Granted, it’s early in the season and we’ve only had three real editions of MLB Tonight on MLB Network compared to almost twenty years of Baseball Tonight on ESPN/ESPN2. I realize this post almost falls into Bill Simmons territory on ESPN.com, but I’ll do my best not to do this too often. In fact, I can see the next “Tale of the Tape” if there is one, happening in September between Football Night in America and NFL Gameday Final. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Let’s go position by position (boy, this definitely is falling into Bill Simmons territory. I’ll try to keep it quick).
Hosts – Matt Vasgersian/Victor Rojas/Greg Amsinger (MLB Tonight) vs. Karl Ravech/Steve Berthiaume/Chris Berman (ESPN/ESPN2)
No question, ESPN hosts win this one hands down. Karl Ravech is the best baseball studio host. He’s done this since 1996 and practically knows every player this side of the Pacific Ocean. Steve Berthiaume is very comfortable as the number two host. Chris Berman is the weak link. His Sunday Baseball Tonight’s are awful and nothing compared to his old days on NFL Primetime. Even fill-in hosts Dari Nowkhah and Mike Hill are better.
Matt Vasgersian, the former play-by-play man for the Padres and Victor Rojas, former radio play-by-play caller of the Rangers aren’t bad. But last night, Matt went into a long-winded introduction using John Wayne as an analogy to something. I had no idea what he was talking about. Greg Amsinger sounds like he smokes 30 packs of cigarettes a day because he often takes deep breaths in-between sentences. Greg comes over from CBS College Sports where he was the number one studio host. He has potential.
ESPN wins by a grand slam home run.
Analysts – Harold Reynolds/Barry Larkin/Dan Plesac/Al Leiter (MLB Network) vs. John Kruk/Dave Winfield/Steve Phillips/Chris Singleton (ESPN/ESPN2)
HR won an Emmy Award for Best Studio Analyst. John Kruk was inexplicably nominated this year for an Emmy Award for Best Studio Analyst. Dave Winfield was dumped by Fox after his mistake-prone year in 1996 when the network made its MLB debut. Dave was inexplicably brought back to TV by ESPN. Krukie is good, but he’s not Emmy-worthy. HR is very good and won a New York Emmy Award for his work for SNY last season. Steve Phillips is an excellent analyst and there’s a reason why he was put on the Sunday Night Baseball team.
As for Barry Larkin, he’s growing into his role. Dan Plesac has experience doing work for the Cubs postgame show on Comcast SportsNet. Al Leiter is quite good. They had a nice head start this season by doing a lot of studio work since New Year’s Day on MLB Network. However, when the ESPN studio jells, it’s hard to match Krukie and Phillips. HR keeps the MLB Network studio team close, but give this category to ESPN again.
ESPN wins by a two run homer.
Insiders – Jon Heyman/Tom Verducci (MLB Network) vs. Peter Gammons/Tim Kurkjian/Buster Olney/Jayson Stark (ESPN)
To be honest, I haven’t seen Heyman and Verducci since the first month of the MLB Network’s existence. But if they’re still on, they do pose a threat to the ESPN team. While Peter is a Hall of Famer, his stock has gone down since his sympathetic interview of Alex Rodriguez earlier this year. Tim Kurkjian is solid and so is Buster Olney. Jayson Stark has become a best-selling author. Verducci and Heyman do excellent work and can do some great leg work. Gammons has sources all over MLB, although I feel Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports is on the cusp of challenging him for best MLB TV insider. Give this one to ESPN’s team of insiders.
ESPN wins by a three run home run.
Hot Chicks – Trenni Kusnierek/Hazel Mae (MLB Network) vs. Nobody (ESPN)
ESPN does not have any female hosts or reporters for the show. This has to change somehow. Hazel and Trenni can go out in the field or host as Hazel did on Tuesday in the late edition of MLB Tonight: Roundtripper Final. Trenni has become a Fang’s Bites fav. I’ve seen Hazel for several years on Rogers Sportsnet and on NESN and I like her as well. Why ESPN has never had a female host for Baseball Tonight is beyond me. Linda Cohn? Cindy Brunson? Michelle Bonner? Bonnie Bernstein? Suzy Kolber? No, no, no, no, and no. Don’t know why that is. So by default, MLB Network wins.
MLB Network by a grand slam homer.
In-progress Updates
This category is where MLB Network has the advantage over ESPN. While ESPN can show taped updates, it cannot cut-in live. MLB Network can do this and can stay with a game for a short period of time. It’s game updates are better and they are actually quicker. Tonight for the Dodgers-Padres game, ESPN showed a Dodger home run several minutes after MLB Tonight. Baseball Tonight was caught in a discussion and did not get to the update until later.
Even though ESPN is an MLB rightsholder, it still cannot go to a game live at a moment’s notice. This is where MLB Network shines. And the updates get on faster during MLB Tonight.
MLB Tonight wins by a walk-off bases loaded walk.
Time
MLB Tonight has the advantage of being able to start at 6 p.m. and go until 1 a.m. Baseball Tonight is usually on at 10 p.m. either on ESPN or ESPN2 and goes for an hour. It then comes back at midnight for a half hour. I liked it when Baseball Tonight went for an hour at midnight, but now has to yield its time for either NFL Live, an NBA show or NASCAR highlights. But in this case, it’s quality, not quantity. Because it has a lot of time to fill, MLB Network can sometimes get bogged down as 38Cliches describes. Overall, I like MLB Network’s presentation, but ESPN can keep its show tighter and quicker paced.
ESPN wins by a wild pitch.
If you’re scoring at home, ESPN wins 10-5, but we’re only four days into the new season. I can return to this subject later in the year, perhaps August when things are slow. We’ll see if MLB Network can turn the tide. As you can see, based on an almost 20 year head start, ESPN wins this one hands down.
