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 As they say, competition is good, and for baseball fans, beginning in early January, that may never have been more true on television.
MLB Network is set to launch on January 1, and as reported, there is a considerable amount of archival footage being released over the course of the month through the new network. Not to be outdone, ESPN will be competing for your viewership. ESPN Classic will feature a classic Major League Baseball game every Monday night (generally at 8 p.m. ET) starting January 5 and continuing to the start of the 2009 regular season. The series, which will celebrate the 20th season of MLB on ESPN, begins with the re-airing of ESPN’s first-ever MLB telecast – Baltimore at Kansas City (April 9, 1990). In addition to the weekly Monday telecasts, ESPN Classic will present nightly classic MLB games at 8 p.m. the week of March 30 leading up to Opening Night on ESPN (Sunday, April 5). ESPN Classic also plans to televise a MLB game of the week during the MLB season, from April through October ’09 (schedule TBD). ESPN Classic's January and February schedule (all times 8 p.m. ET): Date | Game | Mon., Jan. 5 | 1990 Opening Day: Baltimore at Kansas City ESPN’s first MLB regular-season telecast | Mon., Jan. 12 | 1991 World Series, Game 7: Atlanta at Minnesota Jack Morris pitched a 10-inning shutout as the Twins won 1-0 | Mon., Jan. 19 | 1992 NLCS, Game 7: Pittsburgh at Atlanta Francisco Cabrera drove home Sid Bream to advance the Braves to the World Series | Mon., Jan. 26 | 1993 World Series, Game 6: Philadelphia at Toronto Joe Carter hit a three-run, walk off home run for the Blue Jays | Mon., Feb. 2 | 1994 regular season: Anaheim at Texas Kenny Rogers became the first left-hander in A.L. history to throw a perfect game | Mon., Feb. 9 | 1995 regular season: Anaheim at Baltimore Cal Ripken, Jr., broke Lou Gehrig’s record with 2,131 consecutive games played | Mon., Feb. 16 | 1996 World Series, Game 4: N.Y. Yankees at Atlanta Yankees erased a 6-0 deficit and won in extra innings on Wade Boggs’ bases-loaded walk | Mon., Feb. 23 | 1997 World Series, Game 7: Cleveland at Florida Marlins became the first wild card team to win the World Series in the franchise’s fifth season |
Source: ESPN
 Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He is contributor to Baseball Prospectus, and is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network.
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