Saturday, July 11th:

New York Yankees at Los Angeles Angels (FOX, 4:10, 71%) - Dick Stockton & Eric Karros
St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs (FOX, 4:10, 29%) - Joe Buck & Tim McCarver

Sunday, July 12th:

Los Angeles Dodgers at Milwaukee Brewers (TBS, 2:00pm) - Chip Caray & Buck Martinez
St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs (ESPN, 8pm)- Jon Miller, Joe Morgan & Steve Phillips

Monday, July 13th:

Home Run Derby (ESPN, 8pm) - Chris Berman, Joe Morgan & Steve Phillips
2009 Taco Bell All-Star Legends & Celebrity Softball Game (ESPN, 10pm)- Gary Thorne, Rick Sutcliffe & Erin Andrews

Tuesday, July 14th:

2009 MLB All Star Game (FOX, 9:05pm)- Joe Buck & Tim McCarver

It's amazing to me that this is the case, but for some reason none of the homerun distances in past HR Derbys were reported as they happened. There was always a delay, and the Bermans of the world were left trying to juggle the footage of various bombs. Well ESPN will be adding new technology this year that utilizes Doppler Radar, and will have the distance as the shots land in outfield stands at Busch Stadium. Via USA Today....

ESPN, which will formally introduce its Ball Track coverage Wednesday, will use Doppler radar that's been used to track missile systems. Now, it will allow for superimposed ESPN onscreen comet tails behind balls that will turn green to projects flying balls as homers. Anthony Bailey, ESPN vice president for emerging technology, says Ball Track will also show live a running total of how many feet the still-flying balls have traveled. While ESPN used to take a tedious 30 seconds to figure out final home-run distances, viewers now will get them instantly — and calculations of how far homers would have gone if not inconveniently impeded by a stadium.

Bailey says the radar isn't complicated — setting up the necessary box behind home plate at press-box level takes 10 minutes — and ESPN is looking at using it in games. Tracking base-runners wouldn't work — players don't run fast enough for radar.

Bailey says ESPN will open an "Innovation Lab" at Disney World in September partly to let parkgoers become "instant focus groups" for its experiments. One idea in the works, he says, is having live postgame interviews with players who appear virtually in studios so they'd have "more intimate conversations" with anchors.

I still can't believe that ESPN hasn't utilized this technology before, but I guess its better late than never. Hopefully the graphic won't be too over-bearing, and that it will help the announcers stay on track during the broadcast.


ESPN adds new graphics for Home Run Derby coverage (USA Today)

I really have no idea why I watch the nonsense that is the Homerun Derby every single year, but it's almost become a rite of passage for me. Every year Chris Berman gets more and more ridiculous and the recent of Joe Morgan has made the broadcast borderline unbearable, but for some reason I watch every minute.

Well there's good news for those of you who like train wrecks! The duo of Berman and Morgan are back, but they've brought along a few friends. Everyone welcome to the broadcast, Steve Phillips and Rick Reilly!!!

Chris Berman will host the Derby (also available in high definition on ESPN HD), joined on the field by Hall of Famer Joe Morgan and analyst Steve Phillips. Baseball Tonight host Karl Ravech will also provide commentary with analysts Peter Gammons and John Kruk and ESPN The Magazine’s Rick Reilly. Erin Andrews will report and provide interviews on the field. ESPN will utilize 20 cameras to capture the excitement of the Derby, including the use of “Ultra Mo,” a replay device recapping action at 1,000 frames per second.

Hopefully they can keep the broadcast under 8 hours this year and just for the fun of it let's relive some of the Best of the 2007 Derby....
_______________________

“It could be a national “Holiday” by the time we’re done here”- Chris Berman on Matt Holliday

“I walked up to him in the batting cage today and I was speaking to most of the players and I said….Who is that?”- Joe Morgan on Alex Rios

“Albert Winnie the Pujols”- Chris Berman

“We have many dollars invested in this project….I just hope someone hits one over the wall”- Kenny Mayne on his kayak project (no balls were hit in the Cove)

“I think that one landed on Treasure Island”- Chris Berman

“I saw you jamming out there with the Crows”- Dusty Baker
“It was the Counting Crows!”- Chris Berman
“You were counting em’ too!”- Dusty Baker

“It’s off the platform in right centerfield….how interesting is that”- Chris Berman
“There’s a rainbow!”- Dusty Baker