By Ryan Berenz
Follow @ChannelGuideRAB
The 2011 Major League Baseball season gets underway on March 31 on ESPN, and FOX is also back with its FOX Saturday Baseball Game of the Week franchise of regional MLB games on Saturday afternoons. FOX begins its season-long coverage on April 2 at 4pm ET with the Detroit Tigers at the New York Yankees, the San Francisco Giants at the Los Angeles Dodgers or the San Diego Padres at the St. Louis Cardinals. Other highlights include three straight Saturdays of games in prime time May 14, 21, and 28. Complete release and schedule from FOX below:
MLB ON FOX READY FOR PRIME TIME TRIPLE-PLAY
Sweet 16th Season Lineup Features Three Consecutive Saturday Night Dates
New York & Los Angeles – MLB on FOX, the sports highest-rated and most-watched television package, today unveils its 16th FOX SATURDAY BASEBALL GAME OF THE WEEK schedule, highlighted by three consecutive prime time dates in May, the most ever on the network’s regular-season schedule. Coverage for the special prime time windows begins at 7:00 PM ET. The select dates are Saturday, May 14 featuring baseball’s most storied rivalry when the Boston Red Sox face the New York Yankees in the Bronx; Saturday, May 21 highlighting four compelling Interleague matchups including the Chicago Cubs taking on the Boston Red Sox and the Mets at Yankees Subway Series; and Saturday, May 28 when FOX Sports regionalizes six compelling matchups in the broadcast window. The Memorial Day weekend lineup includes National League East rivals Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets squaring-off in Flushing while Adrian Gonzalez and the reloaded Red Sox battle Jim Leyland’s Tigers in Detroit. This year’s schedule also features three dates with 1:00 PM ET start times so FOX Sports can bring fans complete and uninterrupted coverage of both its Saturday night NASCAR Sprint Cup races and the FOX SATURDAY BASEBALL GAME OF THE WEEK.
“Last year’s FOX SATURDAY BASEBALL prime time dates were a huge success with fans and a terrific complement to our afternoon games,” said FOX Sports President Eric Shanks. “Now with this season’s enhanced prime time schedule combined with our strong afternoon slate, we’ll again use this unmatched platform to continue the success of MLB’s most-watched television package.” FOX Sports, the broadcast television home of Major League Baseball’s signature events, gears up for another tremendous season of excitement, drama and unforgettable moments. The network airs 26 consecutive weeks of regular-season coverage, the 82nd MLB All-Star Game from Chase Field in Phoenix, AZ, the American League Championship Series and the 107th World Series. The 2011 season is FOX Sports’ 16th straight as the national broadcast television home of Major League Baseball. In that time, FOX Sports has aired 13 World Series, 21 League Championship Series and 12 All-Star Games.
The 2011 FOX SATURDAY BASEBALL GAME OF THE WEEK schedule features regionalized game coverage beginning at 4:00 PM ET most weeks, the exceptions being the three prime time and three 1:00 PM ET starts. The final two Saturdays of the regular season are designated as “wild card” dates, allowing FOX Sports to choose games of postseason significance each Saturday.
FOX Sports’ 2011 “Opening Day” comes Saturday, April 2 when the Tigers take on the Yankees in the Bronx, the World Champion San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers renew their rivalry in SoCal and Albert Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals host the San Diego Padres at Busch Stadium. The 2010 World Champion Giants make nine MLB on FOX appearances along with the Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals. The Yankees, Cincinnati Reds, Minnesota Twins and Tampa Bay Rays are scheduled to appear eight times. The season’s schedule also boasts six appearances by American League Champion Texas Rangers and seven dates for the Red Sox, Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Other intriguing dates on the FOX SATURDAY BASEBALL GAME OF THE WEEK schedule include Saturday, June 18, when the Yankees travel to Wrigley Field to take on the Cubs, a week later, Saturday, June 25, the Mets travel to Arlington for a battle with AL MVP Josh Hamilton and the defending American League champion Rangers and Saturday, August 6, Cy Young Award-winner Roy Halladay and the Phillies travel to San Francisco to take on NL Rookie of the Year Buster Posey and the Giants in a rematch of last year’s NLCS.
David Hill, Ed Goren and Eric Shanks are the Executive Producers of FOX Sports. Bill Brown is Senior Producer. Scott Ackerson is the Coordinating Producer of MLB on FOX’s studio coverage. Don Bui serves as pregame producer. Pete Macheska is coordinating producer of FOX Sports’ Major League Baseball coverage. Bill Webb is lead director.
FOX Sports is the flagship network of the FOX Sports Media Group. As America’s top-rated network for sports for 14 straight years (1997-2010), FOX Sports boasts rights agreements with each of the nation’s highest-rated sports. FOX Sports is the exclusive national over-the-air television rights holder for Major League Baseball, including the All Star Game, alternating League Championship Series and World Series (2007-2013); the National Football League’s NFC package, including the NFC Championship Game and Super Bowls XLV and XLVIII (2006-2013); NASCAR Sprint Cup racing from February through May, including the Daytona 500 (2007-2014); the Big Ten Football Championship Games (2011-16), the Pac-12 Football Championship (2011), the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic and the UEFA Champions League Final. Since its inception in 1994, FOX Sports has earned 82 Emmy Awards for production excellence.
2011 MLB on FOX REGULAR SEASON BROADCAST SCHEDULE
(Note: Schedule Subject to Change; All Times 4:00 PM Eastern Unless Noted)
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Detroit Tigers at New York Yankees
San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres at St. Louis Cardinals
Saturday, April 9, 2011 (*1:00 PM ET)
New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox
Philadelphia Phillies at Atlanta Braves
Saturday, April 16, 2011
New York Mets at Atlanta Braves
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Chicago White Sox
Minnesota Twins at Tampa Bay Rays
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Atlanta Braves at San Francisco Giants
Cincinnati Reds at St. Louis Cardinals
Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers
Saturday, April 30, 2011 (*1:00 PM ET)
New York Mets at Philadelphia Phillies
St. Louis Cardinals at Atlanta Braves
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Tampa Bay Rays
Saturday, May 7, 2011 (*1:00 PM ET)
Minnesota Twins at Boston Red Sox
Cincinnati Reds at Chicago Cubs
Tampa Bay Rays at Baltimore Orioles
Saturday, May 14, 2011 (*7:00 PM ET)
Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees
San Francisco Giants at Chicago Cubs
Arizona Diamondbacks at Los Angeles Dodgers
Saturday, May 21, 2011 (*7:00 PM ET)
New York Mets at New York Yankees
Chicago Cubs at Boston Red Sox
Oakland A’s at San Francisco Giants
Texas Rangers at Philadelphia Phillies
Saturday, May 28, 2011 (*7:00 PM ET)
Philadelphia Phillies at New York Mets
Boston Red Sox at Detroit Tigers
Cincinnati Reds at Atlanta Braves
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Minnesota Twins
Kansas City Royals at Texas Rangers
St. Louis Cardinals at Colorado Rockies
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Chicago Cubs at St. Louis Cardinals
Los Angeles Dodgers at Cincinnati Reds
Colorado Rockies at San Francisco Giants
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Chicago Cubs at Philadelphia Phillies
Cincinnati Reds at San Francisco Giants
Texas Rangers at Minnesota Twins
Saturday, June 18, 2011
New York Yankees at Chicago Cubs
Texas Rangers at Atlanta Braves
Saturday, June 25, 2011
New York Mets at Texas Rangers
Washington Nationals at Chicago White Sox
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Los Angeles Dodgers
Saturday, July 2, 2011
New York Yankees at New York Mets
Chicago White Sox at Chicago Cubs
Saturday, July 9, 2011
New York Mets at San Francisco Giants
Atlanta Braves at Philadelphia Phillies
Minnesota Twins at Chicago White Sox
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Philadelphia Phillies at New York Mets
Boston Red Sox at Tampa Bay Rays
Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Oakland A’s
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Atlanta Braves at Cincinnati Reds
San Diego Padres at Philadelphia Phillies
Detroit Tigers at Minnesota Twins
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Chicago Cubs at St. Louis Cardinals
Tampa Bay Rays at Seattle Mariners
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Detroit Tigers
Saturday, August 6, 2011
New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox
Philadelphia Phillies at San Francisco Giants
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Tampa Bay Rays at New York Yankees
Texas Rangers at Oakland A’s
Colorado Rockies at St. Louis Cardinals
Saturday, August 20, 2011
St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs
Seattle Mariners at Tampa Bay Rays
Los Angeles Dodgers at Colorado Rockies
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Atlanta Braves at New York Mets
Detroit Tigers at Minnesota Twins
Colorado Rockies at Los Angeles Dodgers
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Cincinnati Reds at St. Louis Cardinals
Baltimore Orioles at Tampa Bay Rays
Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Los Angeles Dodgers at San Francisco Giants
Cincinnati Reds at Colorado Rockies
Minnesota Twins at Detroit Tigers
Saturday, September 17, 2010
WILD CARD
Saturday, September 24, 2010
WILD CARD
It’s bad enough that the Mariners are playing terrible ball, but it is an insult to have to listen to the announcers that you have on tonight. thank goodness for the newspaper, I’m turning off my tv.
For the future, try finding announcers that are paying attention to the game and not to the sound of their own voice.
I checked and it said that the Rays @ Red Sox was going to be playing today and i even recorded itearly on my DVR. i checked it today and it changed to the Tigers @ A’s game. IS that a glitch or am i really missing the Red Sox crucial wild card game?
I live in Charlotte, NC, I’m sick and tired of always having to watch Atlanta when it’s one of the three Saturday games being aired. FOX – NOT EVERYBODY IN CHARLOTTE IS A BRAVES FAN!!! (in fact I think damn few Charlotte baseball fans are! Show other teams!!!)
Ok so if they don’t play the Tigers game today I’m going to pull my hair out! Out of the 3 games possible to be aired today the Tigers are the closest. The other 2 games are in Colorado and California both are on the other sie of the country. So come on Fox, so the Tigers game in Raleigh!!!
I wanted the colorodo rockies and the dodgers game here and got the twins & tigers…..go figure….
I live in phoenix and it would be nice to watch a baseball game that actually means something. We get the colorodo rockies and the dodgers. This is unacceptable. You could show the detroit tigers vs minnesota twins. Justin verlander is having a terrific year and no one on the west coast will get to see it. Your baseball programing is almost as bad as espn. He rockies and dodgers are are both subpar teams and frankly nobody cares, outside of denver, about the rockies. I wish networks would quit assuming that because we are on the west coast we like to only see regional teams. A lot of people here in pboenix are transplants from other cities, especially michigan.
Do the right thing and show the tigers.
Who decides the regional markets for Fox saturday baseball? I am in Raleigh, NC and for some reason we are seeing Yankees/Red Sox instead of Braves/Phillies. How is that “regional” coverage? It’s frustrating.