I really didn't think that ESPN would tab a replacement for Steve Phillips, following his firing this offseason, but alas....I was wrong. Orel Hershiser will be joining Jon Miller and Joe Morgan this season for Sunday Night Baseball. Via ESPN PR....

Jon Miller, the recently announced winner of the Baseball Hall of Fame’s 2010 Ford C. Frick Award, and Hall of Famer Joe Morgan will be joined by ESPN analyst and former Major League Baseball Cy Young Award winner Orel Hershiser in the Sunday Night Baseball booth this season. Miller and Morgan are entering their 21st consecutive season on Sunday Night Baseball.

“Sunday Night Baseball distinctly offers Jon’s Hall of Fame voice and the combination of Joe’s Hall of Fame approach to hitting and Orel’s profound pitching knowledge,” said Norby Williamson, ESPN executive vice president, production. “Collectively, they will provide compelling analysis and debate during our national game of the week.”

In addition to his Sunday Night responsibilities, Hershiser will continue to serve as analyst during ESPN’s College World Series and Little League World Series coverage. He will also provide analysis for Baseball Tonight. Hershiser most recently provided analysis for Monday Night Baseball in 2009, and has contributed to Wednesday Night Baseball.

I've always enjoyed Orel in the booth, and now he'll get a chance to showcase it with ESPN's "A-Team". Some find him bland, but his knowledge of game situations will help out a pair that has basically forgotten everything they've ever learned about the game.

The Saints won a rather thrilling Super Bowl last night, and the majority of the East Coast got to drink themselves to sleep after learning of most business calling an audible day-off for workers because of snow. Now that the haze has worn off, there are three rather interesting stories that happened over the Super Bowl weekend that I'm looking at today. In order they are Michael Irvin's rape allegation and firing from ESPN Radio, Warren Sapp getting arrested and being dropped from NFL Network's coverage and Steve Phillips sitting down with Matt Lauer this morning. First up....Michael Irvin....
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On the same day that his former teammate Emmitt Smith was getting into the Hall of Fame, Michael Irvin was getting fired from his ESPN Radio job after another alleged rape charge was levied against him Dallas. Not only that but ESPN decided to fire the former Cowboy WR from his gig at 103.3 FM even though Irvin's contract was set to expire at the end of the week. There were reportedly no plans to renew it, but ESPN opted to fire him anyway. Irvin (unlike Sapp) made his appearances on NFL Network over the weekend, spoke briefly about the allegation to reporters, and then filed a $100 Million counter suit against his alleged victim. Via ESPN....

Former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin made his first public appearance since he was accused in a civil suit of rape. He filed a $100 million countersuit against his accuser.

Irvin worked the Hall of Fame ceremonies for the NFL Network on Saturday. He was subdued at times but also emotional, especially when former teammate, running back Emmitt Smith, was selected for induction.

"It's not about me, but that's it," Irvin told a small group of reporters before they had a chance to ask questions. Irvin said he would only talk about the Hall of Fame.

Irvin's suit, filed in Dallas County, Texas, asks for $100 million in damages for allegations filed in a lawsuit that claim Irvin raped a woman identified as "Jane Doe" at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla., in 2007.

The countersuit claims that the civil suit filed by the woman caused him to be fired from his radio job.

It's interesting that ESPN decided to follow up with the story after taking no time in firing Irvin. Like the story said, no charges were filed against him and his contract was set to run out, so it really makes no sense as to why ESPN Radio decided to fire him right away.
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The day after Michael Irvin got his walking papers, another analyst in Miami spent the night in jail. A crazy story came out of South Beach that NFL Network Analyst Warren Sapp had been dropped from the network's coverage of the Super Bowl, and after NFL-N confirmed the claims, Sapp spent the night in jail on a domestic abuse charge. Via the Sun Sentinel....

Police arrested Sapp on Saturday on one charge of misdemeanor domestic battery. An arrest affidavit says the incident happened around 5 a.m. Saturday in the former defensive tackle's hotel room at the Shore Club on Miami Beach.

Sapp's attorney said the former player is taking the matter seriously and will cooperate with authorities.

"He sincerely apologizes to the NFL family and fans for taking away any distraction from today's big game," Christopher Lyons said. "We ask that everyone reserve judgment on the matter until all the facts come out in a court of law."

The woman said she had been dating Sapp about two years. She told officers the two were partying with a large group of friends when she got tired and went to lay down.

Sapp entered hours later, pulled her out of bed and tried to get her out of the room, according to the complaint. The complaint says he yelled at the woman about men she had been hanging out with and men listed in her cell phone. The woman told police Sapp choked her, threw her down on a couch, then picked her up by her shirt and neck and threw her down again — injuring her leg. The victim had a swollen knee and bruises on her neck, the affidavit says. She was taken to the hospital.

Just a messy situation all around. According to Sports by Brooks, Sapp had been seen around Miami with a certain lady friend, but as of now the accuser wants to remain anonymous.
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As far as Steve Phillips, the former ESPN Baseball analyst made an appearance on the Today Show this morning to talk about his sexual addiction. Phillips, who is giving his first public interview since leaving the same rehab clinic Tiger Woods reportedly has been staying at, told Matt Lauer that he, "I couldn't stop myself from doing the things I was doing, even knowing the consequences." Here's the clip....


Man, what a weekend!

Steve Phillips has gone into hiding after being dumped by ESPN for various "transgressions", but he could be making a return back into your lives real soon. No not on television, but rather as a voice for MLB 2K10. An early preview of the game has Gary Thorne as your play-by-play man, with John Kruk and Phillips the analysts. There is not word if it's too late to delete the former ESPNer from the game. Via Pasta Padre....

Included in the preview is talk about the My Player mode which appears to be primarily focused on clutch situations, the formula for pitching with the right stick being made more accessible, a defensive swing addition, and “hurry-up baseball” option which removes all the presentational elements. Also new is the “Batter’s Eye” which intends to provide the more talented hitters an advantage.

Just as in real life, standout hitters in MLB 2K10 can see certain pitches coming as the ball is released from the pitcher’s hand. You’ll get a quick text pop-up that says “fastball,” “breaking ball” or “changeup” depending on the pitch and the hitter.

Of note is the commentary which has added John Kruk while keeping Steve Phillips along with Gary Thorne. The decision to hold onto Phillips will be somewhat controversial considering the circumstances of his firing from ESPN and that he is currently without any employment or association with baseball. Given that he remains it comes as little surprise that 2K did not advertise the commentary team in the features list.

Well that's convenient. Obviously it would take countless hours to go back and delete him, AND to make the commentary easy to follow, but it will be hard not to hear him in the game and get a little sick to my stomach. More on this when the game comes out on March 2nd.

First MLB 2K10 Preview (Pasta Padre)

I don't know if you were watching the NBA pregame show on ESPN last night, but both Jamaal Mashburn and Avery Johnson handed out gifts to various NBA teams for a bit (The Spurs got anti-aging cream....SO CLEVER!). Well ESPN is doing the same thing for Baseball, but they're amping it up a little bit by bringing you Santa Kruk multiple times throughout next week.

Among the ingenious gifts that Kruk will giving teams during Sports Center segments included (but are not limited to):

Chicago Cubs gift – a goat catcher (akin to a dog catcher), since the goat is to blame for no World Series win since 1908
New York Mets – power tools; the Mets had the least homers in majors last season
Kansas City Royals – umbrella and lots of rain, so Zack Greinke can pitch every game
Pittsburgh Pirates – tickets to a Sister Sledge concert, to return to the glory days of "We Are Family"
Washington Nationals – eight clones of Ryan Zimmerman
Los Angeles Dodgers – cooking lessons with Giada, so she can teach them how to whip up a recipe to beat the Phillies
Houston Astros – a NASA rocket scientist, to figure out what's gone wrong

Well it took the weekend for a decision, but late Sunday night, ESPN officially fired Steve Phillips citing his inability to be an effective representative for the network. VP Mike Soltys has the announcement on his Twitter page....

I really hope they didn't feel pressure from Deadspin's stunt near the end of last week, but there was really no other choice for the "Leader". You would think this line of reasoning would be used more often by ESPN. (More tomorrow when the full release comes out)

ESPN MikeS (Twitter)

(Top image via WEEI)

I haven't watched much Baseball Tonight since the Playoffs began, but apparently their missing one key player. Steve Phillips has been rumored to be suspended from ESPN after having a brief affair with a 22 year old, but that's just half of the story. According to the NY Post, the 22 year old not only stalked Phillips, but she even made contact with both his wife and son before finally showing up at his house....

The former Met general manager, whose tenure with the team was rocked by admissions of infidelity, confessed to his wife and local cops that he had slept with ESPN assistant Brooke Hundley several times this past summer before dumping her.

In retaliation, the jilted young woman repeatedly phoned Phillips' wife, Marni, saying, "We both can't have him!" an explosive police report claims.

Hundley's desperate actions -- including accidentally smashing her car into a stone column while speeding away from the Phillips' home after leaving the letter -- terrified the family, according to the Wilton, Conn., police report.

"I have extreme concerns about the health and safety of my kids and myself," Steve Phillips said in a police statement, adding that the woman became "obsessive and delusional" after he dumped her.

But Phillips, 46, declined to pursue criminal charges against Hundley, a Bristol, Conn., woman who cops learned may have used an ESPN computer to contact Phillips' 16-year-old son on Facebook while posing as a high-school classmate.

Phillips -- who admitted having multiple affairs with women while working for the Mets -- is now being sued for divorce by his 40-year-old wife, the mother of his four sons. Two months ago, Phillips deeded the family's five-bedroom, multimillion-dollar Wilton home to her.

While that is a pretty good summation of the events, the details are even wilder, and not only does the Post have various statements (including a detailed on from Phillips), but they even have a letter that Hundley wrote to Mrs. Phillips. Just a crazy mess, and while I don't wish bad things on anyone, I think a divorce is best for everyone in this case.

ESPN's Steve Phillips in foul affair with production assistant (NY Post)

ESPN decided to pull off an interesting idea the other night, by placing both of their Monday Night Baseball analysts in opposite camera wells, while the PbPer stayed up in the booth. I thought the plan had some promise, but after watching some of the game, I quickly figured out that wasn't the case. It wasn't that the reports from the wells were bad, rather that they were just boring. Others, namely Diane Pucin of the LA Times, seemed to agree as well....

Anybody watching ESPN's Dodgers-Cardinals television broadcast, where analysts Orel Hershiser and Steve Phillips are working the game from photo wells near the dugouts? Has it been noticeably bad or good?

Seems kind of neutral. Not at all like when Chicago Cubs broadcaster Harry Caray used to take off his shirt and report from the Wrigley Field bleachers with some beery-headed observations that often didn't make sense. But Caray always had the professional Steve Stone to lead the fans gently back to the action when Harry was having too much fun.

Honestly, if ESPN hadn't told us this was happening would you have even noticed Dan Shulman was alone in the booth? At least, so far, neither Hershiser nor Phillips have been nailed in the chin by a baseball a la Erin Andrews a few weeks ago.

Zing! Good one, Diane. As far as the whole sideline analyst thing goes, the reason this setup works for Hockey and NBC in particular, is because there's so much action between shifts. That and Pierre McGuirre actually talks with the players on the bench, as the game is going on. It just doesn't work with the slow pace of Baseball. Hershiser and Phillips, just did their same old analyst jobs, but from a different location.

No harm, no foul. It was worth a shot, didn't work, and now you move on.

ESPN's announcers in the photo well experiment (LA Times)

Baseball announcing has rarely ever deviated from the norm. You usually have two or three announcers in the booth, and an on-field reporter. That's the way it's been for years, and very few networks have tried something different. Well that's until ESPN airs its Monday Night Baseball game, between the Dodgers and Cardinals tomorrow night.

The "Leader" plans on dividing up its three man team of Shulman, Hershiser and Phillips, by putting the two analysts in the camera wells beside each dugout. Via USA Today....

ESPN will formally announce Monday that it will experiment Monday night on its Los Angeles Dodgers at St. Louis game (7 ET). ESPN will keep play-by-play announcer DanShulman in the booth, but analysts Orel Hershiser and Steve Phillips will be stationed in the camera wells beside each dugout.

Matt Sandulli, ESPN senior coordinating producer, says the Cardinals preferred ESPN use the camera well on the outfield side, rather than home plate side, of its dugout to reduce chances its analysts might somehow interact with players. Sandulli says that won't happen anyway — "we're not supposed to talk to players and wouldn't do it" — and hopes to get the Dodgers to allow access to the well on its dugout's home plate side.

TV sports commonly station reporters along sidelines, in pit road or on golf fairways. But putting main game announcers in separate locations rarely has been done, such as NBC's Pierre McGuire being rinkside on NHL games or ESPN having Paul Maguire chime in on football from a sideline camera cart. Says Sandulli: "There's lot of non-verbal communication in the booth. We joked that maybe (the analysts) will will send signals from dugout to dugout."

Sandulli says its possible that ESPN could send more baseball announcers out of the booth on future games, depending partly on whether Monday night's experiment delivers a "wow factor."

While my initial reaction is that this might become a bit distracting, the intrigue almost outweighs that. The Pierre McGuire idea has worked wonders for NBC Hockey, and the same could potentially work for Baseball. Besides, it's Monday Night Baseball, why not?

ESPN baseball announcing team goes separate ways (USA Today)

Steve Phillips has only been on Sunday Night Baseball for two short months, and already he's causing Sports writers around the country conniptions. Both SI and the NY Daily News to umbrage with a recent Phillips exchange with Joe Morgan on Carlos Beltran, and both writers of the pieces (Joe Posnanski and Bob Raissman) took Steve to task....

Posnanski: My point is not to say that Carlos Beltran is above criticism. My point is to say that ... well, yeah, at the moment, Carlos Beltran is above criticism. Are you kidding me? A brilliant defensive center fielder who hits, hits with power, steals bases, runs the bases, draws walks ... and this year, so far, he's hitting .367. Is he perfect? Of course not. But if you want to judge him by certain criteria ... well, hey, wait a minute, here's some criteria right here, courtesy of Steve Phillips himself (quotes from this insightful article from the typically insightful Ted Berg):

"That guy who's a good base runner, a good defender, doesn't give up at-bats, gets the hit when you need the hit, drives in a run when you need the run, always seems to be in the right position. I think the good teams have that guy ... that singular flawless player that in every aspect of the game, lead."

Raismann: "After Phillips said Reyes and David Wright are part of the Mets long-term solution, he suggested that GM Omar Minaya (he referred to Minaya as "they") might want to start thinking if Carlos Beltran has a future with the Mets. For "the $17-plus million they have invested in him," Phillips wondered if the Mets were getting enough "game-winning plays" in return.

"I definitely would disagree," Morgan said. "You want more from Beltran, but you can't deny he's put up the numbers."

In all this back-and-forth, Phillips showed no spine. No one is suggesting that these debates should be taken to an extreme. Nonetheless, every time Morgan shot down Phillips there was little response. Phillips needs to counter-punch. That would make the television more compelling.

This has always been the case with Steve Phillips. He never seems to think about what he's said in the past, then just shoots off at the mouth and contradicts himself. That being said, trying to slide into a spot in between a duo that has been together for 20 years, can't be easy. Hopefully Phillips can find his way, but it's not looking good for the trio.

Defending Carlos Beltran from the Steve Phillips screwdriver (SI)
Steve Phillips Leaves Bat On Shoulder In ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball Booth (NY Daily News)

Steve Phillips recently shared a bit of criticism on the Cubs, which Manager Lou Pinella didn't take kindly to, and the ESPN analyst sought out the coach before last night's ESPN Sunday Night Baseball game. Phillips had questioned Pinella's patience when dealing with Kosuke Fukudome, and apologized for his comments yesterday. Via the Chicago Tribune....

In an interview on WMVP-AM 1000 this spring, Phillips told Chet Coppock: "My view is Lou doesn't have a great deal of patience for assimilation into culture, assimilation into the team. He is just not the most patient guy around, and he also tends to verbalize his frustrations in an angry way. I think that may have affected Fukudome a little bit."

That comment upset Piniella, who later told the Tribune: "I don't have much respect for Steve Phillips. Let him be around a little more and see what transpires before he makes assumptions. I've lost total respect for this guy. If he had something to say, let him say it to me."

Phillips had not spoken to Piniella about the comments until Sunday night. Piniella appeared to accept his explanation.

But Phillips was not the only one on ESPN critiquing Piniella. The manager was watching "Baseball Tonight" in the clubhouse with several players after Saturday's game when he heard that he was already showing impatience by changing closers one week into the season.

"If that's the worst thing they say about me on ESPN, I'm happy," Piniella said.

I think it's pretty apparent that Lou doesn't have much patience, so I found it a bit odd when he got that upset about the original comment. I really don't think Phillips should have apologized, but alls well that ends well I guess.

ESPN's Steve Phillips apolozies to Lou Piniella (Chicago Tribune)

Peter Gammons is an amazing reporter, but this ESPN spot (which debuts today) illustrates some of his tricks for getting the information he wants. The main one being the use of carrier pigeons....

Too funny. There are others, featuring Karl Ravech, Steve Phillips and John Kruk, but unless they talk about the Krukster's mullet, they're probably not better than that one.

Steve Phillips took a spin "On The DL" today, and while there are interesting discussions about his time as a GM and his new gig on Sunday Night Baseball, he finally addresses those annoying fake press conferences he and ESPN put together.

"I’m kind of used to people throwing stones. It doesn’t bother me even a little bit. And so when that happened I thought, ‘what a creative, unique way to talk about issues and topics and teams and needs and strengths and weaknesses in a way that’s different. You could sit in front of a camera and do it as a talking head and it would work and people would get something out of it. But I thought it was a creative way to do it.

“I actually thought they should do it again. Even though people criticized it, it was creative and different and why not take those kinds of chances when, you know, what’s the risk, really? I guess for some people it’s credibility but I didn’t look at it that way from my perspective or from the reporter’s perspective either.”

I guess he does have a point there. We complain about the same old boring segments all the time, and ESPN should get credit for trying something different. With that said, that was by far the stupidest segment ever created, and should never be tried again....ever.

Steve Phillips Talks About Being the GM of both the Mets and ESPN On the DL (On The DL)

(Photo via the funniest post ever at The Sports Hernia)

The list of people and teams mad at ESPN is always growing and shrinking throughout the year. Today you can add the Cubbies, and more specifically Lou Pinella, to said list. Steve Phillips decided to call Lou out, by saying that he wasn't patient enough when coaching rookie Kosuke Fukudome last season, and Pinella respectfully disagrees. Or rather vehemently disagrees....

"I don't have much respect for Steve Phillips," Piniella said after hearing the comment Monday. "Let him be around a little more and see what transpires before he makes assumptions. I've lost total respect for this guy. If he had something to say, let him say it to me."

I'm actually surprised to hear that someone had respect for Phillips to begin with. Just kidding. In all seriousness though, it's good that ESPN decided to move Phillips to the Sunday Night Baseball crew this season and add about 40 Cubs games in that slot. Good luck with that.

Lou Piniella outraged by ESPN analyst's criticism (Chicago Tribune)

I was a little bit jumpy with the whole announcer thing yesterday involving the WBC. Yesterday's list was actually just the World feed list of broadcasters, while the full set of games, that will be airing on the MLB-N and ESPN, is below. While Gary Thorne and Rick Sutcliffe won't be destroying our brains (Congratulations, World!), we will be getting our first look and listen at ESPN's new Sunday Night Baseball Crew. That's right....it's Morgan, Miller and Phillips!!!

ROUND ONE (March 5th - March 12th)

Pool A (Tokyo, Japan) - China, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Korea

March 5th- Game 1: China vs. Japan (ESPN2, 4:30am)
Announcers: Jon Sciambi, Orestes Destrade
March 6th- Game 2: Chinese Tapei vs. Korea (ESPN2, 4:30am)
Announcers: Jon Sciambi, Orestes Destrade
March 6th- Game 3: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser (ESPN2, 10:30pm)
Announcers: Jon Sciambi, Orestes Destrade
March 7th- Game 4: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner (ESPN2, 5am)
Announcers: Jon Sciambi, Orestes Destrade
March 8th- Game 5: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser (ESPN2, 5:30am)
Announcers: Jon Sciambi, Orestes Destrade
March 9th- Game 6: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner (ESPN2, 5:30am)
Announcers: Jon Sciambi, Orestes Destrade

Pool B (Mexico City, Mexico)- Australia, Cuba, Mexico, South Africa

March 8th- Game 1: South Africa vs. Cuba (MLB-N, 2pm)
Announcers: Charley Steiner and Jose Mota (World Feed)
March 8th- Game 2: Australia vs. Mexico (MLB-N, 9pm)
Announcers: Charley Steiner and Jose Mota (World Feed)
March 9th- Game 3: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser (MLB-N, 10pm)
Announcers: Charley Steiner and Jose Mota (World Feed)
March 10th- Game 4: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner (MLB-N, 10pm)
Announcers: Charley Steiner and Jose Mota (World Feed)
March 11th- Game 5: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser (MLB-N, 10pm)
Announcers: Charley Steiner and Jose Mota (World Feed)
March 12th- Game 6: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner (MLB-N, 9pm)
Announcers: Charley Steiner and Jose Mota (World Feed)

Pool C (Toronto, Canada)- Canada, Italy, United States, Mexico

March 7th- Game 1: United States vs. Canada (ESPN, 2pm)
Announcers: Dave O’Brien, Rick Sutcliffe
March 7th- Game 2: Italy vs. Venezuela (MLB-N, 9pm)
Announcers: Victor Rojas, Joe Magrane
March 8th- Game 3: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser (ESPN, 10pm)
Announcers: Dave O’Brien, Rick Sutcliffe
March 9th- Game 4: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner (MLB-N, 10pm)
Announcers: Victor Rojas, Joe Magrane
March 10th- Game 5: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser (ESPN2, 10pm)
Announcers: Dave O’Brien, Rick Sutcliffe
March 11th- Game 6: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner (MLB-N, 9pm)
Announcers: Victor Rojas, Joe Magrane

Pool D (San Juan, Puerto Rico)- Dominican Republic, Netherlands, Panama, Puerto Rico

March 7th- Game 1: Netherlands vs. Dominican Republic (ESPN2, 2pm)
Announcers: Gary Thorne, Steve Phillips, Pedro Gomez
March 7th- Game 2: Panama vs. Puerto Rico (ESPN, 9pm)
Announcers: Gary Thorne, Steve Phillips, Pedro Gomez
March 8th- Game 3: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser (ESPN, 10pm)
Announcers: Gary Thorne, Steve Phillips, Pedro Gomez
March 9th- Game 4: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner (MLB-N, 10pm)
Announcers: Rich Waltz, Jim Kaat (World Feed)
March 10th- Game 5: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser (MLB-N, 10pm)
Announcers: Rich Waltz, Jim Kaat (World Feed)
March 11th- Game 6: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner (ESPN2, 9pm)
Announcers: Gary Thorne, Steve Phillips, Pedro Gomez

ROUND TWO (March 14th - March 19th)

Pool 1 (San Diego, California)- Pool A Winner, Pool B Winner, Pool A Runner-up, Pool B Runner-up

March 15th- Game 1: Pool A Runner-up vs. Pool B Winner (ESPN2, 4pm)
Announcers: Gary Thorne, Steve Phillips, Orel Hershiser
March 15th- Game 2: Pool B Runner-up vs. Pool A Winner (ESPN2, 11pm)
Announcers: Gary Thorne, Steve Phillips, Orel Hershiser
March 16th- Game 3: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser (ESPN2, 11pm)
Announcers: Dan Shulman, Steve Phillips, Orel Hershiser
March 17th- Game 4: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner (MLB-N, 11pm)
Announcers: Gary Thorne, Jose Mota (World Feed)
March 18th- Game 5: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser (ESPN2, 11pm)
Announcers: Dan Shulman, Steve Phillips, Orel Hershiser
March 19th- Game 6: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner (ESPN, 9pm)
Announcers: Dan Shulman, Steve Phillips, Orel Hershiser

Pool 2 (Miami, Florida)- Pool C Winner, Pool D Winner, Pool C Runner-up, Pool D Runner-up

March 14th- Game 1: Pool C Winner vs. Pool D Runner-up (MLB-N, 1pm)
Announcers: Matt Vasgersian, Harold Reynolds
March 14th- Game 2: Pool C Runner-up vs. Pool D Winner (MLB-N, 8pm)
Announcers: Matt Vasgersian, Harold Reynolds
March 15th- Game 3: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser (ESPN2, 7:30pm)
Announcers: Dave O’Brien, Rick Sutcliffe
March 16th- Game 4: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner (ESPN, 8pm)
Announcers: Dave O’Brien, Rick Sutcliffe
March 17th- Game 5: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser (MLB-N, 7pm)
Announcers: Matt Vasgersian, Harold Reynolds
March 18th- Game 6: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner (MLB-N, 7pm)
Announcers: Matt Vasgersian, Harold Reynolds

FINALS (March 21 - March 24)

Los Angeles, California- Pool 1 Winner, Pool 2 Winner, Pool 1 Runner-up, Pool 2 Runner-up

March 21st- Semifinal 1: Pool 1 Runner-up vs. Pool 2 Winner (ESPN, 9pm)
March 22nd- Semifinal 2: Pool 1 Winner vs. Pool 2 Runner-up (ESPN, 8pm)
March 23rd- Finals: SF Winner 1 vs. SF Winner 2 (ESPN, 9:30pm)
Announcers: Jon Miller, Joe Morgan, Steve Phillips

Official press release just came down from ESPN, and I wanted to pass that along to you. While the release does detail their reasoning, the one thing I didn't think about last night was the MLB Network's role in this. ESPN is probably scrambling now to beef up their MLB coverage, on the heels of MLB-N's success, and with the Phillips move....Peter Gammons is freed up to head back to the studio. Which is where he belongs.

Anyway, here's the official statement from ESPN....

ESPN's talented Sunday Night Baseball commentator team of Jon Miller and Hall of Famer Joe Morgan, entering their 20th season together in the booth, will be joined each week by analyst Steve Phillips. Phillips, who joined ESPN in 2005, will make his regular-season debut on Opening Night, April 5, when the defending World Champion Philadelphia Phillies host the Atlanta Braves at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2 HD. The game will also be available on ESPN Radio, ESPN Deportes, ESPN360.com and ESPN Mobile TV.

Miller and Morgan have called season-long Sunday Night Baseball game of the week telecasts since the series began in 1990. Phillips will continue to provide game analysis on Monday Night Baseball and in the studio on Baseball Tonight, SportsCenter and other programs throughout the week.

Phillips said, “It’s a tremendous honor to join Sunday Night Baseball, the preeminent MLB game of the week. Jon and Joe have set the standard for baseball telecasts over the last 19 years, and I look forward to being a member of their team.”

Morgan added, “I’m pleased that Steve is joining our Sunday Night team. I have admired Steve since I met him as a general manager, and now as a valued member of the ESPN ‘family.’ I look forward to interacting with Steve and Jon, with whom I have had 19 fulfilling years on the Sunday Night game of the week. My hope is that our new lineup will provide an even better presentation, and I am anxious to work toward that goal with Jon, Steve and the rest of the ESPN baseball group.”

Miller stated, “Steve, as a former GM, knows better than anybody how teams are put together, trades are made and the inevitable stress between managers and GM’s and between the front office and ownership. Now, combining Joe’s expertise of the game on the field and in the dugout and Steve’s expertise and ongoing knowledge of the inner workings of each franchise, I believe in the 20th season of SNB, we’ll reach our highest level yet as an entertaining and provocatively informative baseball telecast. Welcome, Steve.”

The fact that Jon Miller just used the word "expertise" for both Joe and John, just has me rolling on the floor right now. Forget Morgan, because he actually had a HOF career, Phillips is an "expert" GM? This is the guy that signed Mo Vaughn, Pedro Astacio, Mike Bordick, Bobby Bonilla, Rickey Henderson, Jeromy Burnitz and Kazuo Matsui, right? Okay....just wanted to make sure we were on the same page.

Of all the things that could be done to the ESPN Sunday Night Baseball booth, this was not....and I mean NOT the move. Instead of the long rumored plan of splitting up the duo of Miller and Morgan, the "Leader" is actually adding another member to the booth. Who you ask?

Steve F'ing Phillips! Via Watchdog....

ESPN will announce Wednesday that Steve Phillips will join Jon Miller and Joe Morgan in the "Sunday Night Baseball" booth for 2009, altering for the network's announcing lineup for its showcase event for the first time in 20 seasons of televising MLB.

The former Mets general manager, who has been an analyst for ESPN since 2005, will make his regular-season debut April 5 for the Opening Night game between the Phillies and Braves.

Phillips will continue to serve as an analyst for games and studio shows during the week.

Ugh. I still can't for the life of me understand why ESPN gets the pairings and studio shows right for Sports like College Football and Basketball, but has no f'ing clue when it comes to Baseball. I will always love Jon Miller for the time he spent in Baltimore, and I think the guy still has something left, but ESPN is doing him no favors by giving him two of the most incompetent people at the network to work with.

More when the announcement comes tomorrow.

ESPN to add Steve Phillips to its Sunday night booth (Watchdog)

I was checking out the end of Baseball Tonight last night and they decided to run a recap of the entire week of the show. Since I didn't watch it much, and I knew many of you hadn't either, I pressed record. Not only do you get a recap of all the trades and rumors, but you also get John Kruk slapping Karl Ravech on the ass!

I'm sorry, but the jokes about the Krukster's hair never get old. It looks like Bear Grylls stitched together some grass and moss for a shelter, but it ended up on Kruk's head. Good times, and see how much better Baseball Tonight is ESPN, when you don't have 8,000 on the set? Just Ravech, an analyst and a few writers/reporters, and you're good.

Hilarious find by Dash over at Deadspin today. Harold Reynolds was on the "Killer B's" radio show today, which airs on ESPN 1470 in Tampa Bay, and he had some choice words for the former GM and current ESPN analyst. And by choice, I mean that he said he wanted to "slap him"....

Obviously it's pretty harmless, but it's just another person in the long line of many to take a shot at an ESPN employee in the media lately. Hopefully this leads to ESPN making note of who their lesser analysts are (*ahem* Phillips), but I doubt it.

Harold Reynolds Contemplates Inappropriate Use Of His Hands Again (Deadspin)

P.S.- Trying to figure out which game to live-blog tonight. Be sure to vote on the righthand side, and I'll put a pregame post up around 6pm or so announcing the winner.

One of the great benefits of working from home is being able to watch daytime events, like Playoff Baseball and the NCAA Tournament, without having to come up with new lies every year to tell to your boss. I always love to help those out who are stuck at work, or don't have access to the game, so this spot will serve as your goto for updates, quotes and videos of the game.

Dave O'Brien, Orel Hershiser and Steve Phillips are on the call for the game airing on ESPN2 and your pitching matchup is Freddy Garcia against Gavin Floyd. Leave your predictions and thoughts in the comment section and I'll update this spot throughout the game.

Update: The tarp is on the field and we're looking at a bit of a rain delay. Dave O'Brien promises Baseball in a few, so I'll update you when I know what the start time is.

Update #2: It's 5pm and we're underway! Orel Hershiser is talking about energy bars and eight track players for some reason. They must have gone stir-crazy during this three hour delay. If anything exciting goes down I'll be sure to grab the video and put it up in this spot. If not, I'll see you for Monday Night Football.

Update #3: Alexei Ramirez broke a 2-2 with a grand slam in the sixth and the White Sox are currently batting in the bottom of the 8th. I'll have video of that and the final few outs up shortly following the game.

Update #4: The Sox win it 8-2 and there will be a one-game Playoff tomorrow with the Twins coming to Chicago. The game will air on on TBS at 7:30pm.

Forget the Brewers tussling in the dugout last night, this was much more entertaining. One of my favorite things to watch on Sports Center is when an anchor or analyst starts to get frustrated. Most shy away and let the topic pass, but Brian Kenny refuses to ever back down.

Here is Kenny arguing with Steve Phillips during last night's Sports Center about Joba Chamberlain being comparable to the current Cy Young candidates....

I love the lean forward and the stop bullsh**ting me look. It was the same one he used on Chad Johnson and it's about time someone gave it to Steve Phillips. Good times and bravo BK.....you might be wrong, but it's still funny.