OK baseball fans, the season has finally arrived and there are some good reasons to back up the positive vibes coming out of both the Nationals’ and Orioles’ camps.
The only things for sure are that everyone starts with a clean slate and the season begins.
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This year, all the Nats’ and O’s broadcasts will be telecast in high definition by MASN, making them the only regional sports network in the country to broadcast two teams in HD. Check your local cable guide or www.MASNSports.com for the channel designation for MASN-HD and the new MASN2-HD.
Back in the MASN TV booth for the Nats will be Bob Carpenter and Rob Dibble with in-game reporter Debbi Taylor rounding out the broadcast team.
Nationals games will now be broadcast in Harrisburg and Dover to the north and perhaps to North Carolina if the FCC rules in MASN’s favor after six Carolina Congressmen came out to support having the network reach almost two-thirds of the state.
MASN will again air “Nats Xtra” with Johnny Holliday and Ray Knight before and after every game — with the duo being live and in HD at all the home games.
The familiar broadcast crew of Charlie Slowes and Dave Jageler return for their fifth season together on WFED 1500 AM. The postgame show, “Nats Talk Live” will be hosted primarily by the Washington Examiner’s Phil Wood.
Nationally, FOX will once again have their Saturday “Game of the Week” and they will add at least two games during the week in primetime.
ESPN will have games on Sunday, Monday and Wednesday with 80 regular season games. ESPNRadio will start their season off from Nationals Park with the Opening Day game against the Phillies.
The MLB Network will also carry over 100 games this season with Thursday and Saturday games of the week. They will also carry the new “MLB Matinee” — weekday telecasts of afternoon games.
TBS’ Sunday afternoon “Game of the Week” will be back and the new play-by-play man will be Ernie Johnson taking the place of Chip Caray. TBS will continue to host the divisional playoffs as well as the ALCS.
For those who like their baseball portable, the packages for broadband on MLB.com are very good as is Sirius-XM baseball service. There is something for everyone’s budget.
Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer. Check out his blog, Watch this! on washingtonexaminer.com.
