Baseball On Your TV This Weekend

Here are the games on national TV on this 4th of July holiday weekend. We’re practically at the halfway point of the season.

For Fox, you have three games. Stephen Strasburg gets yet another start televised on national television and Joe Buck will call that one along with Kevin Millar as Tim McCarver gets the weekend off. For Joe, this is 10 out of a possible 13 games he has worked. Not bad. But again, 10 has mostly been his limit in the last couple of seasons and after the All-Star Break, he’s been a virtual no-show on Fox Saturday Baseball. We’ll see if this trend continues this year.

FOX SPORTS NOTES, QUOTES & ANECDOTES

Nationals Phenom Stephen Strasburg Makes FOX Sports Debut vs. Mets

Rosenthal: Strasburg Might Actually Give National League A Chance To Win For A Change 

MLB ON FOX SPENDS JULY 4^TH WEEKEND IN OUR NATION’S CAPITAL – Being one of the most hyped pitching-prospects ever, Stephen Strasburg has, so far, lived up to it for the Nationals. On Saturday, July 3 at 4:00 PM ET, he makes his national broadcast television debut when he faces David Wright and the Mets. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 draft, Strasburg has been a smash posting a 2.27 ERA and an staggering 48/7 BB/K ratio. In Atlanta, NL East rivals meet as the division-leading Braves host Hanley Ramirez and the Marlins. Also, Evan Longoria and the Rays take on Joe Mauer and the Twins at Target Field. This week, the pregame show originates live from Nationals Park in Washington, DC with host Chris Rose. Once game action begins, Rose joins the game crew including Joe Buck, Kevin Millar and Ken Rosenthal as a field reporter.

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.

New York Mets at Washington Nationals, Joe Buck, Kevin Millar & Ken Rosenthal, 77% of USANationals Park – Washington, DC

MARKETS INCLUDE:  Albuquerque, Austin, Baltimore, Buffalo, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas, Dayton, Denver, Detroit, Hartford, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Louisville, Memphis, Milwaukee, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Norfolk, Oklahoma City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Providence, Richmond, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Tulsa, Washington

Probable Pitchers: R.A. Dickey, RHP (6-1, 2.98 ERA) vs. Stephen Strasburg, RHP (2-2, 2.27 ERA)

Florida Marlins at Atlanta Braves, Dick Stockton & Mark Grace, 14% of USA

Turner Field – Atlanta, GA

MARKETS INCLUDE:  Atlanta, Birmingham, Charlotte, Greensboro, Greenville, Jacksonville, Knoxville, Miami, Raleigh, West Palm Beach

Probable Pitchers: Anibal Sanchez, RHP (7-4, 3.18 ERA) vs. Tommy Hanson, RHP (7-5, 4.50 ERA)

Tampa Bay Rays at Minnesota Twins, Kenny Albert & Bert Blyleven, 8% of USA

Target Field – Minnesota, MN

MARKETS INCLUDE:  Boston, Fort Myers, Minneapolis, Orlando, Tampa

Probable Pitchers: Wade Davis, RHP (5-9, 4.68 ERA) vs. Francisco Liriano, LHP (6-6, 3.47 ERA)

STRASBURG VS. AMERICAN LEAGUE? – It’s hard to imagine the last time an MLB player, this early in his career, had the impact that Nationals Pitcher Stephen Strasburg has.  Thus far, Strasburg has delivered on the overwhelming hype surrounding him this season.  Below, MLB on FOX voices spoke about the impact he’s had on baseball and whether Strasburg deserves to be in the All-Star Game airing on FOX on Tuesday, July 13^th (8:00 PM ET).     

Tim McCarver:  “It depends on what happens over his next three starts. If he wins his next three starts then yes. If he doesn’t win his next three and his ERA still hovers around 2, then probably. Aside from that if he loses his next three starts, then no. After all, everybody knows and is in agreement that he’s got to earn it. This guy is so phenomenal and has hit the baseball scene with such an impact that it would be an injustice to baseball in America to not show Steven Strasburg on its biggest inter-league play stage.”

Kevin Millar: “Strasburg has the best fastball, curveball, and changeup going right now in the big leagues. He should 100% be on the biggest stage in baseball at halfway point.”

Ken Rosenthal: “If he continues pitching well then absolutely. The arguments made against him are short-sighted. With rosters expanding to 34 this year – including 13 pitchers – it’s doubtful that any truly deserving veteran would get slighted.  Strasburg is an electric presence, a pitcher that fans want to see and in a game that determines home-field advantage for the World Series, he might actually give the National League a chance to win for a change. Baseball needs to market its phenoms, not run from them.”

Joe Buck:  “This guy is one of the best pitchers in the game, he’s dominant. He’s already set the record for the most strikeouts over his first four Major League starts with 41. I compare this to LeBron James and tuning into NBA games to watch him play, if he’s injured I’m probably not going to tune into the Cavaliers.”

MLB Network has a couple of games to choose from tonight.

July 3            8:00 p.m.      Chicago White Sox at Texas

                   8:00 p.m.      San Francisco at Colorado (in select markets)

And on Sunday, TBS has the All-Star rosters announcements, then the Blue Jays-Yankees game.

Sun., July 4

12 p.m.                MLB All-Star Selection Show

Matt Winer (host), Dennis Eckersley (analyst), Cal Ripken (analyst) and David Wells (analyst)

1 p.m.                  Toronto Blue Jays @ New York Yankees

Announcers: Brian Anderson (play-by-play) and Buck Martinez (analyst)

For ESPN, here are the games from Sunday through Wednesday. Chris Berman is calling Wednesday’s game and that is dangerous. You have been warned.

Sunday Night Baseball (July 4)

Kansas City at Anaheim Angels, 8 p.m.

Commentators: Jon Miller, Joe Morgan, Orel Hershiser

ESPN, ESPN HD, ESPN3.com, ESPN Radio, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Mobile TV

Monday Night Baseball (July 5)

Atlanta at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.

Commentators: Dan Shulman, Aaron Boone, Chris Singleton

ESPN, ESPN HD, ESPN3.com, ESPN Mobile TV

Wednesday Night Baseball (July 7)

Cincinnati at New York Mets, 7 p.m.

Commentators: Chris Berman, Joe Morgan, Bobby Valentine

ESPN, ESPN HD, ESPN3.com, ESPN Mobile TV

That’s it.