Below are the announcer milestones we recorded from May 1-14, which includes Rogers' lead NHL crew showing up on four straight games worked from May 2-10.
Monday, May 1 - 76ers at Celtics game 1 (TNT, 7:30) - Energetic TNT play-by-play announcer Kevin Harlan calls his 1,350th national telecast between the NFL and NBA. He’s the third person to reach that total in the United States, trailing Dick Stockton and Marv Albert, and sixth including Canadian NHL duties (where Bob Cole, Chris Cuthbert and Pierre McGuire join the list). Reggie Miller and Allie LaForce round out the telecast.
Tuesday, May 2 - Panthers at Maple Leafs game 1 (CBC/SN, 7:00) - One Hockey Night in Canada stalwart ties another as Craig Simpson matches Danny Gallivan with 1,017 national NHL telecasts in Canada. That total is good for seventh in our records. Chris Cuthbert and Kyle Bukauskas round out the commentary team for this series.
Tuesday, May 2 - Kraken at Stars game 1 (ESPN, 9:30) - Rhode Island native Brian Boucher becomes the 11th person to call 400 American NHL national telecasts and the sixth person to reach that plateau as a color commentator. Joining him in the booth are Bob Wischusen, a New Jersey native, and Leah Hextall from Brandon, Manitoba.
Wednesday, May 3 - Blue Jays at Red Sox (MLBN, 7:00) - Jon Morosi, who has become MLB Network’s default insider over the last couple of years, calls his 126th national MLB telecast as the field reporter to tie Gary Miller for sixth in our records. Matt Vasgersian and Tom Verducci helm the booth.
Thursday, May 4 - Panthers at Maple Leafs game 2 (CBC/SN, 7:00) - One Hockey Night in Canada stalwart slides past another as Craig Simpson passes Danny Gallivan with 1,018 national NHL telecasts in Canada. That total is good for seventh in our records. Chris Cuthbert and Kyle Bukauskas round out the commentary team for this series.
Friday, May 5 - Celtics at 76ers game 3 (ESPN, 7:30) - The list of NBA commentators with 300 repetitions as a color commentator grows to 10 when Doris Burke hits that mark. Mark Jones and Cassidy Hubbarth, who are each also top-10 members in their main flavors of commentary, handle play-by-play and courtside reporting.
Saturday, May 6 - Knicks at Heat game 3 (ABC, 3:30) - While Dave Pasch is perhaps best known at this point for being the guy who talks when Bill Walton doesn’t during college basketball season, he also has more national NBA play-by-play to his credit than all but five people (to say nothing of being the radio voice of the Arizona Cardinals). The Syracuse graduate calls his 400th NBA game alongside Hubie Brown and Malika Andrews.
Saturday, May 6 - Red Sox at Phillies (Fox regional, 7:00) - Lead MLB on Fox analyst John Smoltz calls his 494th national telecast as an analyst, breaking a tie with Dan Dierdorf for 18th on record among the four major U.S. pro sports while creating a tie with Steve Jones for 17th. (Incidentally, Smoltz is a native of metropolitan Detroit who attended high school in Lansing, Michigan, and was offered a scholarship at Michigan State before being drafted by the Tigers, while Dierdorf played collegiately at Michigan. While I’m doing this, Dierdorf and Jones played simultaneously in St. Louis in 1974-75, but back to work.) Adam Amin, who went to Valparaiso University, and Ken Rosenthal, a Pennsylvania alum, flank Smoltz on this game.
Saturday, May 6 - Warriors at Lakers game 3 (ABC, 8:30) - Half of the lead ESPN NBA television booth, affectionately known as “The Band” on the 506 Sports Discord server, shows up in this list on the same game. Play-by-play announcer Mike Breen, who used to handle two sports for NBC, calls his 1,059th national play-by-play telecast in our five main lists, tying Mike Emrick for 10th. (Like Breen, Emrick was most known for his work on one sport, hockey, but also has national credits in football and baseball.) Mark Jackson, who like Breen hails from New York, calls his 700th national NBA telecast, making him the seventh person to reach that mark and the fourth to do so as a color analyst. As analysts go, Jackson ranks ninth in the four major U.S. pro sports and 15th including Canadian NHL work. Lisa Salters and Jeff Van Gundy round out the telecast. (And for completeness, Emrick is from LaFontaine, Indiana.)
Sunday, May 7 - Orioles at Braves (NBC/Peacock, 11:30 a.m.) - NBC’s annual simulcast of Peacock’s MLB Sunday Leadoff package brings Matt Vasgersian a milestone in spot duty. Vasgersian’s 363rd national MLB telecast matches Thom Brennaman, also a former Fox MLB commentator, for eleventh in our play-by-play records. Andruw Jones and Ben McDonald join Vasgersian as team-centric analysts while Ahmed Fareed hosts the telecast and reports.
Sunday, May 7 - Maple Leafs at Panthers game 3 (TBS, 6:30) - Former NHL netminder Darren Pang matches longtime partner Dave Strader with his 717th American national commentary appearance. Strader and Pang worked together 196 times, from 1996-2004 with ESPN and 2011-13 with NBC, before Strader died of cancer in 2017. Here, Pang works alongside Brendan Burke for the 63rd time and Alyson Lozoff for the third.
Sunday, May 7 - Maple Leafs at Panthers game 3 (CBC/SN, 6:30) - One Hockey Night in Canada stalwart from Ontario ties another from Alberta as Craig Simpson ties Dick Irvin with his 1,039th NHL color commentary credit between the U.S. and Canada. (Simpson called 20 U.S. telecasts for ESPN and Fox from 1997-2000 in addition to his Canadian work while Irvin has a single U.S.-only credit, Capitals-Canadiens in 1978 on the syndicated NHL Network.) Chris Cuthbert and Kyle Bukauskas round out the commentary team for this series.
Wednesday, May 10 - Red Sox at Braves (MLBN, 7:00) - MLB Network field reporter Jon Morosi completes the pass he started a week earlier, passing Gary Miller for sixth on the MLB sideline reporter list with his 127th such game. Verducci again handles color with Bob Costas on play-by-play this week.
Wednesday, May 10 - Maple Leafs at Panthers game 4 (CBC/SN, 7:00) - One Hockey Night in Canada stalwart moves past another as Craig Simpson passes Dick Irvin with his 1,040th NHL color commentary credit between the U.S. and Canada. Chris Cuthbert and Kyle Bukauskas round out the commentary team for this series, which went to a fifth game on Friday, May 12, but had no milestones in Canada that night.
Friday, May 12 - Panthers at Maple Leafs game 5 (TNT, 7:00) - Former NHL netminder Darren Pang, an Ontario native, passes longtime partner Dave Strader with his 718th American national commentary appearance. (See notes about this pairing in the May 7 entry.) Brendan Burke and Kathryn Tappen do the rest of the talking as the Panthers reach the Eastern Conference final.
Friday, May 12 - Oilers at Golden Knights game 5 (CBC-SN-SN1, 10:00) - Edmonton-based rinkside reporter Gene Principe calls his 237th national NHL telecast in Canada, matching Cassie Campbell-Pascall for 11th in our records. Harnarayan Singh and Louie DeBrusk staff the booth for a game with some unusual comings and goings – due to the Maple Leafs game earlier that evening running long, this contest started on Sportsnet One and West, with CBC and the rest of Sportsnet joining at 16:11 elapsed in the first period. At the end of the period, Sportsnet One broke away for Maple Leafs postgame coverage before rejoining at 7:36 elapsed in the second.
Friday, May 12 - Warriors at Lakers game 6 (ESPN, 10:00) - Mike Breen finishes his pass of Mike Emrick for the 10th-most play-by-play credits among our five main lists with game number 1,060. His color commentator, Jeff Van Gundy, works his 850th national NBA telecast, good for fourth overall and second by an analyst. Van Gundy is sixth among color commentators in the four major U.S. pro sports and 10th counting Canadian NHL analysts. Mark Jackson, whom we discussed earlier, and Lisa Salters, whom we are on pace to discuss next week, round out the crew.
Saturday, May 13 - Padres at Dodgers (Fox regional, 7:00) - A week after tying Steve Jones on the four-sport color commentary listings, John Smoltz assumes 17th place all by himself with his 495th game. Joe Davis leads the main Fox crew this week with Rosenthal on the field.
Sunday, May 14 - Golden Knights at Oilers (CBC-SN, 10:00) - Edmonton-based rinkside reporter Gene Principe moves into 11th in our records of national NHL rinkside reporters in Canada with his 238th game, sliding past Cassie Campbell-Pascall. (This game started at an unusually late hour for the lone game on a Sunday since U.S. rightsholder ESPN had to air Sunday Night Baseball. Since the SNB game, which airs north of the border via TSN simulcast, ran long, portions of this game may have aired on TSN as well when ESPN cut in.) Harnarayan Singh and Louie DeBrusk staff the booth.
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