USA Network Thursday Night Baseball explained

Genre:Sport
Director:Bob Hiestand
John Repczynski
Developer:USA Sports
Starring:See announcers section
Country:United States
Language:English
Executive Producer:Kay Koplovitz
Jim Zrake
Producer:Jerry Romano
Mark D. Stulberger
Jim Zrake
Runtime:180 minutes (or until game ends)
Network:USA
First Aired:[1]
Related:Thursday Night Baseball
Major League Baseball on NBC

USA Network Thursday Night Baseball aired Major League Baseball (MLB) games on the USA Network from 1979 to 1983.

Background

In 1979,[2] 22 teams (all but the Atlanta Braves, Houston Astros, New York Mets, and St. Louis Cardinals) participated in a one-year cable deal with United Artists Television and Columbia Pictures Television, then-owners of the USA Network.[3] The deal involved the airing of Thursday night games[4] in markets at least 50 miles (80 km) from a major league park.[5] The deal earned Major League Baseball less than $500,000, but led to a new two-year contract for 40–45 games per season.[6] [7] The program ran through the 1983 season.[8] [9]

With USA's Thursday night coverage, it ended the position of ABC's Monday night broadcasts as the exclusive national, prime time television franchise for Major League Baseball.[10]

Coverage history

The series began April 26, 1979[11] with a doubleheader: Cleveland at Kansas City[12] (Jim Woods and Bud Harrelson announcing[13]) followed by Baltimore at California[14] (Monte Moore and Maury Wills announcing[15]). The second game of the night was typically broadcast from the West Coast. The games were usually blacked-out in the competing teams' cities.[16] [17] [18] Once in a while, when USA aired a repeat of the telecast late at night, local cities were allowed to show the rerun.[19]

From 1980 to 1981, Jim Woods[20] and Nelson Briles (replacing Bud Harrelson) broadcast the early games, while Monte Moore and Wes Parker (replacing Maury Wills) called the late game.

In 1982, doubleheaders did not start until June 17.[21] Prior to the doubleheaders starting, Monte Moore and Wes Parker did the individual game until then. When the doubleheaders finally began,[22] Moore and Parker moved over to the late game for the rest of the year. Meanwhile, Eddie Doucette (replacing Jim Woods) and Nelson Briles were assigned to call the early game.[23]

USA continued with the plan of not starting doubleheaders until June in the final year of the package in 1983. Steve Zabriskie and Al Albert filled in for Eddie Doucette in September 1982 (Steve Grad also occasionally substituted) while Albert replaced Doucette for a game or more in 1983.

USA's coverage became a casualty of the new $1.2 billion TV contract[24] between Major League Baseball, ABC and NBC beginning in 1984 and lasting through 1989. One of the provisions to the new deal was that local telecasts opposite network games had to be eliminated.[25]

Memorable moments

One particular game of note was a Los Angeles Dodgers–St. Louis Cardinals game in 1981 (the last game before the strike[26] [27]).[28] The game in question featured Fernando Valenzuela picking up his eighth consecutive win to start the season. Valenzuela gave up a home run in the ninth to tie the game 1–1, but Pedro Guerrero hit one himself in the bottom of the ninth for the win.

One year later, during a September 16 game between the San Diego Padres and the San Francisco Giants,[29] Darrell Evans went 3-for-5 with four RBI in Giants' 9–3 victory.

Announcers

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: SEARCHABLE NETWORK TV BROADCASTS. https://web.archive.org/web/20190418133744/http://sabrmedia.org/databases/network-tv-broadcasts/searchable-network-tv-broadcasts/. dead. 2019-04-18. sabrmedia.org.
  2. Book: Shea, Stuart. 7 May 2015. Calling the Game: Baseball Broadcasting from 1920 to the Present. SABR, Inc.. 373. 9781933599410.
  3. News: Big-League Baseball To Hit Hinterlands On Cable Television. https://web.archive.org/web/20121104055735/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/djreprints/access/109518979.html?dids=109518979:109518979&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Apr+13,+1979&author=&pub=Wall+Street+Journal&desc=Big-League+Baseball+To+Hit+Hinterlands+On+Cable+Television&pqatl=google. dead. November 4, 2012. April 13, 1979. Wall Street Journal.
  4. News: Majors give cable rights. April 13, 1979. Lawrence Journal-World.
  5. News: Sports on cable. Jane Gross. The New York Times. July 12, 1981. USA agreed to the baseball limitations rejected by ESPN and shows a Thursday-night game in cities that do not have a major-league team. In New York City, Manhattan Cable broadcasts USA's programs, but cannot televise the weekly baseball game because the Yankees and Mets declined to grant the waivers necessary under major-league statutes..
  6. News: Is The Chance To .Ao To The Park .. https://archive.today/20120712034459/http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CYMmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=UgEGAAAAIBAJ&pg=5326,891835&dq=major+league+baseball+on+usa+network&hl=en. dead. July 12, 2012. April 3, 1982. Jim. Jicha. Miami News.
  7. News: Giants Announce Signings of Stennett, May, Wohlford. https://web.archive.org/web/20121104055747/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/648711842.html?dids=648711842:648711842&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&type=historic&date=Dec+13,+1979&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=The+Newswire&pqatl=google. dead. November 4, 2012. December 13, 1979. Los Angeles Times.
  8. News: Philadelphia Daily News : BASEBALL SWINGS AN UNREAL DEAL. March 1, 1983. Philadelphia Daily News.
  9. News: USA NETWORK MAKING SOME MAJOR-LEAGUE CUTS. February 10, 1984. Miami Herald.
  10. Book: Walker and Bellamy, James Robert and Robert Jr. . Center Field Shot: A History of Baseball on Television . June 2008 . 978-0803248250. 143.
  11. News: Cable package likely coming to Channel 7. April 14, 1979. Ray. Holliman. St. Petersburg Times.
  12. https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/KCA/KCA197904260.shtml Apr 26, 1979, Indians at Royals Play by Play and Box Score
  13. Web site: Searchable Network TV Broadcasts - USA Network. rec.sport.baseball.
  14. https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CAL/CAL197904260.shtml Apr 26, 1979, Orioles at Angels Play by Play and Box Score
  15. News: Jock leaves bigs again. June 6, 1979. Daily News.
  16. News: CABLE WILL SATURATE SPORTS; COULD BRING OVER 600 BASEBALL TELECASTS FROM OUTSIDE CITY. https://web.archive.org/web/20121104055847/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/684373461.html?dids=684373461:684373461&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Aug+30,+1981&author=JACK+CRAIG&pub=Boston+Globe+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=SPORTVIEW+%2F+JACK+CRAIG%3B+BOSTON+CABLE+WILL+SATURATE+SPORTS%3B+COULD+BRING+OVER+600+BASEBALL+TELECASTS+FROM+OUTSIDE+CITY&pqatl=google. dead. November 4, 2012. August 30, 1981. Jack. Craig. Boston Globe.
  17. News: Write To New York To Get Message To A Star In California. August 31, 1983. Paul. Henniger. St. Petersburg Times.
  18. News: A Win for Rams on the Air, Too. https://web.archive.org/web/20121104055936/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/669884252.html?dids=669884252:669884252&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Sep+10,+1982&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=A+Win+for+Rams+on+the+Air,+Too&pqatl=google. dead. November 4, 2012. September 10, 1982. Larry. Stewart. Los Angeles Times.
  19. News: Cable Networks Join The Fun. November 29, 1982. Bruce. Wehrle. The Dispatch.
  20. News: SPORTVIEW / BY JACK CRAIG; ; WHAT PRICE EXCLUSIVITY. https://archive.today/20120714014455/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/685612181.html?dids=685612181:685612181&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=May+04,+1980&author=JACK+CRAIG&pub=Boston+Globe+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=SPORTVIEW+/+BY+JACK+CRAIG;+;+WHAT+PRICE+EXCLUSIVITY&pqatl=google. dead. July 14, 2012. May 4, 1980. Jack. Craig. Boston Globe.
  21. News: Now On .The Air If .. https://archive.today/20120730011810/http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=r-4tAAAAIBAJ&sjid=RIgFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3999,2953623&dq=major+league+baseball+on+usa+network&hl=en. dead. July 30, 2012. August 10, 1982. Tri City Herald.
  22. News: The Sports Scene.. July 15, 1982. The Dispatch.
  23. News: The Sports Scene .. September 2, 1982. The Dispatch.
  24. Book: October 19, 1983. Copyright Royalty Fees for Cable Systems: Hearings Before the Subcommittee .... 703.
  25. Book: Leifer, Eric M. . Making the Majors: The Transformation of Team Sports in America . June 2009 . 9780674040069. 1964.
  26. News: Sunday's All-Star Game Puts Baseball Back. August 6, 1981. Dick. Peck. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
  27. News: June 27, 1981. BASEBALL STRIKE FORCES TV TO IMPROVISE. The New York Times.
  28. https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN198106110.shtml Jun 11, 1981, Dodgers at Cardinals Play by Play and Box Score
  29. https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SFN/SFN198209160.shtml Sep 16, 1982, Padres at Giants Box Score and Play by Play
  30. Web site: "Where Are They Now:" Eddie Doucette . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070926224611/http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wuwm/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=835861 . September 26, 2007 .
  31. Web site: Steve Zabriskie. Ultimate Mets Database. 2016-05-31.

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