Baseball Tonight
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Baseball Tonight | |
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| Genre | Baseball |
| Running time | 20 min., 40 min. or 60 min. |
| Starring | Karl Ravech and various analysts |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Original channel | ESPN (1990-) |
| Original run | March 19, 1990–Present |
Baseball Tonight is a Sports Emmy Awards winning program that airs on ESPN, and is the only nightly highlight show devoted to Major League Baseball. The show, which recapitulates the day's Major League Baseball action, has been on the air since 1990.
Baseball Tonight usually appears nightly on ESPN throughout the baseball season at 10:00 p.m. ET and 12:00 a.m. ET as part of The Trifecta (the show may air on ESPN 2 when there are conflicts with college football or the NBA). The 10:00 p.m. show has permission from Major League Baseball to show in-progress highlights. The show is also seen at 12:30 p.m. ET and 7:00 p.m. ET on Sundays leading up to Sunday Night Baseball telecast. The late-night edition on Sundays is usually just a re-air of the 7:00 show, with a SportsCenter anchor providing highlights of the Sunday Night game in place of a game preview segment that airs during the live broadcast. The nightly Trifecta show re-airs at 12:00 p.m. ET the following day (excluding Saturday, when the show is usually a full-hour in length). The show also appears live at events throughout the year, such as spring training, the Major League Baseball All-Star Game and the World Series sites, and occasionally has remote stunts, i.e. shows from rooftops at Fenway Park and Wrigley Field in 2005.
Beginning with the 2005 season, Baseball Tonight has been broadcasted in high-definition on ESPN HD. Airing begins in March during Spring Training and ends after the World Series in October. The primary host of the program is SportsCenter veteran Karl Ravech. Chris Berman or Scott Reiss usually hosts on Friday and Saturday.
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[edit] History
In 2000, the segment "Web Gems" was coined and created by then-producer Judson Burch. The segment originally featured great defensive plays followed by viewer internet voting on the "web." The phrase "web gem" is now common venacular in baseball broadcasts and circles to describe outstanding glovework.
In 2002, the home run segment "Going, Going, Gone", complete with the immensely popular "screaming baseball" animation was replaced with a tamer segment "Touch 'Em All" sans screaming baseball. There is a grass-roots effort for the return of the former segment title and animation.
In 2006, Baseball Tonight introduced new graphics. The opening sequence features players on baseball cards moving and a ball going from one to another via a throw or off a bat. A variation of this is also used to open ESPN's live game broadcasts. The theme music also changed slightly from previous years.
[edit] Personalities
Baseball Tonight often features the following people:
[edit] Current personalities
- Dusty Baker (Analyst, 2006–present)
- Chris Berman (Weekend Host, 1990–present)
- John Buccigross (Secondary Host, 2005–present)
- Orestes Destrade (Analyst, 2005–present)
- Peter Gammons (Lead Reporter, 1990–present)
- Orel Hershiser (Analyst, 2006–present)
- John Kruk (Lead Analyst, 2004–present)
- Tim Kurkjian (Reporter, 1998–present)
- Tino Martinez (Analyst, 2006–present)
- Buster Olney (Reporter, 2003–present)
- Steve Phillips (Lead Analyst, 2005–present)
- Karl Ravech (Lead Host, 1996–present)
- Scott Reiss (Weekend Host, 2005–present)
[edit] Former personalities
- Larry Bowa (Analyst, 2005)
- Jeff Brantley (Analyst, 2002–2006)
- Dave Campbell (Analyst, 1990–2004)
- Rece Davis (Host, 2004)
- Rob Dibble (Analyst, 1998–2004)
- Alex Flanagan (Reporter, 2001–2005)
- Ray Knight (Analyst, 1998–2003)
- Mike Macfarlane (Analyst, 1999)
- Dave Marash (Host, 1990)
- Gary Miller (Lead Host, 1990–1995)
- Bill Pidto (Secondary Host, 1996–2005)
- Harold Reynolds (Lead Analyst, 1996–2006)
- Buck Showalter (Lead Analyst, 2001–2002)
- Rick Sutcliffe (Analyst, 2002–2003)
- Bobby Valentine (Lead Analyst, 2003)
[edit] Special Guest analysts
- Eric Byrnes (Postseason Analyst, 2006)
- Gary Matthews, Jr. (Postseason Analyst, 2006)
- Eduardo Perez (Postseason Analyst, 2006)
- Omar Vizquel (Postseason Analyst, 2006)
- Vernon Wells (Postseason Analyst, 2006)
[edit] Featured segments
Baseball Tonight is split into a number of segments, each of which focuses on a particular aspect of baseball. These segments include:
- Highlights: the most important happenings from the days' Major League Baseball, occasionally also featuring other baseball competitions such as the World Baseball Classic, the College World Series, Minor League Baseball or the Little League World Series. Virtually every MLB game is shown at least once, more if there are in-progress highlights to report on.
- Analysis: a more in-depth look at baseball topics, players, and upcoming games.
- Leading Off: usually the first segment of the show, giving the day's baseball news, for example, trades, injury updates and hirings and firings of managers.
- 3 up, 3 down: 3 players/teams each that are either on the uprise or downside of their seasons or careers (in the case of players).
- Web Gems: the day's five best defensive plays. On Sundays, the best defensive plays of the entire week air.
- Diamond Cuts: Airs on the Sunday edition, a montage of the week's best plays set to music.
- Touch 'Em All: significant home runs of the day.
- Extra Bases: a more in-depth look at a particular game after the highlights have aired.
- On The Phone: a live phone interview with an MLB player, coach, or general manager, usually regarding the most recent game played and outlooks on the future of the team.
- Stat of the Night: an interesting baseball statistic from the day's happenings in MLB.
- Most Important Thing: Analysts' comments on the most important story from the day's happenings in MLB. This is usually the final segment of the show.
[edit] See also
- MLB on ESPN
- Sunday Night Baseball
- Monday Night Baseball
- ESPN DayGame
- Wednesday Night Baseball
- Thursday Night Baseball
- ESPN MLB Broadcast Teams
[edit] References
- Baseball Tonight Extra
- Press Release:TINO MARTINEZ JOINS ESPN’S BASEBALL TONIGHT; EXPANDED ROLE FOR ORESTES DESTRADE
