TBS announced today the first two months of its “Sunday MLB on TBS” schedule for the 2009 season.  The package, which includes match-ups on TBS every Sunday afternoon throughout the regular season, includes multiple appearances by the New York Yankees (April 19, May 17 and May 31), Boston Red Sox (May 3 and May 24), New York Mets (April 12 and May 24) and the 2008 World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies (April 26 and May 10).  The network will also exclusively televise the 2009 MLB All-Star Selection Show on Sunday, July 5th and in October, TBS will once again provide exclusive coverage of all four MLB Division Series (DS) and the National League Championship Series (NLCS).

“Sunday MLB on TBS” leads off with David Wright and the New York Mets taking on Hanley Ramirez and the Florida Marlins on Sunday, April 12th at 1 p.m. ET.  The network will announce future games on its schedule coinciding with its selection windows. The games included in the TBS MLB package will be blacked out in each team’s home television territory.

“We are excited for our second season of Sunday MLB on TBS and look forward to our analysts utilizing their various perspectives from years of success on and off the field to provide fans unique insights to the game,” said Jeff Behnke, Turner Sports executive producer.  “The announcers, along with our production crew, will bring the same high-level of passion and baseball expertise that viewers have come to expect from Turner-produced telecasts throughout the season.”

The TBS announce team will include 20-year broadcasting veteran Chip Caray who will provide play-by-play each week, and will be paired separately with returning TBS MLB analysts Ron Darling and Buck Martinez.  Also joining the booth for select games will be Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley.

TBS has broadcast MLB coverage for more than 30 years serving as the exclusive home of the MLB Division Series (DS) and one League Championship Series (LCS) since 2007 and home of Atlanta Braves coverage from 1977 to 2007. 

SELECT READ MORE TO SEE THE TBS BROADCAST SCHEDULE

2009 Sunday MLB on TBS Schedule

Source: TBS

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Down with TBS! - You should be ashamed!
written by Bryan B. -Atlanta, Ga, June 28, 2009

Rushed home from church to catch todays Braves/Red Sox game only to find a MLB/TBS logo occupying my screen for three hours. At first I thought it was a screen they put up when there is "technical difficulties", but when programming magically reappeared after the game, I realized what had happened and I couldn't believe it. The excerpt from the article above confirmed it ("The games included in the TBS MLB package will be blacked out in each team’s home television territory"). IT WAS BLACKED OUT!!
To my knowledge, this is the first time ever that a Braves game has been blacked out. I'm not wise in the ways of television and cable and satellite programming and marketing, I'm just a working stiff who grew up in Atlanta watching the Braves and Falcons. There was a time when Falcons home games were blacked out because they sucked and couldn't sell enough tickets to be able to be shown in their HOME TOWN! Ok, so the suits decided that the bucks were more important than the true fans - I know, it's a business, we've all heard it before and I know business must be conducted.
So does today's Braves blackout say that they suck and can't fill the seats and the hometown fans can't see them on TBS? I think we all know that is not the case, so what is it? Another excerpt above boasts that "TBS was the home of Atlanta Braves baseball for 30 years".......SO WHAT! That means NOTHING to me, especially after today. The average working Joe has already been priced out of being able to take his family to more than one game per year (and sit in some lower level seats - who wants to sit in the upper level ALL the time?) And now the black out. This is the kind of crap that probably drove Skip Caray to his grave (may he rest in peace).
Like I said, I don't know the marketing and programming business so if I'm barking up the wrong tree, I apologize and please tell me which tree to go to (the Braves office, MLB, Comcast, Ted Turner.... someone!) and I will bark up theirs but whoever it is should take a page out of Arthur Blank's book when he decided to televise ALL Falcons games, regardless of ticket sales. I just hope today's Braves blackout on TBS is not a sign of things to come

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