Major League Baseball (MLB) games aired on the predecessor networks for the American pay television channel Freeform. These began in 2000, when the channel was known as Fox Family Channel, co-owned by News Corporation and Haim Saban, as a replacement for Thursday night games that had aired on Fox Sports Net in prior seasons. The package also included some games in the postseason Division Series. After The Walt Disney Company bought the channel in 2001, renaming it to ABC Family, the games were moved to the Disney-owned ESPN channels, although the 2002 Division Series games that had been acquired as part of the purchase remained on ABC Family because of existing contractual obligations. Those games moved to ESPN the following year as well.
| Major League Baseball on Fox Family | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Also known as | Fox Family Baseball Fox Family Baseball Thursday ESPN Division Series |
| Genre | Major League Baseball game telecasts |
| Directed by | Doug Freeman Dave Hagen Jim Lynch Larry Meyers Jeff Mitchell |
| Starring | Kenny Albert (2001) Rod Allen (2001) Chris Berman (2002) Thom Brennaman (2001) Joe Buck (2001) Tony Gwynn (2002) Rex Hudler (2001) Josh Lewin (2001) Tim McCarver[2] (2001) Jon Miller[3] (2002) Joe Morgan[4] (2002) Dave O'Brien (2002) Rick Sutcliffe (2002) |
| Theme music composer | NJJ Music |
| Opening theme | "MLB on Fox theme music" |
| Composer | NJJ Music |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| Production | |
| Producers | Jeff Gowan Pete Macheska Jerry Weinstein Jim Zrake Glenn Diamond |
| Production locations | Various Major League Baseball stadiums |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 180 minutes or until game ended |
| Production companies | Fox Sports ESPN |
| Original release | |
| Network | Fox Family[5] (2001) ABC Family (2002) |
| Release | April 5, 2001[1] – October 6, 2002 |
| Related | |
| MLB on Fox Thursday Night Baseball MLB on ESPN | |
Background
editIn 1997, as part of its contract with Major League Baseball, Fox Sports began to show games on its national network of regional sports networks, Fox Sports Net (FSN), which was given rights to two Thursday night games per week, one for the Eastern and Central time zones and one for the Mountain and Pacific time zones, though these games were often preempted in markets where they conflicted with the FSN affiliate's coverage of a local team.
Fox Family's coverage
editIn 2000, the former FSN coverage passed to Fox Family Channel on an alternating basis with then-sister network FX and was reduced to one game per week.[6][7]
Starting with the 2001 season, Fox Family also carried games from the Division Series that did not air on the Fox broadcast network.[8][9][10] Among the games that aired on Fox Family included one between the San Francisco Giants and the Houston Astros on October 4, 2001, in which Barry Bonds hit his 70th home run of the season, tying the all-time single season record that Mark McGwire had set only three years earlier.[11]
Commentators
editPlay-by-play announcers for the FSN/Fox Family coverage included Kenny Albert,[12] Thom Brennaman, Chip Caray, Josh Lewin,[13] and Steve Physioc. Color analysts included Bob Brenly, Kevin Kennedy, Steve Lyons,[14] and Jeff Torborg.[15]
Other commentators included:
- Rod Allen[16][17] (analyst)
- Bert Blyleven (analyst)
- Dick Bremer (play-by-play)
- Joe Buck[18] (play-by-play)
- George Frazier[19] (analyst)
- Kirk Gibson (analyst)
- Keith Hernandez (analyst)
- Rex Hudler[20] (analyst)
- Mike Krukow (analyst)
- Duane Kuiper (play-by-play)
- Tim McCarver (analyst)
- Dan McLaughlin (field reporter)
- Rick Monday (analyst)
- Brianne O'Leary (field reporter)
- Ross Porter (play-by-play)
- Mel Proctor (play-by-play)
- Matt Vasgersian (play-by-play)
Regular season schedule (2001)
editNOTE: The Thursday night telecasts on Fox Family were subject to blackout in the local markets of participating teams.
Simulcasts
editThe following is a list of local television stations that simulcast Fox Family's postseason coverage in 2001.[21]
| Home market | Station |
|---|---|
| Atlanta | WAGA 5 |
| Cleveland | WJW 8 |
| Houston | KRIV 26 |
| Phoenix | KSAZ 10 |
| Seattle Mariners | KTWB 22 |
| St. Louis | KTVI 2 |
ABC Family
editAfter Disney bought Fox Family in 2001 and renamed it ABC Family,[22] the Thursday games were folded into the ESPN Major League Baseball rights package (and subsequently shifted to weekday afternoon "DayGame" broadcasts). However, the Division Series games aired on ABC Family (with ESPN's announcers, graphics, and music) for 2002 because of inherited contractual obligations.[23][24][25] The only usage of the ABC Family "bug" was for a ten-second period when returning from a commercial break in the lower right corner of the screen.[26] The following year the Division Series games also shifted to ESPN.
Game 2 (played on October 2) of the Minnesota–Oakland playoff series in 2002 started on ESPN2 because the San Francisco–Atlanta game (which started at 1 p.m. Eastern Time) ran over the three-hour time window. The game was eventually switched back to ABC Family once the early game ended.[27]
Commentators
edit- Chris Berman[28][29] (play-by-play)
- Tony Gwynn[30] (analyst)
- Brian Kenny (field reporter)
- Gary Miller (field reporter)
- Jon Miller (play-by-play)
- Joe Morgan (analyst)
- Dave O'Brien[31][32] (play-by-play)
- Jeremy Schaap (field reporter)
- Mark Schwartz (field reporter)
- Rick Sutcliffe[33] (analyst)
Fox local simulcasts
editThe following is a list of local television stations that simulcast ABC Family's postseason coverage in 2002, all of which were owned by Fox.[34]
| Home market | Station |
|---|---|
| Anaheim | KABC 7 |
| Atlanta | WSB 2[35] |
| Minneapolis | KSTP 5[36] |
| New York City | WABC 7 |
| Oakland | KGO 7 |
| Phoenix | KNXV 15 |
| San Francisco | KGO 7[37] |
| St. Louis | KDNL 30 |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "List of every TV series aired on Fox Family Channel". nickandmore.com. November 26, 2019.
- ^ Mushnick, Phil (October 15, 2001). "MLB, FOX FAMILY LEAVE FANS OUT". The New York Post.
- ^ Haisten, Bill (October 4, 2002). "King, Plank removed from telecasts". Tulsa World.
- ^ "2018 FORD C. FRICK AWARD BALLOT". baseballhall.org. October 23, 2017.
- ^ "WEEKEND ON THE AIR". The Washington Post. October 12, 2001.
- ^ Bernstein, Paula (January 21, 2001). "Fox Family to play ball, 'Rock'". Variety.
- ^ Brockinton, Langdon (July 30, 2001). "MLB package to Disney with Fox Family sale". Sports Business Journal.
- ^ Umstead, R. Thomas (October 14, 2001). "Baseball's a Hit for Fox Family". Multichannel News.
- ^ "BASEBALL FANS, REJOICE". Orlando Sentinel. October 8, 2001. Archived from the original on 2021-07-21.
- ^ Sandomir, Richard (October 16, 2001). "TV SPORTS; The Baseball Playoffs: All in the Fox Family". The New York Times.
- ^ Ginn, Sharon (October 9, 2001). "On the hunt for Fox Family". Tampa Bay Times.
- ^ Ginn, Sharon (April 1, 2001). "Magrane gets into spirit". Tampa Bay Times.
- ^ Sandomir, Richard (October 9, 2001). "TV SPORTS; Home Run Calls Have a Hollow Ring". The New York Times.
- ^ "Many Viewers Shut Out Of Fox Family Channel's MLB Games". Sports Business Journal. October 10, 2001.
- ^ "Memories of Jeff Torborg". Ultimate Mets Database. November 20, 2020.
- ^ Czerwinski, Matt (October 14, 2001). "Media Beat: Braves enjoy national attention for sweep". mlbfancave.mlb.com.
- ^ Maffei, John (October 26, 2001). "Fox places packaging over game". The San Diego Union-Tribune.
- ^ Kroner, Steve (October 5, 2001). "MLB's playoff coverage is all in the Fox family". SF Gate.
- ^ Haisten, Bill (October 12, 2001). "Wedel, more sports to fill morning air". Tulsa World.
- ^ "A's-Yankees Game One Earns Solid Overnight Rating On Fox". Sports Business Journal. October 11, 2001.
- ^ "Fox Family Airs Large Portion Of 1st Round MLB Playoff Games". Sports Business Journal. October 9, 2001.
- ^ "Disney buys Fox family, expects ratings boost". nwitimes.com. July 24, 2001.
- ^ Stewart, Larry (October 4, 2002). "Clearing Air Not an Easy Task". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Jackson, Steve (October 6, 2002). "Playoff games lost amid Power Rangers marathon". The Michigan Daily.
- ^ Umstead, R. Thomas (October 13, 2002). "ABC Family Unsure of Its Baseball Future". Multichannel News.
- ^ Sherman, Ed (October 3, 2002). "Late night with . . . baseball". Chicago Tribune.
- ^ Kissell, Rick (October 3, 2002). "Playoffs bring auds to plate". Variety.
- ^ Sandomir, Richard (October 4, 2002). "TV SPORTS; ABC Family Offers Familiar ESPN Look". The New York Times.
- ^ "Sans Yankees, Fox Sees First Decrease In MLB Playoff Ratings". Sports Business Journal. October 4, 2002.
- ^ "Closing Bell, March 20, 2002". Sports Business Journal. March 20, 2002.
- ^ Sarni, Jim (September 27, 2002). "O'BRIEN A HIT WITH ESPN". Sun Sentinel. Archived from the original on 2021-06-30.
- ^ "ESPN to Debut New Monday and Wednesday Night Baseball Commentator Teams". ESPN Pressroom. January 28, 2011.
- ^ "These playoffs are really a Family affair". The Washington Times. October 5, 2002.
- ^ Lewis, Jon. "News: MLB-ABC, Hanson, XFL, NBA play-in". Sports Media Watch.
- ^ "The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia · D1". Newspapers.com. September 28, 2002.
- ^ Gordon, Jon (October 1, 2002). "Twins are kin to A's". Minnesota Public Radio.
- ^ Kroner, Steve (September 20, 2002). "Baseball fans won't have to yell, 'Foul' at TV". SF Gate.