Lots of pennant races heating up in baseball and MLB Network, Fox, TBS and ESPN are all over the sport this weekend. Starting with MLB Network which has games tonight and tomorrow.
BRAVES, GIANTS & PHILLIES FEATURED IN NL EAST & NL WEST DIVISION RACES THIS WEEKEND ON MLB NETWORK
Secaucus, N.J., September 15, 2010 – The path to the Postseason in the NL East and NL West continues on MLB Network this weekend. The action begins when the NL East second-place Atlanta Braves travel to Citi Field to take on the New York Mets on Friday, September 17 at 7:00 p.m. ET. Braves right-hander Tommy Hanson going for his 10th win of the season, is scheduled to pitch opposite the Mets’ Jonathon Niese. Viewers in the Braves’ and Mets’ markets will see the NL East first-place Philadelphia Phillies host the Washington Nationals at 7:00 p.m. ET. The Phillies currently lead the NL East by two games over the Braves.Saturday Night Baseball features the San Francisco Giants, who lead the San Diego Padres by ½ game in the NL West, against the Milwaukee Brewers on September 18 at 9:00 p.m. ET, live from AT&T Park. Fourteen-game winner Tim Lincecum is scheduled to take the mound for the Giants against the Brewers’ Yovani Gallardo. Viewers in select markets will see the AL West first-place Texas Rangers visit the Seattle Mariners at 9:00 p.m. ET. Rangers ace Cliff Lee is scheduled to pitch against the Mariners’ Jason Vargas.MLB Tonight, MLB Network’s Emmy Award-winning signature nightly studio show, airs seven days a week, featuring updates, highlights, bonus coverage and look-ins at live games in progress. Quick Pitch, MLB Network’s highlights show of record, airs nightly with recaps of all the great fielding and scoring plays from the day’s games.MLB Network’s complete live game schedule for September 17 & September 18:All times ET and subject to change, check MLBNetwork.com for updatesUnless otherwise announced, games will be blacked out in each club’s home television territorySeptember 17 7:00 p.m. Atlanta at New York Mets
7:00 p.m. Washington at Philadelphia [Only in Braves and Mets markets]September 18 9:00 p.m. Milwaukee at San Francisco9:00 p.m. Texas at Seattle [In select markets]
Before Saturday Night Baseball, MLB Network airs a special narrated by Bob Costas.
BOB COSTAS NARRATES THE EVOLUTION OF MLB PITCHERS IN MLB NETWORK BEHIND THE SEAMS: THE PITCHING PARADIGM ON SEPTEMBER 18 AT 7:00 P.M. ET
Documentary from MLB Productions Features 8 Hall of Famers, 8 Cy Young Award Winners and 23 Current MLB Players & ManagersSeptember 16, 2010 – The evolution of Major League pitching from the heavy-workload ace starter in the 1960’s and 1970’s to today’s starter-reliever-closer combination is the focus of MLB Network Behind the Seams: The Pitching Paradigm, the first episode in a new series of specials produced for MLB Network by MLB Productions, airing Saturday, September 18 at 7:00 p.m. ET. The hour-long documentary showcases how the use of Major League pitchers has changed over the last five decades: from when four-man pitching rotations were common, to today when five-man rotations with strict pitch counts and innings limits are the norm. The Pitching Paradigm will also analyze how the trends have led to the landscape that appears this season, where average runs-per-game have been at the lowest level in 20 years, deeming 2010 as the second incarnation of the “year of the pitcher.”Included throughout the program are interviews with eight Hall of Famers, eight Cy Young Award winners and 23 current MLB players and managers, including Andrew Bailey, Bobby Cox, Rollie Fingers, Joe Girardi, Ferguson Jenkins, Tony La Russa, Tim Lincecum, Gaylord Perry, David Price, Nolan Ryan and CC Sabathia. Also featured are statisticians and experts, including Elias Sports Bureau’s Steve Hirdt, historian John Thorn and Baseball-Reference.com’s Sean Forman, who compare trends in 2010 with previous seasons and discuss the creation of the ninth-inning specialist, the establishment of the save statistic and the smaller size of the strike zone, ballparks and foul territory.Quotes from The Pitching Paradigm include:GOOSE GOSSAGE, HALL OF FAMER:“We came in to inherited runners, big jams. We had to get out of that sixth or seventh inning and then pitch the eighth and ninth to finish out the ballgame.”ROLLIE FINGERS, HALL OF FAMER:“I was pitching 125, 130, 135 innings to get 20 saves. Nowadays they pitch 60 innings to get 40 saves.”FERGUSON JENKINS, HALL OF FAMER:“150 pitches didn’t bother my arm at all…and in 21 years of playing professional baseball, I never had a sore arm.”GAYLORD PERRY, HALL OF FAMER:“I expected to pitch every four days and I expected to pitch nine innings. I didn’t want to let anybody else finish my games. I thought I could do the job myself.”JUAN MARICHAL, HALL OF FAMER:“ I pitched most of my career with three day’s rest. With three day’s rest, I had better control because when I had an extra day of rest, the ball moved too much…”ANDREW BAILEY, OAKLAND A’S:“The old-school relievers where they go out for four or five, three innings at a time, I have no idea how those guys did it.”DAVID PRICE, TAMPA BAY RAYS:“I feel like pitch counts are good. You need to try and pace yourself for your career and you don’t want to just blow it all out on a half a year or even a season.”TIM LINCECUM, SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS:“They put that 100-pitches [number] for a reason. It’s a number that everybody kind of feels healthy around, at least for the five-day rotation…As far as going back to that four-man rotation, I don’t know how that would hold up or how players would hold up.”TIM HUDSON, ATLANTA BRAVES:“Nowadays you’ve got bullpen guys who are dirtier than the starting pitchers.”CC SABATHIA, NEW YORK YANKEES:“With the way the game is today, I think there’s so many good arms out there that we can afford to have a five-man rotation and get the extra rest.”Immediately following the interview, MLB Network’s signature studio show MLB Tonight will recap the day’s games and lead into Saturday Night Baseball at 9:00 p.m. ET featuring the Milwaukee Brewers at NL West second-place San Francisco Giants. Viewers in select markets will see the AL West first-place Texas Rangers at Seattle Mariners.
Now to Fox Sports and once again, the network covers three games including the faltering San Diego Padres at St. Louis going to mostly the Midwest and Southern California. As usual in the second half the season, Joe Buck is a no-show. He’s stuck on 13 regular season games out of a possible 24 Saturdays. I think it’s safe to say that Joe will be away again next Saturday as well.
FOX SPORTS NOTES, QUOTES & ANECDOTES
MLB’s Best Play for Position on the FOX SATURDAY BASEBALL GAME OF THE WEEKTHE POSTSEASON BECKONS – Week 24 of the FOX SATURDAY BASEBALL GAME OF THE WEEK commences on Saturday, Sept. 18 at 4:00 PM ET. In New York, Martin Prado the second-place Braves continue their pursuit of the Phillies when they take on Jose Reyes and the Mets. After some shaky play at the beginning of the month, Adrian Gonzalez and Padres seem to have regained control of the NL West. This week, the Pads travel to St. Louis and face Albert Pujols and the Cards. Also, AL Central rivals square-off when the White Sox host the Tigers in Chicago. This week, the pregame show originates live from Busch Stadium in St. Louis with host Chris Rose. Once game action begins, Rose joins analyst Eric Karros in the booth.For instant updates throughout the week and during games from the entire MLB on FOX crew, follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MLBONFOX. Fans can gain more access to exclusive FOX Sports content by logging on to www.facebook.com/foxsports and www.myspace.com/foxsports.SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18Atlanta Braves at New York Mets, Matt Vasgersian, Tim McCarver & Ken Rosenthal, going to 42% of USACiti Field – Flushing, NYMARKETS INCLUDE: Atlanta, Baltimore, Birmingham, Boston, Buffalo, Charlotte, Greensboro, Greenville, Hartford, Jacksonville, Knoxville, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Norfolk, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Providence, Raleigh, Tampa, Washington, West Palm BeachProbable Pitchers: Tim Hudson, RHP (15-8, 2.62 ERA) vs. TBASan Diego Padres at St. Louis Cardinals, Chris Rose & Eric Karros, going to 39% of USABusch Stadium – St. Louis, MOMARKETS INCLUDE: Albuquerque, Austin, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Denver, Fort Myers, Houston, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Louisville, Memphis, Nashville, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, TulsaProbable Pitchers: TBA vs. TBADetroit Tigers at Chicago White Sox, Josh Lewin & Mark Grace, going to 18% of USAU.S. Cellular Field – Chicago, ILMARKETS INCLUDE: Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, RichmondProbable Pitchers: Justin Verlander, RHP (16-8, 3.48 ERA) vs. Freddy Garcia, RHP (11-6, 4.88 ERA)
The Sunday games on TBS and ESPN are after the break.
As promised, here’s the TBS Sunday afternoon game.
“Sunday MLB on TBS” Features an American League East Match-up between the New York Yankees @ Baltimore Orioles“Sunday MLB on TBS” continues on September 19 with a showdown between American League East rivals as Alex Rodriguez and the New York Yankees visit Luke Scott and the Baltimore Orioles at 1:30 p.m. (ET). Andy Pettitte is scheduled to start for the Yankees against the Orioles probable starter Chris Tillman. Brian Anderson will call the game in the TBS broadcast booth alongside analyst Buck Martinez.Sunday MLB on TBS includes match-ups on TBS every Sunday afternoon throughout the regular season. The MLB Postseason on TBS begins on October 6th with exclusive coverage of the League Division Series (LDS) and the American League Championship Series (ALCS).TBS has broadcast MLB coverage for more than 30 years serving as the exclusive home of the MLB Division Series (DS) and one League Championship Series (LCS) since 2007 and home of Atlanta Braves coverage from 1977 to 2007.SUNDAY MLB ON TBS SCHEDULE:Sunday, Sept. 191:30 p.m. New York Yankees @ Baltimore OriolesAnnouncers: Brian Anderson (play-by-play) and Buck Martinez (analyst)SUNDAY MLB ON TBS UPCOMING SCHEDULE:Sunday, Sept. 262:30 p.m. MLB on TBS Pre-Game ShowAnnouncers: Matt Winer (host), Dennis Eckersley (analyst), Cal Ripken (analyst) and David Wells (analyst)3 p.m. San Francisco Giants @ Colorado RockiesAnnouncers: Ernie Johnson (play-by-play) and Buck Martinez (analyst)
And for ESPN, this is the deal for Sunday night. The Wednesday night games have yet to be announced.
Sunday Night Baseball (September 19)Detroit Tigers at Chicago White Sox, 8 p.m.ESPN, ESPN HD, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3.com, ESPN Radio, ESPN Mobile TVCommentators: Jon Miller, Joe Morgan, Orel Hershiser
And that will conclude this look at baseball on TV this weekend.
