MLB International

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MLB International is a division of Major League Baseball primarily responsible for international broadcasts of games. [1] In partnership with DirecTV and MLB Network, it produces and syndicates the All-Star Game, and the World Series, as well as the Caribbean Series, the Australian Baseball League Championship Series and the World Baseball Classic to broadcasters in over 200 countries, and the American Forces Network for U.S. military troops abroad. It previously broadcast the NLCS and ALCS, alternating between the two each year. MLB International broadcasts content that shows baseball in a local context, e.g. sneaker shopping in Japan or baseball games in India, and explains concepts and rules of baseball to viewers who may not be familiar with the sport. [2]

Contents

Commentators

From 1996 until 2003 and again starting in 2010, Gary Thorne [3] served as the play-by-play man for the World Series on Armed Forces Radio and MLB International. [4] [5]

Dave O'Brien provided commentary for MLB International's coverage of the World Series from 2004 until 2009. O'Brien teamed with his usual ESPN partner Rick Sutcliffe on broadcasts of the World Series and the American League Championship Series for MLB International.

From 1996 to 2002, and 2010-2014, MLB International broadcast the League Championship Series alternately, with the American League Championship Series in even-numbered years and the National League Championship Series in odd-numbered years. [6]

Since 2015, production of the MLB International broadcasts has been assumed by the MLB Network. Matt Vasgersian (formerly of ESPN Sunday Night Baseball and today part of Fox Sports) in addition to the MLB Network, also current play-by-play television announcer for the Los Angeles Angels (AL) and former play-by-play television announcer for the San Diego Padres (NL)) has served as the play-by-play commentator; for the 2016 World Series onward, he was joined by Buck Martinez (play-by-play analyst of the Toronto Blue Jays for Sportsnet—which has carried the world feeds due to his involvement, and former color commentator for TBS) on color. [7] Since 2018, with Matt now with ESPN part-time in addition to his MLB Network duties, Buck was joined for the All-Star Game duties by former Sunday Night Baseball voice Dan Shulman (who calls play-by-play on selected Blue Jays games on Sportsnet with Martinez on color).

In 2021, MLB Network's Scott Braun assumed the post as the main play-by-play announcer for MLB International's broadcasts. He was replaced in 2022 by Jason Benetti (NBC Sports Chicago) for the English-language international MLB All-Star Game coverage and Dave Flemming (NBC Sports Bay Area, KNBR) for the global World Series coverage.

Commentator pairings

MLB International broadcasters

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Less is More With MLB International". Canadian Sports Media Blog. 19 October 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
  2. ↑ "MLB International". New York: MLB Advanced Media . Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  3. ↑ "Less is More With MLB International". A Rouge's Point. October 19, 2012.
  4. ↑ Major League Baseball International TV Coverage
  5. ↑ Yahoo! Search Results for Major League Baseball International Gary Thorne
  6. ↑ "The World Series Is Truly Global With An International Audience". Fang's Bites. October 27, 2010. Archived from the original on February 3, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Sportsnet touts four million viewers for Jays vs. Orioles matchup". Archived from the original on 10 October 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  8. ↑ "MLB Network sets widespread 2022 World Series coverage plans" (Press release). New York: MLB Advanced Media. October 26, 2022. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  9. ↑ "How to stream 2022 MLB World Series online in Australia". Finder. October 26, 2022. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  10. ↑ "How to watch the MLB World Series playoffs 2022 online from anywhere". Comparitech. October 26, 2022. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  11. ↑ "MLB World Series 2022: Live stream Houston Astros vs Philadelphia Phillies, UK TV channel and how to watch live on BT Sport". London: BT Group. October 28, 2022. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  12. ↑ Hoch, Bryan; Newman, Mark (October 28, 2015). "Game 1 briefly halted due to FOX outage". MLB.com . MLB Advanced Media . Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  13. ↑ "World Series Game 1 delayed due to FOX broadcast issues". Sports Illustrated . October 27, 2015. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  14. ↑ "Fox Sports has a nightmare as technical difficulties cause World Series delay". Awful Announcing. 28 October 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
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