ESPN is in its second year of a new Sunday Night Baseball commentary booth featuring Karl Ravech, Eduardo Pérez and David Cone, paired with the KayRod alternate broadcast. From the start of its partnership with Major League Baseball, the network has innovated the ways in which people can consume the game. New technology, innovative camera angles and mic’d up segments with players have accentuated the sport.
“There’s an equity in that brand built for Little League baseball that translates to the one we throw on a regional semifinal game from San Bernardino, Calif.,” Phil Orlins, vice president of production at ESPN, told Barrett Sports Media. “That six hundred thousand people watch that is a really good number for ESPN outside of prime-time major pro sports and stuff like that.”
Orlins remembers his first time in Williamsport, Penn. in 1984 and was an integral part in helping launch and grow the MLB Little League Classic, taking place this Sunday, Aug. 20. The Washington Nationals and Philadelphia Phillies will visit Williamsport to interact with Little Leaguers and play a game of their own. The network is actively working with both teams and the league to find ways to showcase the players throughout the contest, one of which could be the Phillies starting pitching staff participating in the broadcast itself.
“We’re definitely talking about a combination of either the injured Rhys Hoskins or particularly a Phillies starting pitcher or pitchers making their way up to the broadcast booth,” Orlins said. “So that’s definitely on the table and we are optimistic that’ll happen.”
While the regular Sunday Night Baseball will take place on ESPN, the network will present an alternate KidsCast on ESPN2. NBC 4 New York anchor Bruce Beck holds a sportscasting camp each year and will have two campers – Zach Brody and Owen Heffron – on hand to deliver the action. Pepper Persley, a budding sideline reporter with a wide array of experience, will return for her second year working in the role for the KidsCast and will be on the bus with the Phillies from the airport.
ESPN has been committed to developing alternate broadcasts over the years, highlighted by Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli, colloquially known as the ManningCast, which is making its return for a third season. While the future of the KayRod Cast is in flux because of Álex Rodríguez’s lucrative extension with FOX Sports that includes a provision of exclusivity, the network has a wide array of additional offerings in the space.
“I think because of the perspective they bring and the expectation that you bring with kids doing it, it allows you to make the whole story about the major leaguers seem more relatable to that audience,” Orlins said. “Ultimately, everybody is trying to find little ways to interact better with the next generation.”
