View source for MLB Network Showcase

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2013}}
{{Infobox television
| image= MLBNShowcaseLogo.jpg
| runtime = 3 hours (approximate)
| starring = [[Matt Vasgersian]]<br />[[Tom Verducci]]<br/>[[Jon Morosi]]
| country = United States
| network = [[MLB Network]]
| theme_music_composer = [[David Robidoux]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.apmmusic.com/r-v/david-robidoux|title=David Robidoux|work=[[APM Music]]|access-date=2012-11-28}}</ref>
| first_aired = {{start date|2009|4|9}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sabrmedia.org/databases/network-tv-broadcasts/searchable-network-tv-broadcasts/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418133744/http://sabrmedia.org/databases/network-tv-broadcasts/searchable-network-tv-broadcasts/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2019-04-18|title=SEARCHABLE NETWORK TV BROADCASTS|website=sabrmedia.org}}</ref>
| last_aired = present
| related =
}}

'''''MLB Network Showcase''''' is the title of a presentation of [[Major League Baseball]] on cable and satellite channel [[MLB Network]] that premiered on April 9, 2009.<ref name=nytimes>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/03/sports/baseball/03sandomir.html|title=A Network to Satisfy the Appetite of Baseball-Hungry Fans|newspaper=The New York Times|first=Richard|last=Sandomir|author-link=Richard Sandomir|date=October 2, 2008|page=D8}}</ref> The network produces in-house 26 non-exclusive live games a season. Since one or both teams' [[List of current Major League Baseball broadcasters|local TV rights holders]] also carry the games, the MLB Network feed is subject to [[Blackout (broadcasting)#MLB/NHL blackout policies|local blackouts]]. In that event, the cities in the blacked-out markets will instead see a [[simulcast]] of another scheduled game via one team's local TV rights holder. ''MLB Network Showcase'' typically airs one game a week.

From [[2012 Major League Baseball season|2012]]–[[2021 Major League Baseball season|2021]], MLB Network aired two exclusive [[Division Series]] games using the ''MLB Network Showcase'' presentation. Unlike the regular-season games, these games were exclusive to MLB Network. Beginning with the [[2022 Major League Baseball season|2022 MLB season]], MLB Network will instead air the [[Spanish language]] broadcasts for all postseason games carried in [[English language|English]] by [[Major League Baseball on TBS|TBS]].

==History==
{{see also|The Baseball Network|MLB Network#Live game coverage}}

Prior to the formation of MLB Network, MLB had produced game telecasts in-house for the [[1994 Major League Baseball season|1994]] and [[1995 Major League Baseball season|1995 seasons]] via [[The Baseball Network]], a [[joint venture]] with [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] and [[NBC]]. However, the experiment was scuttled by ABC and NBC after the 1995 season due to lackluster ratings in the aftermath of the [[1994–95 Major League Baseball strike|1994–95 strike]], which had resulted in the cancellation of the remainder of the 1994 season.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Roman |first1=James W. |title=Love, Light, and a Dream: Television's Past, Present, and Future |year=1998 |publisher=[[Praeger Publishers]] |isbn=9780275964375 |page=82 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-W_b75Wm1JAC&pg=PA82 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Shea |first1=Stuart |title=Calling the Game: Baseball Broadcasting from 1920 to the Present |year=2015 |publisher=[[Society for American Baseball Research]] |isbn=9781933599410 |page=360 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p5QcCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA360 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

From [[2009 Major League Baseball season|2009]] to [[2010 Major League Baseball season|2010]], MLB Network broadcast the [[Civil Rights Game]]. The 2009 game was broadcast on MLB Network except in the home markets of the two teams that played in the game, [[2009 Cincinnati Reds season|Cincinnati]] ([[FSN Ohio]]) and [[2009 Chicago White Sox season|Chicago]] ([[CSN Chicago]]).<ref>{{cite news|last1=Masilak|first1=Jim|title=Baseball Says Civil Rights Game Will Move to Cincinnati For 2009|url=http://www.commercialappeal.com/business/source-says-civil-rights-game-will-move-cincinnati|access-date=October 3, 2014|work=[[The Commercial Appeal]]|publisher=[[The E.W. Scripps Company]]|date=September 18, 2008}}</ref> For the 2010 Civil Rights Game, again, MLB Network telecast the game except in [[2010 Cincinnati Reds season|Cincinnati]] (Fox Sports Ohio) and [[2010 St. Louis Cardinals season|St. Louis]] ([[Bally Sports Midwest|Fox Sports Midwest]]).

On July 8, 2011, [[Al Michaels]] teamed up with [[Bob Costas]] (with the two announcers alternating between play-by-play and color commentary) to call a game between the [[2011 New York Mets season|New York Mets]] and [[2011 San Francisco Giants season|San Francisco Giants]] on [[MLB Network]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://fangsbites.com/2011/06/al-michaels-bob-costas-to-call-game-for-mlb-network-in-july/ |title=Al Michaels & Bob Costas To Call Game For MLB Network in July |author=Fang, Ken |date=June 29, 2011 |work=Fangsbites.com |publisher=Wordpress |access-date=July 3, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110704072147/http://fangsbites.com/2011/06/al-michaels-bob-costas-to-call-game-for-mlb-network-in-july/ |archive-date=July 4, 2011 }}</ref> It was Michaels's first appearance on a baseball telecast since August 6, 2003 (when he served as a guest commentator on an [[ESPN Major League Baseball|ESPN]] game at [[Dodger Stadium]] between the [[2003 Los Angeles Dodgers season|Los Angeles Dodgers]] and [[2003 Cincinnati Reds season|Cincinnati Reds]]) and his first as a primary announcer since Game 5 of the [[1995 World Series]] on [[Major League Baseball on ABC|ABC]]. (Michaels had called Games 1, 4, and 5 of that series with [[Jim Palmer]] and [[Tim McCarver]], while Costas called Games 2, 3, and 6 with [[Joe Morgan]] and [[Bob Uecker]] for [[Major League Baseball on NBC|NBC]].) Michaels and Costas also made appearances on [[SportsNet New York]] and [[Comcast SportsNet Bay Area]] during the game's middle innings, since the MLB Network broadcast was [[Blackout (broadcasting)|blacked out]] in the Mets' and Giants' respective home markets.

On July 2, 2013, Matt Vasgersian and Sean Casey called the game between the [[2013 San Francisco Giants season|San Francisco Giants]] and [[2013 Cincinnati Reds season|Cincinnati Reds]] (with Casey being a legend for the latter team), in which Reds pitcher [[Homer Bailey]] threw his second career no-hitter.

On September 25, 2014, Costas called [[Derek Jeter]]'s final game at [[Yankee Stadium]] for MLB Network, where he hit an RBI single to win the game.

On July 8, 2016, ''[[NHL on NBC]]'' broadcaster [[Mike Emrick]] called his first MLB regular-season game at [[PNC Park]] when the [[2016 Pittsburgh Pirates season|Pirates]] hosted the [[2016 Chicago Cubs season|Chicago Cubs]] for MLB Network with [[Bob Costas]]. The Pirates won the game, 8–4, with Emrick calling some of the action.

===Postseason coverage===
For the [[2012 Major League Baseball season|2012]] and [[2013 Major League Baseball season|2013 seasons]], TBS was awarded the rights to televise both [[Wild Card Series|Wild Card Games]] that occurred on the day before the Division Series games. In exchange, MLB Network was awarded the rights to televise two of the Division Series games that previously belonged to TBS.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120517&content_id=31527188&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb |title=TBS to televise Wild Card playoff games |author=Bloom, Barry M. |date=17 May 2012 |work=MLB.com |publisher=MLB Advanced Media |access-date=9 September 2012}}</ref> From 2014 to 2021, MLB Network broadcast two Division Series games in lieu of [[Major League Baseball on FS1|FS1]], airing the American League games in odd-numbered years, and National League games in even-numbered years.

The first postseason telecast took place on October 7, 2012 and featured the [[2012 Detroit Tigers season|Detroit Tigers]] hosting the [[2012 Oakland Athletics season|Oakland Athletics]] at [[Comerica Park]] in [[Detroit]] for Game 2 of the [[2012 American League Division Series|2012 ALDS]]. Matt Vasgersian called the game alongside analyst [[Jim Kaat]]. The second telecast took place on October 10 and featured the [[2012 Washington Nationals season|Washington Nationals]] hosting the [[2012 St. Louis Cardinals season|St. Louis Cardinals]] at [[Nationals Park]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], for Game 3 of the [[2012 National League Division Series|2012 NLDS]]; this was the Nationals' first home postseason game since moving to Washington at the start of the [[2005 Major League Baseball season|2005 season]]. Bob Costas provided the play-by-play commentary alongside analyst Jim Kaat.<ref>[http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20121002&content_id=39360776&vkey=pr_mlb&c_id=mlb MLB Network To Televise Postseason And Regular Season Game Programming Through 2021], ''MLB.com'', October 2, 2012</ref> Vasgersian and Jim Kaat called Game 3 of the [[2013 American League Division Series]], also between the [[2013 Detroit Tigers season|Detroit Tigers]] and the [[2013 Oakland Athletics season|Oakland Athletics]] on October 7 as well.

In 2017, Bob Costas called Game 1 of the [[2017 American League Division Series|American League Division Series]] between the [[2017 Boston Red Sox season|Boston Red Sox]] and the [[2017 Houston Astros season|Houston Astros]] on MLB Network. The Astros went on to win 8–2. Costas and his color commentator Jim Kaat received criticism for their "bantering about minutia" and misidentification of plays. Costas also went on to become an [[internet meme]] after using the term the "sacks were juiced" to describe the bases being loaded.<ref>{{cite web |date=6 October 2017 |title=Please keep Bob Costas away from Red Sox playoff games |url=https://www.weei.com/blogs/alex-reimer/please-keep-bob-costas-away-red-sox-playoff-games}}</ref>

Following [[Major League Baseball on Fox|Fox's]] extension of their MLB rights, which included [[Division Series]] games for the [[Fox Broadcasting Company|main Fox network]] for the first time since [[2006 MLB season|2006]], MLB Network lost the rights to playoff games after the 2021 season. To replace this coverage, beginning with the [[2022 Major League Baseball season|2022 MLB season]], MLB Network instead carried the Spanish language broadcasts for all postseason games broadcast in English by [[Major League Baseball on TBS|TBS]], replacing [[CNN en Español]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Spanish-Language Games and MLB Tonight |website=[[MLB.com]] |url=https://www.mlb.com/postseason/how-to-watch-on-mlbn}}</ref> This arrangement ended in the [[2024 Major League Baseball season|2024 season]], with MLB announcing an agreement with [[TelevisaUnivision]] to hold Spanish-language rights to the postseason games aired by [[TNT Sports (United States)|TNT Sports]], along with studio programming.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Steinberg |first=Brian |date=2024-08-15 |title=Major League Baseball, TelevisaUnivision Strike Pact For Post-Season Games |url=https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/major-league-baseball-televisaunivision-post-season-games-spanish-language-1236107387/ |access-date=2024-09-29 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Commentators==
{{see also|List of MLB Network personalities|List of American League Division Series broadcasters|List of National League Division Series broadcasters}}

Longtime [[NBC Sports]] broadcaster [[Bob Costas]] is the main [[play-by-play]] voice for the broadcasts.<ref>[http://www.multichannel.com/article/173557-Costas_Joins_MLB_Network_s_Team.php?rssid=20059 Costas Joins MLB Network's Team] ''Multichannel News'' February 3, 2009</ref> [[Matt Vasgersian]] also does play-by-play on some games. [[Dan Plesac]] and [[Tom Verducci]] provide [[color commentary]].<ref name=tvweek>{{cite web|url=http://www.tvweek.com/news/2009/03/mlb_network_sets_thursday_nigh.php|title=MLB Network Sets Thursday Night Baseball Lineup|work=TV Week|date=March 25, 2009}}</ref>

[[Siera Santos]], [[CC Sabathia]] and [[Chris Young (outfielder)|Chris Young]] host select special "Clubhouse Edition" broadcasts, which have two former MLB players with Sabathia, Young and Santos to provide a unique look at the featured games.

In a deal announced in September 2022, [[Melanie Newman]] and CC Sabathia will host selected games for [[BBC Sport]], these continue to be branded as an ''MLB Network Showcase'' broadcast.<ref name=bbc>{{cite web|url=https://www.mlb.com/news/bbc-to-broadcast-red-sox-yankees-game-saturday|title=Red Sox-Yanks to air in United Kingdom on Saturday|work=Brian Murphy|date=September 23, 2022}}</ref> In 2023, CC Sabathia was replaced by [[Xavier Scruggs]] as a game analyst for BBC Sport.

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
*{{official website|https://www.mlb.com/network/shows/mlb-network-showcase}}

{{MLB Network Showcase}}
{{Major League Baseball on national television}}

[[Category:2009 American television series debuts]]
[[Category:2000s American sports television series]]
[[Category:2010s American sports television series]]
[[Category:2020s American sports television series]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball on television]]
[[Category:MLB Network original programming]]