MLB Network Showcase

MLB Network Showcase
Starring	Matt Vasgersian Tom Verducci Jon Morosi
Theme music composer	David Robidoux[2]
Country of origin	United States
Production
Running time	3 hours (approximate)
Original release
Network	MLB Network
Release	April 9, 2009 (2009-04-09)[1] – present

MLB Network Showcase is the title of a presentation of Major League Baseball on cable and satellite channel MLB Network that premiered on April 9, 2009.^[3] The network produces in-house 26 non-exclusive live games a season. Since one or both teams' local TV rights holders also carry the games, the MLB Network feed is subject to local blackouts. In that event, the cities in the blacked-out markets will instead see a simulcast of another scheduled game via one team's local TV rights holder. MLB Network Showcase typically airs one game a week.

From

Prior to the formation of MLB Network, MLB had produced game telecasts in-house for the 1994 and 1995 seasons via The Baseball Network, a joint venture with ABC and NBC. However, the experiment was scuttled by ABC and NBC after the 1995 season due to lackluster ratings in the aftermath of the 1994–95 strike, which had resulted in the cancellation of the remainder of the 1994 season.^[4][5]

From

On July 8, 2011,

On July 2, 2013, Matt Vasgersian and Sean Casey called the game between the San Francisco Giants and Cincinnati Reds (with Casey being a legend for the latter team), in which Reds pitcher Homer Bailey threw his second career no-hitter.

On September 25, 2014, Costas called Derek Jeter's final game at Yankee Stadium for MLB Network, where he hit an RBI single to win the game.

On July 8, 2016, NHL on NBC broadcaster Mike Emrick called his first MLB regular-season game at PNC Park when the Pirates hosted the Chicago Cubs for MLB Network with Bob Costas. The Pirates won the game, 8–4, with Emrick calling some of the action.

For the

The first postseason telecast took place on October 7, 2012 and featured the Detroit Tigers hosting the Oakland Athletics at Comerica Park in Detroit for Game 2 of the 2012 ALDS. Matt Vasgersian called the game alongside analyst Jim Kaat. The second telecast took place on October 10 and featured the Washington Nationals hosting the St. Louis Cardinals at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., for Game 3 of the 2012 NLDS; this was the Nationals' first home postseason game since moving to Washington at the start of the 2005 season. Bob Costas provided the play-by-play commentary alongside analyst Jim Kaat.^[9] Vasgersian and Jim Kaat called Game 3 of the 2013 American League Division Series, also between the Detroit Tigers and the Oakland Athletics on October 7 as well.

In 2017, Bob Costas called Game 1 of the American League Division Series between the Boston Red Sox and the Houston Astros on MLB Network. The Astros went on to win 8–2. Costas and his color commentator Jim Kaat received criticism for their "bantering about minutia" and misidentification of plays. Costas also went on to become an internet meme after using the term the "sacks were juiced" to describe the bases being loaded.^[10]

Following

Longtime

Siera Santos, CC Sabathia and Chris Young host select special "Clubhouse Edition" broadcasts, which have two former MLB players with Sabathia, Young and Santos to provide a unique look at the featured games.

In a deal announced in September 2022, Melanie Newman and CC Sabathia will host selected games for BBC Sport, these continue to be branded as an MLB Network Showcase broadcast.^[15] In 2023, CC Sabathia was replaced by Xavier Scruggs as a game analyst for BBC Sport.