The following is a list of the national television and radio networks and announcers that have broadcast American League Championship Series games over the years. It does include any announcers who may have appeared on local broadcasts produced by the participating teams.
2020s
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Year |
Network |
Play-by-play |
Color commentator(s) |
Field reporter(s) |
Pregame hosts |
Pregame analysts |
Trophy presentation |
2023 |
Fox (Game 1–2, 7) |
Joe Davis |
John Smoltz |
Ken Rosenthal and Tom Verducci |
Matt Vasgersian (Game 1, 6) Kevin Burkhardt (Games 2–5, 7) |
Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz, and Derek Jeter |
Kevin Burkhardt |
FS1 (Games 2–7) |
2022 |
TBS |
Brian Anderson |
Ron Darling and Jeff Francoeur |
Lauren Shehadi |
Bob Costas |
Jimmy Rollins, Pedro Martínez, and Curtis Granderson |
Lauren Shehadi |
2021 |
Fox (Game 1–2) |
Joe Buck |
John Smoltz |
Ken Rosenthal and Tom Verducci |
Kevin Burkhardt |
Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz, and Frank Thomas |
Kevin Burkhardt |
FS1 (Games 2–6) |
2020 |
TBS[1] |
Brian Anderson |
Ron Darling and Jeff Francoeur |
Lauren Shehadi |
Ernie Johnson |
Jimmy Rollins, Pedro Martínez, and Curtis Granderson |
Lauren Shehadi |
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2010s
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Year |
Network |
Play-by-play |
Color commentator(s) |
Field reporter(s) |
Pregame hosts |
Pregame analysts |
Trophy presentation |
2019 |
Fox (Game 1) |
Joe Buck (Games 1–3, 5–6) Joe Davis (Game 4) |
John Smoltz |
Ken Rosenthal and Tom Verducci |
Kevin Burkhardt |
Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz, and Frank Thomas |
Kevin Burkhardt |
FS1 (Games 2–6) |
2018 |
TBS |
Brian Anderson |
Ron Darling |
Lauren Shehadi |
Casey Stern |
Gary Sheffield, Pedro Martínez, and Jimmy Rollins |
Brian Anderson |
2017 |
FS1 (Games 1, 3–7) |
Joe Buck |
John Smoltz |
Ken Rosenthal and Tom Verducci |
Kevin Burkhardt |
Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz, Keith Hernandez, and Frank Thomas |
Tom Verducci |
Fox (Game 2) |
2016 |
TBS |
Ernie Johnson |
Ron Darling and Cal Ripken |
Sam Ryan |
Casey Stern |
Gary Sheffield, Pedro Martínez, and Jimmy Rollins |
Ernie Johnson |
2015 |
Fox (Game 1) |
Joe Buck |
Harold Reynolds and Tom Verducci |
Ken Rosenthal and Erin Andrews |
Kevin Burkhardt |
Raúl Ibañez (Games 1–5), Pete Rose, Frank Thomas, Max Scherzer, Alex Rodriguez (Games 3–6), and C. J. Nitkowski (Game 6) |
Erin Andrews |
FS1 (Games 2–6) |
2014 |
TBS[2] |
Ernie Johnson |
Ron Darling and Cal Ripken |
Matt Winer, Mike Bordick, and Steve Physioc |
Casey Stern |
Gary Sheffield and Pedro Martínez |
Ernie Johnson |
2013 |
Fox |
Joe Buck |
Tim McCarver |
Ken Rosenthal and Erin Andrews |
Matt Vasgersian |
Harold Reynolds and Michael Cuddyer |
Erin Andrews |
2012 |
TBS |
Ernie Johnson |
Ron Darling and John Smoltz |
Craig Sager |
Matt Winer |
David Wells, Cal Ripken, and Dennis Eckersley |
Matt Winer |
2011 |
Fox |
Joe Buck |
Terry Francona (Games 1–2) Tim McCarver (Games 3–6) |
Ken Rosenthal |
Chris Rose |
Eric Karros and A. J. Pierzynski |
Chris Rose |
2010 |
TBS[3] |
Ernie Johnson |
Ron Darling and John Smoltz |
Craig Sager |
Matt Winer |
David Wells, Cal Ripken, and Dennis Eckersley |
Matt Winer |
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Notes
- 2011 – Terry Francona filled for Tim McCarver for the first two games of Fox's coverage during the ALCS because McCarver was recovering from a minor heart procedure.[4]
- Beginning in 2014, when Fox Sports began a new television contract with Major League Baseball, FS1 airs 40 regular season MLB games (mostly on Saturdays), along with up to 15 post-season games (eight Divisional Series games and one best-of-7 League Championship Series). The deal resulted in a reduction of MLB coverage on the Fox network, which will air 12 regular season games, the All-Star Game, and the World Series.[5]
- 2014 – Mike Bordick, a color analyst for the Orioles' regular-season telecasts, and Steve Physioc, a play-by-play man for the Royals' TV/radio broadcasts, were employed as field-level commentators for TBS' coverage along with Matt Winer.[6][7]
- The start of Game 1 was delayed by four minutes due to floodlights from TBS' pre-game show set not being turned off in time.[8]
- 2016 – Sportsnet, a property of Toronto Blue Jays owner Rogers Communications, aired all games in Canada using the TBS feeds.[9][10]
- 2018 – Brian Anderson took over for Ernie Johnson as the lead play-by-play man for TBS, after Johnson dropped out of TBS’ postseason coverage entirely after announcing that he had been diagnosed with blood clots in both of his legs. Anderson would’ve taken Johnson's place anyway due to the latter's Inside the NBA duties for TNT.
- 2019 – Joe Davis called play-by-play for Game 4 due to Joe Buck calling Thursday Night Football for Fox.[11]
2000s
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Notes
- Game 6 of the 2000 ALCS is the last baseball game that NBC televised until a game between the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox on May 8, 2022.[15] In Houston, due to the coverage of the 2000 U.S. presidential debates, KPRC-TV elected to carry NBC News' coverage of the debate while KNWS-TV carried NBC's final baseball game.
- In 2001, Game 5 of the NLCS and Game 4 of the ALCS were split between Fox and Fox Sports Net. This came off the heels of Fox airing an NFL doubleheader that particular day (October 21).
- In 2002, Game 1 of the NLCS and Game 2 of the ALCS were split between Fox and Fox Sports Net. The regional split was done in order for Fox to avoid televising a weekday afternoon game.
- In 2003, Game 1 of the ALCS and Game 2 of the NLCS were split between Fox and FX.
- In 2004, Game 1 of the NLCS and Game 2 of the ALCS were split between Fox and Fox Sports Net. Also in 2004, Game 5 of the ALCS ran way into the time slot of Game 5 of the NLCS. As a result, the first seven innings of the NLCS game were shown on FX.
- In 2005, Game 1 of the NLCS and Game 1 of the ALCS were split between Fox and FX.
- Game 2 of the 2006 ALCS was originally intended to air on FX, but the NLCS game that night (originally intended to air on Fox) was rained out. FX showed the movie Any Given Sunday instead.
- In 2006, Fox fired Steve Lyons from their baseball coverage altogether following what they saw insensitive comments made about Hispanics during the Game 3 broadcast. During Game 3, Lyons' broadcast colleague Lou Piniella, who is of Spanish descent, made an analogy involving the luck of finding a wallet, and then briefly used a couple of Spanish phrases. Lyons responded by saying that Piniella was "hablaing Espanol" -- Spanglish for "speaking Spanish"—and added, "I still can't find my wallet. I don't understand him, and I don't want to sit close to him now."
- On October 18, 2008, TBS missed most of the first inning of Game 6 of that year's American League Championship Series, with viewers getting a rerun of The Steve Harvey Show instead.[16] TBS picked up the game just prior to the last out in the bottom of the first, with announcer Chip Caray apologizing to viewers for "technical difficulties".
- Although not an active field reporter during Fox's coverage of the 2009 ALCS, Kenny Albert still presided over the championship presentation and postgame interviews in the pennant winning New York Yankees' clubhouse.
1990s
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Notes
- The 1990 postseason started on a Thursday, while World Series started on a Tuesday due to the brief lockout.
- In 1991, CBS didn't come on the air for baseball for weeknight LCS telecasts until 8:30 p.m. ET. Instead, they opted to show programming such as Rescue 911 at 8 p.m. rather than a baseball pregame show.[25]
- Throughout Game 2 of the 1992 ALCS, Jim Kaat was stricken with a bad case of laryngitis.[26] As a result, Johnny Bench had to come over from the CBS Radio booth and finish the game with Dick Stockton as a "relief analyst."[27] There was talk that if Kaat's laryngitis did not get better, Don Drysdale was going to replace Kaat on television for the rest of ALCS, while Bench would continue to work on CBS Radio.
- CBS' coverage of the 1992 LCS led to conflicts with the presidential debates that year.[28] CBS didn't cover one of the debates because Game 4 of the ALCS, went into extra innings. By the time it ended, the debate was almost over.
- The 1994 American League Championship Series was planned to air on NBC. However, those plans were scrapped when a strike caused the entire postseason to be canceled.
- The rather messy 1995 arrangement was courtesy of "The Baseball Network", which was Major League Baseball's in-house production facility. ABC and NBC (who essentially, distributed the telecasts rather than produce them by themselves like in the past) shared the same on-air graphics and even the microphone "flags" had the "Baseball Network" logo on it with the respective network logo. In addition, the first four games of both of the 1995 League Championship Series were regionally televised.[29][30]
1980s
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Notes
- 1983 marked the last year that the local flagship television stations for the competing teams were allowed to produce their own League Championship Series broadcasts. Bill Macatee hosted the pregame shows with analyst Don Sutton[51] for NBC.
- Had the 1984 ALCS between the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals gone the full five games (the last year that the League Championship Series was a best-of-five series), Game 5 on Sunday October 7, would have been a 1 p.m. ET time start instead of being in prime time. This would have happened because one of the presidential debates[52] between Ronald Reagan and Walter Mondale was scheduled for that night. In return, ABC was going to broadcast the debates instead of a baseball game in prime time.
- Al Trautwig[53] interviewed the Detroit Tigers from their clubhouse following their pennant clinching victory in Game 3.
- Dick Enberg[54] was in Toronto for Games 1 and 7[55] of the 1985 ALCS on NBC. Enberg hosted the pregame show alongside Rick Dempsey[56] (who was still active with Baltimore at the time). Meanwhile, Bill Macatee provided a report on Game 2 of the ALCS during the pregame of the NLCS opener.
- CTV[57] in Canada simulcast NBC's coverage (albeit with Canadian commercials) of the 1985 ALCS involving the Toronto Blue Jays. In 1985, many relied on cable and antennas. Therefore, carts of Canada not near the USA border couldn't pick up the American feeds, hence why these feeds were needed.
- On October 15, Game 6 of the 1986 NLCS ran so long (lasting for 16 innings, 5 hours, and 29 minutes), it bumped up against the start time of Game 7 of the ALCS (also on ABC). In his last ABC assignment, Don Drysdale[58] interviewed the winners in the Boston clubhouse following Game 7 of the 1986 ALCS.[59]
- NBC used Don Sutton[60][61] as a pre and postgame analyst for their 1987 LCS coverage.[62] Marv Albert[63][64] went back-and-forth during both 1987 LCS. He hosted the pregame for Game 1 of the NLCS[65] with Joe Morgan from St. Louis. He then went to Minnesota the next night to host the ALCS pregame with Don Sutton. Sutton also made an appearance in the booth during Game 3 of the ALCS. Sutton talked with Bob Costas and Tony Kubek about Twins pitcher Les Straker's borderline balk in that game. Sutton later interviewed Detroit Tigers manager Sparky Anderson following their loss in Game 5.[66]
- Then Texas Rangers manager Bobby Valentine[67] worked as an on-the-field analyst for NBC's 1989 ALCS coverage.
1970s
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- In 1970, NBC televised the second games of both League Championship Series on a regional basis. Some markets got the NLCS at 1 p.m. ET along with a 4 p.m. NFL game while other markets got the ALCS at 4 p.m. along with a 1 p.m. NFL game.
- In 1971, Game 1 of the ALCS was rained out on Saturday, October 2. Due to its NFL coverage, NBC[78] did not televise[79][80] the rescheduled Game 1 the following day (they had only planned an NLCS telecast that day), but added a telecast of Game 2 on Monday, October 4 (which had been a scheduled travel day).
- NBC did not air Game 2 of the 1973 ALCS.
- Except for Game 1 in both series, all games in 1975 were regionally televised. Game 3 of both League Championship Series was aired in prime time, the first time such an occurrence happened.
- 1976 marked the first time that all LCS games were televised nationally. Keith Jackson missed Game 1 of the ALCS because he had just finished calling the Oklahoma vs. Texas college football game for ABC. Thus, Bob Uecker filled in [81] for Jackson for Game 1. Uecker also took part in the postgame interviews for Game 5 of the 1976 ALCS, while Warner Wolf did an interview of George Brett in the Kansas City locker room.[82]
- In 1978, Keith Jackson[83] called an Oklahoma vs. Texas college football game for ABC on October 7, and then flew to New York, arriving just in time to call Game 4 of the ALCS that same night.
1969
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- In the early years of the League Championship Series,[84] NBC typically televised a doubleheader on the opening Saturday, followed by a single game on Sunday (because of NFL coverage). They then covered the weekday games with a 1.5 hour overlap,[85] joining the second game in progress when the first one ended. NBC usually swapped announcer crews after Game 2.
- NBC did not air Game 2 of the 1969 ALCS.
- From 1969 to 1983, the Major League Baseball television contract allowed a local TV station in the market of each competing team to also carry the LCS games. So in 1969, for example, Orioles fans in Baltimore could choose to watch either the NBC telecast or Chuck Thompson, Bill O'Donnell and Jim Karvellas on WJZ-TV.
As previously mentioned, from 1969 until 1983, the Major League Baseball television contract allowed a local TV station in the market of each competing team to also carry the LCS games.
1970s
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From 1969 to 1975, there was no official national radio network coverage of the League Championship Series. NBC only had the national radio rights to the All-Star Game and World Series during this period. Instead, national coverage was provided by local team radio broadcasts being syndicated nationally over ad hoc networks.
2020s
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2010s
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2000s
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1990s
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1980s
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1970s
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1969
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From 1969 to present, with the exception of the period between 1969 and 1975, the non-national radio broadcasts of the American League Championship Series were broadcast on the flagship station and the radio network of the teams participating in the American League Championship Series.
2000s
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1990s
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1980s
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1970s
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Zipay, Steve (October 3, 2000). "MEDIA / Saturday's Schedule: Stay Tuned". Newsday. p. A63.
Martzke, Rudy (October 10, 2000). "NBC's loss of baseball doesn't faze Costas this time". USA Today. p. 6C.
Martzke, Rudy (October 7, 1998). "Buck's progress moves Fox team to top". USA Today. p. 2C.
Shea, Jim (October 10, 1995). "THE PICK: INDIANS VS. MARINERS". Hartford Courant. p. C5.
Shea, Jim (October 13, 1995). "SO FAR, MUSBURGER IS OFF HIS GAME". Hartford Courant. p. C4.
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Martzke, Rudy (October 5, 1993). "Sunday dinner puts Gumbel on sideline". USA Today. p. 3C.
"AL Championship Series (best of seven)". USA Today. October 6, 1992. p. 8C.
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Shuster, Rachel (October 3, 1989). "Saying goodbye to 'Game of the Week'". USA Today. p. 3E.
McKee, Ken (October 14, 1985). "Umpires having a rough series". Toronto Star. p. BJ.4.
Harasta, Cathy (October 7, 1985). "KUBEK, NBC ALWAYS KEEP THEIR COOL FOR BASEBALL". Dallas Morning News.
D'Agostino, Dennis (October 7, 1982). "Weaver and Palmer Enlighten Viewers". Spartanburg (S.C.) Herald-Journal. Associated Press. p. D2.
Stewart, Larry (October 5, 1982). "Palmer, Weaver on AL Games". Los Angeles Times. p. D8.
Gammons, Peter (October 13, 1981). "BASEBALL'S UNDERDOGS OPEN ON ROAD". Boston Globe. p. 1.
Craig, Jack (October 18, 1981). "SPORTVIEW / JACK CRAIG; A COMMON TV MALADY AFFLICTS GOWDY, COSELL". Boston Globe. p. 1.
Rosenberg, Howard (October 20, 1980). "IT'S GARAGIOLA TO KUBEK TO SEAVER--1980 WORLD SERIES IN FULL HUE AND CRY". Los Angeles Times. p. G1.
Picking, Ken (October 9, 1987). "Sutton unclear on '88 season". USA Today. p. 3C.
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Craig, Jack (October 3, 1978). "From Yaz's HR on, ABC ran second". The Boston Globe. p. 35.
Temple, Wick (October 7, 1976). "Cosell Will Handle Color For American League Playoffs". The Owosso (Mich.) Argus-Press. Associated Press. p. 18.
Henniger, Paul (October 4, 1975). "Cornucopia of Contests". Los Angeles Times. p. A2.
Page, Don (October 2, 1971). "Baseball Ordeal: It Isn't Over Yet". Los Angeles Times. p. A2.
Henniger, Paul (October 4, 1969). "Baseball Playoffs Coming in Focus". Los Angeles Times. p. A2.
Lupica, Mike (October 14, 1999). "BUCKY DENT'S '78 SWING LIVES ON IN GAME HISTORY". New York Daily News.
"HARWELL BROADCASTS A HIGHLIGHT IN BEST BASEBALL TIME OF THE YEAR". Herald-News. October 16, 1999.
"ESPN2 to debut, but not here". Star Tribune. October 1, 1993.
Lowitt, Bruce (October 5, 1989). "This series a steal Series: ALCS NOTEBOOK". St. Petersburg Times. p. 4C.
Stewart, Larry (October 6, 1989). "Scully Loses Voice, Costas Fills In". Los Angeles Times. p. 3.
Nidetz, Steve (October 11, 1988). "ABC DESERVES KUDOS FOR NL SHOW BUT BARBS FOR AL COVERAGE". Chicago Tribune. p. 2.
Martzke, Rudy (October 13, 1988). "ABC's effort overcomes yawner of a final game". USA Today. p. 3C.
Shuster, Rachel (October 7, 1987). "HERZOG'S LONG MEMORY". USA Today. p. 3C.
Sarni, Jim (October 4, 1986). "ABC CHANNELS EFFORTS INTO PLAYOFFS". Sun Sentinel. p. 4.C.
"Musburger to work playoffs". Dallas Morning News. September 15, 1984. p. 4b.