Milestones:
Bob Costas called the 450th national MLB telecast of his career on Tuesday, July 2, in a Subway Series game between the Mets and Yankees. He's the 11th person to hit that plateau. The mark also comes in his 442nd game as a play-by-play announcer, matching Dizzy Dean for fifth-most on record. Analyst Jim Kaat and reporter Tom Verducci were on hand for the historic moment.
Tom Verducci, meanwhile, made his 350th national MLB appearance on Saturday in the Angels-Astros tilt. He becomes the 20th person to hit that mark, doing it with 186 games of color commentary and 164 games as the field reporter. Play-by-play man Don Orsillo and reporter Jon Morosi rounded out the telecast.
(We may again have as many as four milestones in this space next week, despite the All-Star Break.)
Database Updates:
In the process of scrubbing our MLB database to remove games that were scheduled but never played, we have removed four rainouts.
- August 21, 1954: Phillies-Dodgers on ABC (Dizzy Dean, Buddy Blattner)
- July 13, 1957: Reds-Dodgers on CBS (Dizzy Dean, Buddy Blattner)
- September 23, 1961: Orioles-White Sox on CBS (Dizzy Dean, Pee Wee Reese)
- May 6, 1962: Dodgers-Pirates on NBC (Bob Wolff, Joe Garagiola)
This drops Dean's total from 442 play-by-play games to 439 and from 445 total games to 442. Garagiola's figures fall by one, to 390 color and 645 total. Reese also decrements a single game to 335 appearances.
This Date In History:
Wednesday, July 10 saw two teams carry no-hitters into the seventh inning on national MLB telecasts in 2016. The Mets' Stephen Matz went 7.1 innings without allowing a National to reach safely on TBS; that evening, Madison Bumgarner blanked the Diamondbacks for 7.1 innings in Phoenix.
This week also has two no-hitters broken up in the ninth: Nolan Ryan on July 13, 1979, in a Yankees-Angels game on ABC, and five Padres pitchers against the Dodgers on July 9, 2011, on Fox.
This Week in the Tennis Section:
Second-week action at Wimbledon. The Big Three of Djokovic, Federer and Nadal lead the men's field, which is guaranteed an American in the quarterfinals. Six of the top 11 seeds are left on the women's side where the story has been 15-year-old phenom Coco Gauff.
This Week on the Playoff of Dreams:
The 1910 League Championship Series get underway with the Giants meeting the Cubs and the Athletics facing the Tigers.
The Week That Will Be:
Monday, July 8
No official national telecasts. Wimbledon round of 16 on ESPN and ESPN2. Home Run Derby on ESPN.
Tuesday, July 9
8:00a -- ESPN and ESPN2 -- Wimbledon: women's quarterfinals
10:00a -- ESPN and ESPN2 -- Wimbledon: women's quarterfinals
8:00 -- Fox -- MLB All-Star Game
Wednesday, July 10
8:00a -- ESPN and ESPN2 -- Wimbledon: men's quarterfinals
11:00a -- ESPN and ESPN2 -- Wimbledon: women's quarterfinals
Thursday, July 11
8:00a -- ESPN -- Wimbledon: women's semifinal
10:00a -- ESPN -- Wimbledon: women's semifinal
8:00 -- ESPN -- Astros at Rangers
Friday, July 12
8:00a -- ESPN -- Wimbledon: men's semifinal
11:00a -- ESPN -- Wimbledon: men's semifinal
7:00 -- ESPN -- DC United vs. Revolution
9:00 -- UniMas and UDN -- Dynamo vs. LAFC
11:00 -- UniMas and UDN -- Galaxy vs. Earthquakes
Saturday, July 13
9:00a -- ESPN -- Wimbledon: women's final
4:00 -- FS1 -- White Sox at Athletics
7:15 -- Fox -- Dodgers at Red Sox
7:15 -- Fox -- Giants at Brewers
7:15 -- Fox -- Nationals at Phillies
Sunday, July 14
9:00a -- ESPN -- Wimbledon: men's final
1:00 -- TBS -- Nationals at Phillies
4:00 -- ESPN -- Sounders vs. Atlanta United
6:30 -- FS1 -- Red Bulls vs. NYCFC
7:00 -- ESPN -- Dodgers at Red Sox
