World Baseball Classic To Air Exclusively on MLB Network

All 39 games of the World Baseball Classic, the sport’s answer to soccer’s World Cup, basketball’s FIBA World Championships and Hockey’s IIHF World Championships, will air on MLB Network. Four years ago, the games were split between MLB Network which was brand spanking new at the time and ESPN. Now MLB Network will air the entire WBC while ESPN Deportes will have the Spanish language rights.

MLB Network has assigned the announcers for each round and in a very good move, it has sent all of its crews to the various sites in Asia, the Caribbean, and of course, the United States.

For the first round, Miami Marlins announcer Rich Waltz will be joined by Toronto Blue Jays voice Buck Martinez in Japan, JB Long and Joe Magrane will be in the great country of Taiwan, MASN’s Gary Thorne and Fox Sports West’s Jose Mota are assigned to Puerto Rico and two crews led by Matt Yallof and Matt Vasgersian will call games in the United States.

Then to the second round, Waltz and Martinez will remain in Japan while the games in the US will be played in Miami with Matt Vasgersian on the play-by-play, Heidi Watney will be the on-field reporter. The analysts joining Matt will be John Smoltz, Tom Verducci and Harold Reynolds, but not all at once.

Then in the Championship Round, Vasgersian, Jim Kaat and Tom Verducci call the semifinals. Bob Costas joins Kaat and Verducci for the final.

Games will be streamed online. Subscribers to Bright House Cable, DirecTV and Time Warner Cable will be able to watch the games at the World Baseball Classic website and through Apple devices on the WBCBaseball app. Subscribers will have to authenticate.

Here’s the press release.

World Baseball Classic2013 WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC BEGINS THIS FRIDAY ON MLB NETWORK

Costas, Kaat, Magrane, Reynolds, Smoltz, Vasgersian, Verducci & Yallof Among Game Announcers
World Baseball Classic Today Studio Show Premieres This Saturday, March 2 at 11:00 a.m. ET
Joey Cora to Serve as Guest Studio Analyst from March 7-9

Secaucus, N.J., February 27, 2013 – MLB Network’s exclusive English-language telecast of the 2013 World Baseball Classic in the United States begins this Friday, March 1 at 11:30 p.m. ET and continues with all 39 games of the tournament through the Championship on Tuesday, March 19 at 8:00 p.m. ET. MLB Network’s Bob Costas, Jim Kaat, Joe Magrane, Harold Reynolds, John Smoltz, Matt Vasgersian, Tom Verducci and Matt Yallof are among the group of announcers scheduled to call the tournament, produced by MLB Network in the United States and by MLB International abroad. The complete list of announcers is outlined below.

In addition to televising all 39 games, MLB Network will extensively cover the World Baseball Classic in its studio programming, including World Baseball Classic Today, which debuts this Saturday, March 2 at 11:00 a.m. ET. Former Major League infielder and coach of the 2005 World Champion Chicago White Sox Joey Cora will serve as a guest analyst on the program from March 7-9. The tournament’s Championship Round will include on-site coverage with Intentional Talk live before each game and live pre- and postgame coverage on MLB Tonight on the field from AT&T Park in San Francisco.

The announcers for the World Baseball Classic on MLB Network are:

First Round

Pool A: Brazil, China, Cuba, Japan/March 2-6

  • Rich Waltz and Buck Martinez – Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome, Fukuoka, Japan

Pool B: Australia, Taiwan, Korea, Netherlands / March 1-5

  • JB Long and Joe Magrane – Taipei Intercontinental Baseball Stadium, Taichung, Taiwan

Pool C: Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Spain, Venezuela/March 7-10

  • Gary Thorne and Jose Mota — Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Pool D: Canada, Italy, Mexico, United States/March 7-10

  • Matt Yallof and Jeff Nelson Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, Phoenix
  • Matt Vasgersian, Jim Kaat and Sam Ryan — Chase Field, Phoenix

Second Round

Pool 1/Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan/March 7-12

  • Rich Waltz and Buck Martinez

Pool 2/Marlins Park, Miami/March 12-16

  • March 12-13: Matt Vasgersian, John Smoltz and Heidi Watney
  • March 14: Matt Vasgersian, Tom Verducci and Heidi Watney
  • March 15: Matt Vasgersian, Harold Reynolds and Heidi Watney
  • March 16: Matt Vasgersian, Harold Reynolds, Tom Verducci and Heidi Watney

Championship Round

Semi-finals/AT&T Park, San Francisco/March 17-18

  • Matt Vasgersian, Jim Kaat and Tom Verducci

Championship/AT&T Park, San Francisco/March 19

  • Bob Costas, Jim Kaat and Tom Verducci

As part of its coverage of the world’s premier international baseball tournament, MLB Network’s live game telecasts will be available on an authenticated basis online and on Apple devices. At no additional cost, Bright House Networks, DirecTV and Time Warner Cable subscribers who receive MLB Network as part of their TV subscription will have access to all 39 games on computers at WorldBaseballClassic.com/Watch by logging in with their TV service provider information. Once users have authenticated online and created an MLB user profile, they can watch the tournament on Apple devices (iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch) via the WBCBaseball app, available on the Apple App Store. In addition to streaming all 39 games live, authenticated users will be able to view highlights and archived World Baseball Classic games from earlier in the tournament. The live streaming will be available beginning with the first game between Australia and Taiwan this Friday, March 1 at 11:30 p.m. ET.

MLB Network is the exclusive English-language telecast partner in the United States for both the 2013 and 2017 World Baseball Classic tournaments. MLB Network televised 16 games of the 2009 World Baseball Classic, just after the network’s launch.

That’s all.

About Ken Fang

Ken has been covering the sports media in earnest at his own site, Fang's Bites since May 2007 and at Awful Announcing since March 2013. He provides a unique perspective having been an award-winning radio news reporter in Providence and having worked in local television. Fang celebrates the three Boston Red Sox World Championships in the 21st Century, but continues to be a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan.

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