Karl Ravech lives on ESPN, at least temporarily. He returned to the booth Thursday, just over a week after being laid off to call the Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals game on ESPN.
What We Know: Ravech spent 33 years at ESPN, becoming a fixture of its baseball coverage. Last week, the network let him go alongside NFL analyst Ryan Clark, anchor David Lloyd, contributor Cam Newton, analyst Stephania Bell, insider Tom Pelissero among many others. Those cuts stemmed from Disney’s broader layoffs tied to its NFL Network acquisition. Despite that, Ravech called Thursday’s Braves-Nationals game and is set to work the August 12 Yankees-Mariners game, plus Little League World Series coverage according to The Athletic.
What They Said: ESPN confirmed that Ravech will have additional assignments with the network this year via Awful Announcing.
What Remains Unclear: Whether these summer assignments fall under Ravech’s original contract is still unknown. ESPN hasn’t detailed exactly how many games he’ll call before the arrangement ends.
What It Means: It’s hard to fathom this on both ends for ESPN and Ravech. It’s simply not a good look for a network to cut an employee. Then to have have that employee appear on the network with no reason given. Moreover, Karl Ravech’s situation reflects how messy ESPN’s layoff rollout has become this cycle. It is a credit to Ravech to accept the work despite knowing his future with the network is likely done. For Ravech, it means one final stretch calling the sport that defined his 33 years. Going forward, though, his ESPN chapter appears to be closing for good.
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John Mamola is Barrett Media’s sports editor and daily sports columnist. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. He is a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Medi’s Top 20 series and has been honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL) by iHeartMedia. Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.