Batter Up: ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball Debuts In D.C.
ESPN2 Throws First Pitch On 2008 Season With Bosox-A’s In Japan
By Larry Barrett -- Multichannel News, 3/4/2008 10:22:00 AM
ESPN will throw out the first pitch on the 19th edition of its Sunday Night Baseball franchise by broadcasting the "opening night" game between the Washington Nationals and the Atlanta Braves.
The March 30 telecast, along with the entire season of Major League Baseball’s longest-running, season-long exclusive partnership, will be broadcast in high-definition from Nationals Park, the team’s new $610 million stadium designed by HOK Sport and Devrouax & Purnell.
Jon Miller and Joe Morgan, also entering their 19th campaign as a broadcasting team, will make the call. The game will also be available on ESPN Radio and ESPN Desportes.
But days before the first pitch at Nationals Park, fans will be able to indulge in the national pastime -- albeit from Asia.
ESPN2 will televise the first regular-season games of the year from Japan between the reigning World Series champion Boston Red Sox and the Oakland Athletics on March 25 and March 26 at 6 a.m. (ET)
Gary Thorne and analyst Rick Sutcliffe will work the season-opening games, which will be re-aired at 2 p.m. (ET) on both days.
NASN, ESPN’s international network dedicated to North American sports, will distribute both games live to more than 10 million households in 29 countries, including the U.K., Ireland, France, German and Russia.
