THUNDER BAY – SPORTS – After the winter we have had in Thunder Bay and throughout the region, there is probably a need to participate in other summer activities, if only for our mental health.
With the Thunder Bay Border Cats not playing in the Northwoods League this season, sitting down to watch “The Show” games is likely the option most baseball fans will choose.
Beginning Friday, April 8, the broadcast team of Melanie Newman (play-by-play), Chris Young (analyst), Hannah Keyser (analyst), and Brooke Fletcher (reporter) will call the New York Mets at the Washington Nationals 7 p.m. ET; and Stephen Nelson (play-by-play), Hunter Pence (analyst), Katie Nolan (analyst), and Heidi Watney (reporter) make up the team that will call the Houston Astros to the Los Angeles Angels game at 9:30 p.m. ET.
Game assignments for “Friday Night Baseball” broadcasters will be announced on a weekly basis.
In her new role with “Friday Night Baseball,” Newman becomes the second woman to lead play-by-play duties for a national broadcast team; she joined the Baltimore Orioles broadcast team in 2020.
Live “Friday Night Baseball” pre-game and post-game coverage will be hosted by Lauren Gardner, along with a rotating panel of analysts and former Major League Baseball (MLB) players, including Carlos Peña, Cliff Floyd and Yonder Alonso.
Produced by MLB Network’s Emmy-winning production team in partnership with Apple, “Friday Night Baseball” will deliver a modern and dynamic streaming experience that will appeal to new viewers and seasoned fans alike.
Each game stream will use state-of-the-art cameras, including high-speed Phantoms, high-resolution Megalodon, and more throughout the season to showcase vivid live footage and deliver immersive audio. in 5.1 with spatial audio enabled. “Friday Night Baseball” will also feature new on-screen graphics that include innovative new predictions based on the probabilities of different situational outcomes, as well as highlights and live looks from across the league embedded directly into the broadcast.
Throughout “Friday Night Baseball” broadcasts, fans can enjoy on-screen captions to hitting songs from Apple Music, test their baseball knowledge with the help of Siri, and more. And, in a first for MLB games, “Friday Night Baseball” will feature former MLB umpire Brian Gorman’s analysis and interpretation of the rules.
In addition to two flagship games on Friday nights throughout the regular season, fans in the United States and Canada can enjoy new live programming 24/7 with game replays from MLB, news and analysis, highlights, classic games, and more.
Every Thursday, fans can tune in to “Countdown to First Pitch” for a preview of the week’s upcoming games, and every morning to “MLB Daily Recap” for league-wide highlights, both available only on Apple. TV+, plus the “MLB Big Inning” Whip Show with live looks and game highlights every night of the week. Additionally, fans will be able to watch full games, as well as condensed game replays, on-demand on Apple TV+ after the live streams end each week.
