TBS Knows Baseball, ESPN Hopes Not To Forget

So we're a day late on this, but we wanted to make sure we had all the details correct. As menacingly pointed out during the All-Star Game, FOX has re-upped for the rights to the World Series, Saturday games and one LCS for the next seven years. For Joe Buck and Tim McCarver haters, this is bad news, but it does assure that some baseball will be on free television for a while, whatever "free" means anymore. (Our stance as always: McCarver makes us cry, and we dislike Buck less than most do, particularly when he's rubbing Todd Zeile's feet.)

The real news, though is that TBS, your home for "Seinfeld" re-runs and endless showings of Sleepless In Seattle, will show a national Sunday game — it's not known yet whether it will necessitate blackouts the way FOX's Saturday game does — and the first round of playoffs exclusively, starting next year. ESPN is expected to still show some games during the week, and could still take one of the LCS matchups, but baseball will be less of a presence. Let us hope it doesn't cause the network to "forget" about the sport, the way it has about the NHL, not that we have much position to talk in that department.

Does this mean we're going to see more of Don Sutton's silver perm mullet? We hope so.

TBS Drops Braves Games, Joins FOX In TV Deal [USA Today] New TV Contract [Baseball Musings]

(UPDATE: Apparently Selig plans to do something about the blackout problem. We'll see.)