As the MLB Postseason is about to begin, ESPN Radio has named the announcing crews for both Wild Card games and all four League Division Series. Most of the men have extensive experience calling baseball on the radio. That is except for Chris Berman who returns to call at most three games on ESPN Radio.
Anyway, before I go off on that decision, we list the announcing teams for the Wild Card games first.
American League Wild Card — Jon Sciambi/Chris Singleton
National League Wild Card — Dave O’Brien/Aaron Boone
As you can see, ESPN Radio utilizes Sciambi and Singleton from its Sunday Night Baseball broadcast for the American League and O’Brien and Boone from Wednesday Night Baseball are on the NL. O’Brien calls Red Sox games on WEEI in Boston when he’s not working for ESPN.
For the LDS, the teams are as follows:
Wild Card Winner vs. Anaheim Angels — Jon Sciambi/Chris Singleton
Detroit Tigers vs. Baltimore Orioles — Chris Berman or Dave Flemming/Rick Sutcliffe
Wild Card winner vs. Washington Nationals — Dave O’Brien/John Kruk
St. Louis Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Dodgers — Dan Shulman/Aaron Boone
Here’s the ESPN Radio announcement and schedule:
ESPN Radio to Present the 2014 MLB Wild Card Games and League Division Series
All Postseason Games Available on ESPN Radio, ESPNRadio.com, via the ESPN Radio app, iTunes Radio, Slacker and TuneIn
ESPN Radio will present its 17th consecutive Major League Baseball postseason beginning with the American and National League Wild Card Games. ESPN Radio’s Sunday Night Baseball team of play-by-play voice Jon Sciambi and analyst Chris Singleton will call the AL Wild Card Game Tuesday, Sept. 30, as the Oakland Athletics visit the Kansas City Royals at 8 p.m. ET. The duo will also provide commentary for American League Division Series (ALDS) between the AL Wild Card winner and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim beginning Thursday, Oct. 2.
Commentator Dave O’Brien and analyst Aaron Boone will describe the action in the NL Wild Card Game Wednesday, Oct. 1, at 8 p.m. when the Pittsburgh Pirates host the San Francisco Giants, which will also air on ESPN with comprehensive television coverage. O’Brien will later team with Baseball Tonight analyst John Kruk to call the National League Division Series (NLDS) between the NL Wild Card winner and the Washington Nationals, and ESPN Sunday Night Baseball play-by-play commentator Dan Shulman and analyst Aaron Boone will call the NLDS between the defending National League Champion St. Louis Cardinals and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Veteran ESPN commentator and host Chris Berman, who has called MLB games since 1990, will return to the booth to provide play-by-play with analyst Rick Sutcliffe during the ALDS for Games 1, 2 and 5 of the Detroit Tigers-Baltimore Orioles series beginning Thursday, Oct. 2, while Dave Flemming and Sutcliffe will call Games 3 and 4.
ESPN Radio will broadcast the entire 2014 postseason, and schedule and commentator assignments for the Championship Series and World Series will be announced at a later date.
All postseason games will be available on ESPN Radio, ESPNRadio.com, via the ESPN Radio app, iTunes Radio, Slacker and TuneIn.
Additionally, Baseball Tonight will have nightly telecasts throughout the postseason led by host Karl Ravech with analysts Barry Larkin, Eric Wedge, Manny Acta, Mark Mulder, Eduardo Perez and Doug Glanville. SportsCenter will also present daily highlights, news and analysis including segments from Baseball Tonight commentators.
ESPN.com will provide extensive postseason content including feature stories, predictions, rankings and breaking news from ESPN MLB Insiders Buster Olney, Tim Kurkjian, Jayson Stark, Jerry Crasnick, Jim Caple and Jim Bowden. ESPN.com highlights include:
- More than a dozen on-site contributors from ESPN.com and ESPNLosAngeles.com;
- Home pages for Wild Card games and the Division Series, Championship Series and World Series with expert picks and predictions, previews, video analysis, statistics, social media integration and more;
- @BBTN Twitter takeovers each day of the postseason featuring Baseball Tonight commentators and current MLB players;
- Baseball Tonight Spotlight, Baseball Tonight Minute and SweetSpot TV video analysis;
- Weekday Baseball Tonight podcast with Buster Olney and a cast of experts throughout the postseason;
- A drawing of pitchers to watch in the postseason designed by illustrator Chris Morris;
- Daily posts from ESPN’s Stats & Analysis group including interactive heat maps;
- Interactive chats, SportsNation polls and social media integration across ESPN platforms including Postseason Live, which recaps the top trending stories of the moment.
ESPN Radio Wild Card Schedule:
Date Time (ET) Game/Commentators Tue, Sep 30 8 p.m. American League Wild Card:
Oakland Athletics at Kansas City Royals
Jon Sciambi, Chris SingletonWed, Oct 1 8 p.m. National League Wild Card:
San Francisco Giants at Pittsburgh Pirates
Dave O’Brien, Aaron BooneESPN Radio ALDS Schedule:
Date Time (ET) Game/Commentators Thu, Oct 2 TBD Game 1: Oakland/Kansas City at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Jon Sciambi, Chris SingletonTBD Game 1: Detroit Tigers at Baltimore Orioles
Chris Berman, Rick SutcliffeFri, Oct 3 TBD Game 2: Oakland/Kansas City at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Jon Sciambi, Chris SingletonTBD Game 2: Detroit Tigers at Baltimore Orioles
ChrisBerman, Rick SutcliffeSun, Oct 5 TBD Game 3: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Oakland/Kansas City
Jon Sciambi, Chris SingletonTBD Game 3: Baltimore Orioles at Detroit Tigers
Dave Flemming, Rick SutcliffeMon, Oct 6 TBD Game 4: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Oakland/Kansas City**
Jon Sciambi, Chris SingletonTBD Game 4: Baltimore Orioles at Detroit Tigers **
DaveFlemming, Rick SutcliffeWed, Oct 8 TBD Game 5: Oakland/Kansas City at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim**
Jon Sciambi, Chris SingletonTBD Game 5: Detroit Tigers at Baltimore Orioles**
Chris Berman, Rick SutcliffeESPN Radio NLDS Schedule:
Date Time (ET) Game/Commentators Fri, Oct 3 TBD Game 1: Pittsburgh/San Francisco at Washington Nationals
Dave O’Brien, John KrukTBD Game 1: St. Louis Cardinals at Los Angeles Dodgers
Dan Shulman, Aaron BooneSat, Oct 4 TBD Game 2: Pittsburgh/San Francisco at Washington Nationals
Dave O’Brien, John KrukTBD Game 2: St. Louis Cardinals at Los Angeles Dodgers
Dan Shulman, Aaron BooneMon, Oct 6 TBD Game 3: Washington Nationals at Pittsburgh/San Francisco
Dave O’Brien, John KrukTBD Game 3: Los Angeles Dodgers at St. Louis Cardinals
Dan Shulman, Aaron BooneTue, Oct 7 TBD Game 4: Washington Nationals at Pittsburgh/San Francisco**
Dave O’Brien, John KrukTBD Game 4: Los Angeles Dodgers at St. Louis Cardinals**
Dan Shulman, Aaron BooneThu, Oct 9 TBD Game 5: Pittsburgh/San Francisco at Washington Nationals**
Dave O’Brien, John KrukTBD Game 5: St. Louis Cardinals at Los Angeles Dodgers**
Dan Shulman, Aaron Boone**If necessary
That is all.
