Major League Baseball on ESPN Radio is a broadcast presentation of Major League Baseball on ESPN Radio. The games include the Opening Day game, the Sunday Night Baseball games, Saturday afternoon games, holiday games (like Memorial Day games) and September pennant race games. The All-Star Game and all of the playoffs can also be heard on ESPN Radio including the Division Series, League Championship Series and the World Series.
In addition to affiliate stations on AM/FM radio, ESPN Radio's game broadcasts are also on XM Satellite Radio. They are not included in the subscription "Gameday Audio" package on MLB.com, however.
History
On September 27, 1997, ESPN outbid CBS Radio to become the exclusive national radio broadcaster of Major League Baseball. This was very surprising, considering that CBS Radio had been the national broadcaster since 1976.
The agreement lasted seven years through 2004 and gave ESPN Radio the rights to broadcast numerous games including opening Day, Sunday Night Baseball, Saturday Game of the Week, holiday games, September pennant race games, the All-Star Game and all of the playoffs, including the World Series.
Then on October 21, 2004, ESPN Radio extended its then seven year relationship with Major League Baseball with a five year, $55 million dollar contract extension through the 2010 season.
The agreement also added a weekly program devoted to baseball, which became The Baseball Show from 3 p.m. ET to 7 p.m. ET on Sundays during the regular season. The program is hosted by John Seibel and Steve Phillips.
Broadcasters
ESPN Radio's lead broadcasting crew consists of Gary Thorne and Dave Campbell. Thorne succeeded Dan Shulman, who had called for the network since 2002; Shulman, in turn, had been preceded by Charley Steiner from 1998-2002. Campbell replaced Kevin Kennedy as analyst in 2000. The pregame host for all of the games since its debut has been Joe D'Ambrosio.
The broadcast team for the World Series and one League Championship Series is Jon Miller and Hall of Famer Joe Morgan. During all of the games there is also the ESPN Radio SportsCenter every twenty minutes with live cut ins during the games.
