returned to the company during the 2009 postseason as a Baseball Tonight analyst. Valentine will continue to contribute to Baseball Tonight in addition to his new Sunday Night Baseball role. He also contributes to ESPNNewYork.com and 1050 ESPN Radio in New York and provides analysis for ESPN Radio’s Division Series coverage.Valentine, a former MLB manager, most recently managed the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan’s Pacific League from 2004-09, guiding them to the team’s first Japan Series championship in 2005. Prior to working with ESPN in 2003, he managed the New York Mets from 1996-2002. Valentine guided the Mets to the postseason in consecutive years for the first time in club history in 1999 and 2000. In 1999, he was honored as Manager of the Year by the New York Athletic Club. As manager of the Texas Rangers (1985-1992), Valentine won more games than any other manager in team history. Valentine played 10 seasons of Major League Baseball (Los Angeles Dodgers, 1969, 1971-72; California Angels, 1973-75; San Diego Padres, 1975-77; New York Mets, 1977-78; and Seattle Mariners, 1979).Jon SciambiJon Sciambi joined ESPN Radio in a full-time role last season as the voice of Sunday Night Baseball. He previously worked for ESPN on a part-time basis, calling college basketball and Major League Baseball games for television since 2005. Sciambi contributed to ESPN Radio’s 2009 World Series coverage as on-site studio host, and provided post-game, on-field interviews for ESPN’s SportsCenter. Additionally, he had served as a part-time host of ESPN Radio’s Game Night, and as play-by-play commentator on ESPN Regional’s BIG EAST basketball coverage during the 2003-04 season.Sciambi previously was the lead play-by-play announcer for the Atlanta Braves on Fox Sports South and SportSouth (2007-2009). He served as host for 790 The Ticket in South Florida, and as voice of the Florida Marlins on WQAM (1997-2004). Sciambi was also a play-by-play commentator for the 2009 World Baseball Classic for ESPN and MLB International.
Chris SingletonChris Singleton joined ESPN in 2008 as a Baseball Tonight analyst. He added ESPN Monday Night Baseball responsibilities in 2009 and will be the lead analyst for ESPN Radio’s Sunday Night Baseball coverage beginning in 2010. Singleton contributed to ESPN Radio’s MLB postseason coverage in 2008 and 2009, along with select regular-season games.A six-year Major League veteran, Singleton played for the Chicago White Sox (1999-2001), Baltimore Orioles (2002), Oakland Athletics (2003) and Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2005), enjoying his best statistical season during his rookie campaign in 1999 as a member of the White Sox (.300 batting average, 17 home runs, 72 RBI and 20 stolen bases). Singleton previously provided analysis and play-by-play for White Sox radio broadcasts (2006-07).ESPN’s Norby Williamson, executive vice president, production, on Jon Miller and Joe Morgan, who were part of the Sunday Night booth from 1990-2010:“Jon and Joe contributed greatly to the success of Sunday Night Baseball for the past 21 seasons. Over the last two decades, Joe went from Hall of Fame player to one of his sport’s top analysts and Jon’s Hall of Fame voice and tremendous knowledge of the game have connected with baseball fans everywhere. We owe them our deepest thanks for an outstanding body of work.”
And that’s it.
