Monday Night Football is probably the most famous "game of the week" in sports. Baseball's a little different than football in that you play everyday; Monday Night Football is so special by virtue of the fact that the other games are on Sundays, and here's one game that's being featured on Monday night. However for the past 20+ years MLB has offered a "game of the week" in the form of Sunday Night Baseball. Similarly, most Sunday baseball games are played in the afternoon (generally during the 1:00 local time hour); instead here's one game that the league has decided to feature in primetime before a national audience.
Most Sunday night games are scheduled based upon ratings in that teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, Phillies, etc. are normally featured. So why not the Orioles? Certainly the game would get ratings in Baltimore and in the other city, however the last thing ESPN wants is a team like the Orioles, who have struggled for years, to be featured on Sunday night. I would argue that this attitude has contributed to the Orioles' struggles. We all know of players like Derek Jeter, Manny Ramirez, Shane Victorino, and many others. Granted they play for winners, however they're also featured on national television on a frequent basis. Perhaps it's similar to not promoting yourself at work in that if you don't promote yourself and your efforts, odds are they'll go unnoticed. If the Orioles win games, some people might not take notice since they can't see the game in other places.
I would argue that moving forward MLB should make a concentrated effort to show every team on Sunday Night Baseball. We've seemingly seen the Cubs/White Sox, Yankees/Mets, etc. in these national games; why not the O's and Nationals? As fun and interesting as the Yankees and Red Sox games can be, why can't we see the O's and Yankees, or against anyone else? (Incidentally, the last time the Baltimore Orioles were featured on Sunday night was in 2008, and that was only due to the fact that they were the visiting team in the final game at Yankee Stadium.) Having said that, I think that the storyline might exist for the O's to be featured on Sunday Night Baseball in 2011. They were the laughingstock of sports for most of 2010, and suddenly Buck Showalter came and "made everything okay." The Orioles have a young team but a truly professional and well-respected manager; to me, that sounds like a storyline that could be worthy of some national exposure. (Buck Showalter formerly worked for ESPN as well.) Furthermore, Showalter coached both the Yankees and Texas Rangers; so could a Sunday nighter against one of those teams be in the future?
I was sad to hear of ESPN announcing last week that Joe Morgan's contract won't be renewed, and that John Miller will not be back doing play-by-play for Sunday Night Baseball. I love MASN's combination of Gary Thorne, Jim Palmer/Mike Flanagan, and Amber Theoharis as the in-game reporter, but I always felt that Miller and Morgan were the best announcing team in the league. I'll be interested to see who their replacements will be. Whomever that is will have big shoes to fill.
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