Here’s what you can look forward to when Bob Costas holds his second Town Hall meeting of the year, this one on the status of baseball.
ANOTHER SPECIAL LIVE EDITION, DEBUTING WEDNESDAY JULY 16
-Hank Aaron & Willie Mays Headline the Show —
HBO Sports’ COSTAS NOW presents another live edition, devoted exclusively to the state of baseball, when it returns WEDNESDAY, JULY 16 (9:00-10:30 p.m. live ET/tape-delayed PT), exclusively on HBO. Ross Greenburg and Rick Bernstein serve as executive producers of the show, which draws on the talents of HBO Sports’ Peabody- and Emmy®-winning production department.
“On July 16, we will explore the state of major league baseball from a host of angles,” says Greenburg, who is HBO Sports president. “Bob Costas is the ideal host for what promises to be an engaging and interesting evening.”
The four hot-button subjects that will be explored during the program from downtown New York in a town hall setting include:
Segment One: The Hall of Fame: What Gets You In? Live panel: Hall-of-Fame pitcher and broadcaster Jim Palmer, Hall-of-Fame second baseman and broadcaster Joe Morgan and former major league star Pete Rose, who is on baseball’s permanent ineligible list.
Segment Two: The Halfway Point of the Season. Live panel: Reigning National League MVP Jimmy Rollins and Tampa Bay Rays rookie sensation Evan Longoria.
Segment Three: The State of the Game. Live panel: Hall-of-Famer Dave Winfield and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim owner Arte Moreno.
Segment Four: Hammerin’ Hank & The Say Hey Kid. Live panel: Hall-of-Famers Hank Aaron and Willie Mays. Two baseball icons, whose extraordinary baseball careers are held in reverence by many, recall the era that they helped shape.
Among the baseball figures who were interviewed for taped pieces that will air prior to each live panel are Commissioner Bud Selig; Hall of Famers Mike Schmidt, Al Kaline and Bob Gibson; Cleveland Indians executive Mark Shapiro; Detroit coach Andy Van Slyke and current stars Curtis Granderson of Detroit; and Carl Crawford and Scott Kazmir of the Tampa Bay Rays.
Following the live town hall program viewers can log onto HBO.COM and go to “Overtime” to submit questions for Bob Costas and members of the final TV panel to continue the discussion.
I’ll be monitoring the show. I won’t live blog and I don’t think we’ll have any Buzz Bissinger-Will Leitch confrontation like the last Costas Now.
