It’s been, um, a few weeks since we last updated the list of announcer milestones in 2022.
With the end-of-year deadline approaching where Excel is soon going to force me to type “2022” to get a date in that year, the time to update that list seems to be now. As an added benefit, this gives us actual content to run through the blog and our assorted social media platforms as we work through what our site looks like once Twitter eventually self-destructs – an event that I think is coming, although I couldn’t begin to guess when.
By way of reminder, we track announcers in three categories, which I will probably refer to as “flavors” sometime in this post. You can be a play-by-play announcer, a color commentator, or a sideline reporter (also called a field, courtside or rinkside reporter). Following the established precedent in the listings community, an analyst who works from field level (popularized by Fox’s use of Tony Siragusa on the NFL) is credited as an analyst rather than a reporter.
We have five main listings — one for each of the four major pro sports (MLB, NFL, NBA and NHL) in the United States, plus a separate listing for the NHL in Canada. While I do track some collegiate announcers in terms of including them in the daily schedules, there isn’t a tabulator for them. All of these listings track only national network telecasts, not including teams’ local broadcasts, although there is occasionally some crossover when a local NHL feed is picked up0 in Canada.
On top of those listings, there are three sets of totals, which come from arithmetic sums of the previous five categories. These are a cumulative NHL total, a cumulative total across the four American lists, and a cumulative total across all four sports including Canada. The NHL totals don’t double-count a game shown on both sides of the 49th parallel – if your Canadian telecast is shown in America or vice versa, you get credit in each individual listing but only one game in the cumulative totals.
At this time, I don’t track studio personnel, although there is some blurring of the line between hosts and rinkside reporters in our old hockey data. The primary person affected by this is longtime CBC host Ron MacLean, who is credited with 545 host appearances through 1998 and has probably added another 1,000 over the last quarter-century.
Right now, soccer is in an in-between stage: its listings are almost complete over the last decade or so, but there’s enough fuzziness in prior years that I don’t feel good about adding the futbol to the football and other sports yet.
This list begins on Mothers’ Day because that’s about when we stopped posting regular updates. I picked Veterans Day (Armistice Day) as the cut-off date for what will be a two-part list, mostly because I needed a cutoff date – this thing is long enough as is – and secondarily because it’s right at a half-year from Mothers’ Day. And while the World War I was of course on November 11, the actual split here will come after November 13 since that’s the end of a week in our usual update structure.
More on the hosting of these listings and how you can submit changes or corrections will hopefully be coming in the next few days, but now, let’s get to the milestone log without further ado. Or Freddy Adu.
(Because this list is fairly long, checking in at close to 80 items and 5,500 words, the Find feature is probably your friend if you’re looking for a specific announcer.)
Monday, May 16 – The first of back-to-back days of Astros-Red Sox national telecasts allows Jim Kaat to tie Jeff Torborg on the national MLB color list with his 225th game, good for 15th place. Bob Costas and JP Morosi round out the MLB Network booth. Kaat completes the pass two nights later on a Mariners-Red Sox game with the same crew.
Tuesday, May 17 – Bob Costas uses the second game of the Astros-Red Sox series to tie Gord Miller at number 17 on the master play-by-play list with his 654th game. Jeff Francoeur and Heidi Watney work alongside Costas for TBS. Costas completes the pass with a Mariners-Red Sox game two nights later on MLB Network flanked by Kaat and Morosi.
Tuesday, May 17 – Greg Millen calls his 850th NHL game for Canada, Game 1 of the Lightning-Panthers Eastern Conference semifinal in Sunrise, Florida, alongside John Bartlett and Kyle Bukauskas. Millen is the ninth person to reach the 850 plateau. Six nights later, he becomes the fourth person to get to that mark on colour commentary with Game 4 of the same series in Tampa with the same crew.
Tuesday, May 17 – Darren Pang’s 722nd NHL telecast between the U.S. and Canada comes in Denver, where he calls Game 1 of the Avalanche-Blues second-round series on TNT with Brendan Burke, Shane Hnidy and Tarik El-Bashir. This completes a pass of Dave Strader for the 18th position on the joint U.S.-Canada NHL list, which began on Friday, May 13, when Pang pulled level.
Friday, May 20 – Kevin Harlan becomes the third person and play-by-play announcer to reach 1,300 U.S. national telecasts when he calls Game 2 of the Mavericks-Warriors Western Conference Final with Reggie Miller, Stan Van Gundy and Allie LaForce. He’s the seventh person and fifth play-by-play man to reach that mark including Canadian NHL commentators.
Friday, May 20 – Ray Ferraro moves up the joint U.S.-Canada NHL colo(u)r analyst list with his 370th game, Game 2 of a Rangers-Hurricanes second-round series in Raleigh alongside Sean McDonough and Emily Kaplan. The Friday game ties him for 15th place, alongside John Davidson, and Game 3 on Sunday, May 22 (in New York but otherwise with the same crew) completes the pass.
Friday, May 20 – Brian Boucher’s 363rd NHL telecast for the U.S. market ties Dan Kelly for 12th-most in our records. He ties the mark on Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinal, an Oilers-Flames game in Calgary alongside play-by-play man John Buccigross and rinkside reporter Leah Hextall, and completes the pass on Game 3 in Edmonton with Bob Wischusen swapped in for Buccigross. (The Kelly involved in this pass is the elder Dan Kelly, who passed in 1989, not his nephew of the same name, who is currently employed by the Big Ten Network et al.)
Saturday, May 21 – Louie DeBrusk becomes the 13th person to handle the national colour commentary for 300 Canadian NHL telecasts as he calls Game 3 of the Avalanche-Blues series from St. Louis alongside Harnarayan Singh and Dan Murphy. Including American NHL telecasts, he is the 20th pundit to reach that mark.
Saturday, May 21 – Mark Jackson is the eighth person to call 650 national NBA telecast and the fourth analyst to get to that mark. He does so with Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final between the Heat and Celtics in Boston alongside Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy and Malika Andrews. Jackson is the 10th analyst to 650 games in the four major U.S. listings and 16th including Canadian NHL pundits.
Saturday, May 21 – Ken Rosenthal ties Jon Miller on the list of total MLB telecasts with his 625th appearance, a sideline gig alongside Adam Amin and A.J. Pierzynski at Oracle Park for Padres-Giants. Rosenthal passes Miller for sixth outright a week later at Phillies-Mets alongside Joe Davis and John Smoltz.
Monday, May 23 – Not to be outdone by his broadcast partner, Jeff Van Gundy calls his 800th national NBA telecast, becoming the sixth person to that total and the second analyst (trailing Hubie Brown). This is Game 4 of the Heat-Celtics series with Breen, Jackson and Lisa Salters. The game is also Mike Breen’s 1,017th broadcast of a major pro sport, which ties Al Michaels for number nine overall and number eight among U.S. play-by-play announcers. In Canada, the figures are 16th overall and 11th on PBP with Danny Gallivan also included in the tie. Michaels completes the pass on Wednesday, May 25, with Game 5 of the series.
Tuesday, May 24 – Versatile multi-sport announcer Kenny Albert becomes the fourth person to call 1,250 games of play-by-play across the four major American sports in our records; he is the sixth person to reach that mark including Canada. The game that gives him that mark is Game 4 of the Panthers-Lightning second-round series with Ed Olczyk, Keith Jones and Nabil Karim.
Thursday, May 26 – Reggie Miller becomes the 10th NBA broadcaster to call 600 games and the sixth analyst to reach that mark as he calls Game 5 of the Western Conference final between the Mavericks and Warriors, which ends up being TNT’s last telecast of the season, alongside Kevin Harlan, Stan Van Gundy and Allie LaForce. Miller is also the 13th analyst in the four major U.S. listings and 18th including Canadian NHL pundits.
Saturday, May 28 – Tom Verducci’s color appearance on Guardians-Tigers breaks a tie with Orel Hershiser for the 13th-most analyst games at 229. Brandon Gaudin partners with Verducci.
Sunday, May 29 – While filling in for Jason Benetti on Peacock’s MLB Sunday Leadoff, Jon Miller calls his 626th national MLB game, tying Rosenthal for number 6 on the overall list with a Giants-Reds game alongside Barry Larkin, Shawn Estes and Ahmed Fareed. This facilitates another Rosenthal pass on June 4, working Angels-Phillies with Davis and Smoltz.
Monday, May 30 – Ferraro works for an American network and moves up a list in Canada as Sportsnet lifts ESPN’s feed of Game 7 in the Rangers-Hurricanes series. The telecast is Ferraro’s 312th to the Canadian audience, matching Gary Dornhoefer for 11th on the list of colour commentators as he works with Sean McDonough and Emily Kaplan. He completes the pass in the 2022-23 season opener, a Lightning-Rangers tilt on Oct. 11 with the same crew.
Tuesday, May 31 – Ron Darling becomes the 27th person to call 300 national MLB telecasts as he handles Angels-Yankees alongside Matt Winer and Kelly Crull. His 300th color appearance is the following Tuesday on a Dodgers-White Sox game alongside Brian Anderson and Hazel Mae.
Tuesday, May 31 – Chris Cuthbert becomes the third person to call play-by-play of 1,200 NHL telecasts across both sides of the 49th parallel, hitting that mark with Game 1 of the Oilers-Avalanche Western Conference Final in Denver. He is the seventh PBP announcer to record 1,200 appearances including the MLB, NFL and NBA listings. Craig Simpson and Kyle Bukauskas join him for the milestone game.
Thursday, June 2 – Tom Verducci ties Dan Shulman for the 12th-most national telecasts in our MLB records, working his 461st game as the Yankees host the Angels. Adnan Virk handles play-by-play and Morosi is on the field. Verducci completes the pass six days later on a Mets-Padres game with the same crew.
Sunday, June 5 – Lisa Salters ties Cheryl Miller with her 444th national NBA telecast, creating a tie at no. 15 on the total list (Miller worked as both a color commentator and sideline reporter for TBS and TNT). The milestone game is Game 2 of the NBA Finals between the Warriors and Celtics alongside Breen, Jeff Van Gundy and Jackson; Salters completes the pass with Game 3 on June 8 with the same crew.
Saturday, June 11 – Emily Kaplan matches Darren Pang’s mark of 48 American telecasts as an NHL rinkside reporter, which is good for 10th in our records. Kaplan pulls level on Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final, a Rangers-Lightning clash, and passes Pang with Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on June 15 as the Lightning visit the Avalanche. Both games have McDonough on PBP and Ferraro as the analyst.
Saturday, June 11 – Verducci continues his move up the MLB rankings, matching John Smoltz for 11th on the total list with 463 games as he calls Athletics-Guardians with Kevin Kugler. Three hours and change later, Smoltz breaks the tie with his 464th game, Cubs-Yankees with Davis.
Sunday, June 12 – Buster Olney becomes the 28th MLB broadcaster with 300 national appearances as he reports from the field on the Mets-Angels Sunday Night game with Karl Ravech, David Cone and Eduardo Perez in the booth.
Monday, June 13 – Jeff Van Gundy ties Tim McCarver with his 807th national telecast as an analyst, which joins the men at sixth on the U.S. master list and 10th including the Canadian NHL commentators. The game in question is Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Celtics and Warriors with Breen, Jackson and Salters; Van Gundy completes the pass on Wednesday, June 15, with Game 6 involving the same crew.
Saturday, June 18 – David Amber ties Al Morganti for 18th place on the joint American-Canadian NHL rinkside reporters list when he covers Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Lightning and Avalanche alongside Cuthbert, Simpson and Bukauskas. He will complete the pass three nights later on Game 3 of the series with the same crew.
Monday, June 20 – Verducci again ties Smoltz for 11th place on the MLB total list, this time with 465 games, as he calls Cardinals-Brewers with Brandon Gaudin. He completes the pass with Nationals-Rangers, also alongside Gaudin, on Saturday the 25th, only for Smoltz to re-tie him with Dodgers-Braves later that evening.
Friday, June 24 – Kaplan moves up the U.S. NHL sideline reporter list into ninth place, tying Scott Wahle with game number 53 (Game 5 of the Lightning-Avalanche series in Colorado) and passing him with game number 54 (Game 6 of the same series two nights later in Tampa). McDonough and Ferraro were the booth crew for each game.
Saturday, July 2 – Verducci passes Smoltz for #11 on the total MLB list with game number 466, an Athletics-Mariners contest in Seattle paired with Aaron Goldsmith. Smoltz ties him with game 467, Padres-Dodgers, later that evening with Davis and Rosenthal.
Saturday, July 9 – Verducci passes Smoltz for #11 on the total MLB list again, this time with game number 467 alongside Alex Faust for a Rays-Reds game in Cincinnati. Smoltz has the night off.
Wednesday, July 13 – JP Morosi ties Tim Kurkjian for seventh on the list of MLB national-telecast sideline reporters when he makes his 115th appearance in that category, a Dodgers-Cardinals game with Matt Vasgersian and Tom Verducci. He completes the pass with a Dodgers-Giants game alongside Vasgersian and Pence on Aug. 4.
Saturday, July 16 – Verducci ties Red Sox announcer Dave O’Brien with his 471st national MLB telecast, a Tigers-Guardians game with Kenny Albert on the weekend before the All-Star break. The pair enter the break tied for 10th until Verducci breaks the tie by reporting from the field at the All-Star Game three days later with Davis, Smoltz and Rosenthal.
Thursday, July 21 – Olney becomes the second MLB sideline reporter to reach 300 national telecasts when he handles the Giants-Dodgers game along with Ravech and Perez. He’s also the 11th sideline reporter to reach that plateau in the four major U.S. sports and the 20th including Canadian NHL reporters.
Saturday, July 30 – Rosenthal ties Joe Buck for the last spot in baseball’s top 5 national commentators, working his 637th game alongside Goldsmith and Verducci as the Cardinals visit the Nationals. He finishes the pass a week later on a Yankees-Cardinals game with Goldsmith and Smoltz.
Saturday, July 30 – Kenny Albert calls his 400th game of national MLB play-by-play, becoming the 10th person with those credentials, when the Pirates meet the Phillies on Fox’s Baseball Night in America. Eric Karros is the analyst.
Thursday, Aug. 11 – Lead Fox MLB analyst John Smoltz calls his 471st national telecast as the Cubs and Reds square off at the Field of Dreams movie site in Dyersville, Iowa, tying him with O’Brien for number 11 on the MLB total list. Joining Smoltz are Davis, Rosenthal and Verducci. His 472nd game, passing O’Brien, is Saturday, Aug. 20 as the Braves host the Astros with Amin on play-by-play alongside Rosenthal on the field.
Monday, Aug. 15 – Verducci’s 247th game as an MLB color commentator matches Steve Lyons for 12th on that list. Gaudin joins Verducci for an Astros-White Sox tilt at the oldest active MLB stadium, Fenway Park. Verducci passes Lyons the following Saturday on a Mets-Phillies affair with Don Orsillo.
Thursday, Aug. 18 – Less than four weeks after his Baseball Hall of Fame induction, Kaat ties Orel Hershiser with his 228th national MLB broadcast as an analyst. With Bob Costas in COVID protocols, Matt Vasgersian handles play-by-play of the Blue Jays-Yankees game with Morosi on the field. The morning of the game, Kaat announces that the broadcast will be his last, ending a major-league career that started in 1959 with the Washington Senators.
Saturday, Aug. 20 – While finishing his pass of Dave O’Brien (see Aug. 11), Smoltz ties Phil Simms for the 19th-most color-commentary appearances across the four major U.S. pro sports with his 472nd game, Astros-Braves with Amin and Rosenthal. He finishes the pass of Simms a week later on a Braves-Cardinals game with Goldsmith and Rosenthal.
Wednesday, Aug. 24 – Verducci becomes the 12th person to handle color commentary for 250 national MLB telecasts when he breaks down the White Sox-Orioles game on FS1 alongside Gaudin.
Friday, Sept. 2 – The Marlins-Braves telecast on Apple TV+, helmed by Melanie Newman with Carlos Pena, Russell Dorsey and Tricia Whitaker, is the 6,000th national (as opposed to regional) MLB telecast in our database.
Thursday, Sept. 8 – The NFL’s season opener provides the platform for Cris Collinsworth to facilitate a tie for fifth place on the football analyst list, calling his 427th game to match Paul Maguire’s mark. Mike Tirico calls the Bills-Rams game with Melissa Stark on the sidelines, with Tirico passing Charlie Jones for #20 on the master U.S. play-by-play list of the four major pro sports in his 527th appearance. Three nights later, Collinsworth passes Maguire with his 428th game, working with the same crew on Buccaneers-Cowboys.
Sunday, Sept. 11 – A season-long game of leapfrog kicks off as Kenny Albert calls the Saints-Falcons game for Fox alongside Jonathan Vilma and Shannon Spake. The Sunday afternoon game is his 459th, tying Troy Aikman for #13 on the total NFL list. On Monday night, Aikman breaks the tie as he calls the Broncos-Seahawks game on ABC with Joe Buck and Salters. The tie-untie proceeds to happen every week through Jan. 1-2 with Albert leveling the score and Aikman pulling back ahead. I’m not going to note it every time.
Sunday, Sept. 11 – Kevin Harlan passes Phil Simms for no. 11 on the list of NFL telecast announcers, pulling ahead of him at 473 games with the Raiders-Chargers tilt alongside Trent Green and Melanie Collins.
Monday, Sept. 12 – The newly-minted voice of Monday Night Football, Joe Buck, ties Harry Neale with his 1,074th game in all of our listings, the Broncos-Seahawks tilt on ABC with Aikman and Salters. He finishes the pass the next week on Vikings-Eagles with the same crew.
Thursday, Sept. 15 – In the opening NFL game on Amazon Prime, play-by-play voice Al Michaels breaks a tie with Gallivan for 17th place on our master total list and 12th place on the master play-by-play list when he calls his 1,018th game. Michaels worked with Kirk Herbstreit and Kaylee Hartung.
Thursday, Sept. 22 – The other regional game on Baseball Night is Red Sox-Yankees, where Rosenthal’s 645th national MLB telecast ties Joe Garagiola for fifth overall. Amin and Smoltz hold down the booth. Rosenthal will pass Garagiola on Saturday, Oct. 1, with a Mets-Braves game also called by Goldsmith and Smoltz.
Sunday, Sept. 25 – Tracy Wolfson becomes the fifth NFL sideline reporter to work 200 games on national television, reaching that plateau with the lead CBS booth of Jim Nantz and Tony Romo as the Chiefs visit the Colts.
Sunday, Sept. 25 – Eduardo Perez matches Kaat and Hershiser with his 228th national MLB telecast as an analyst, briefly creating a three-way tie for 14th place on that list. The ESPN Sunday Night Baseball crew of Ravech, Cone and Olney joins Perez on both the tying game, Red Sox-Yankees, and the passing game, Mets-Braves a week later.
Sunday, Sept. 25 – Chris Myers becomes the 22nd NFL commentator to appear on 350 national telecasts when he calls Falcons-Seahawks in Seattle. Myers has, of course, split time between play-by-play and sideline reporting; he is doing the former here, alongside Robert Smith and Jen Hale.
Saturday, Oct. 8 – Olney ties Ahmad Rashad for the 10th-most sideline appearances across the four major U.S. pro sports and the 19th-most including Canadian NHL reporters when he covers the first game of the Padres-Mets wild card playoff, his 314th career appearance, alongside Ravech, Cone and Perez. Game 2 the next day marks his 315th sideline gig and completes the pass.
Sunday, Oct. 9 – Erin Andrews pulls into a tie for 16th place with Brian McFarlane on the overall sideline reporter list with her 377th game, a Cowboys-Rams game on Fox with Kevin Burkhardt, Greg Olsen and Tom Rinaldi. She completes the pass with a Jets-Packers game a week later.
Tuesday, Oct. 11 – Ray Ferraro uses the occasion of ESPN’s 2022-23 NHL season opener to slide into 15th on the list of U.S. NHL color commentators, tying Mike Milbury and A.J. Mleczko with his 108th such game. Play-by-play voice McDonough is alongside him with Kaplan downstairs at the World’s Most Famous Arena, Madison Square Garden, for a Lightning-Rangers affair.
Wednesday, Oct. 12 – In the second half of TNT’s season-opening NHL doubleheader, lead play-by-play voice Kenny Albert calls his 400th national telecast of that sport, becoming the 10th announcer and fifth PBP person to reach that mark in the U.S.; including Canada, he’s the 13th play-by-play voice to reach 400 NHL games. He narrates a Blackhawks-Avalanche game alongside Olczyk and Jones in analyst chairs and Jackie Redmond rinkside.
Thursday, Oct. 13 – Because two NHL milestones in two nights was not enough, Ferraro eases past Milbury and Mleczko as he picks up his 109th U.S. analyst credit, reaching 14th place where he promptly creates another tie with Jim Schoenfeld. Buccigross calls play-by-play and Kaplan is rinkside for Devils-Flyers in Philadelphia.
Saturday, Oct. 15 – DeBrusk ties Dornhoefer for 12th on the Canadian NHL colour listing with his 312th game, a Flames-Oilers contest in Edmonton alongside Singh and Scott Oake. In his next game, Sabres-Oilers the following Tuesday alongside Jack Michaels and Gene Principe, he passes Dornhoefer and ties Ferraro at 313. Finally, on Oct. 22, DeBrusk pulls clear of Ferraro into 11th place outright with game 314 alongside Michaels and Principe.
Saturday, Oct. 15 – Rosenthal becomes the fifth MLB commentator to call 650 games when he reports from the field of Game 4 in the Braves-Phillies National League Division Series. Davis and Smoltz round out the crew. His 650th sideline appearance comes three days later on Game 1 of the Phillies-Padres NLCS with Davis, Smoltz and Verducci. The difference between those two milestones is a MLB Network telecast of the Padres-Athletics game on Aug. 4, 2021, where Rosenthal appeared in the network’s studio and is credited with an analyst appearance. The sideline mark is also the second-best in the four major U.S. pro sports, trailing Craig Sager, and fourth-most including Canadian NHL listings, also trailing Scott Oake and Dave Hodge.
Sunday, Oct. 16 – Harlan calls his 1,309th game in our listings, which ties Jim Hughson for sixth across the board and fourth on our list of play-by-play announcers. He effects the tie by calling Patriots-Browns on CBS with Trent Green and Melanie Collins, then finishes the pass on the later half of TNT’s NBA season-opening doubleheader, Lakers-Warriors, two days later with Miller and Stephanie Ready.
Sunday, Oct. 16 – The dean of NFL sideline reporters, Pam Oliver, works her 492nd national telecast as the Buccaneers-Steelers game with Gaudin on the call and Daryl Johnston doing color. That pulls Oliver into a tie with Dick Enberg for ninth on the NFL total list. She passes Enberg on the Packers-Commanders game with Amin and Johnston a week later.
Tuesday, Oct. 18 – We managed to go four days without an American NHL milestone, albeit all days with no national telecasts scheduled. As the Flyers hit the road and visit the Lightning, A.J. Mleczko calls her 109th national telecast, breaking a tie with Milbury for no. 16 on the analyst list and joining Ferraro and Schoenfeld in a tie for no. 14.
Wednesday, Oct. 19 – Jeff Van Gundy ties Tim McCarver for 18th on the master U.S. total list with an 809th national appearance, which comes on a Knicks-Grizzlies opener alongside Breen and Salters. Two days later, he works a Celtics-Heat game with Ryan Ruocco and Cassidy Hubbarth and passes McCarver while tying Brian Engblom on the same list with 910. Finally, on Wednesday, Oct. 26, a Nets-Bucks game with Mark Jones and Monica McNutt gives Van Gundy 17th place outright.
Friday, Oct. 21 – Ferraro’s 110th American NHL telecast leaves him alone in 14th place, passing Mleczko and Schoenfeld on a Battle of Florida between the Lightning and Panthers. On the same telecast, Kaplan ties Billy Jaffe for eighth on the rinkside reporter list with her 58th appearance. Buccigross handles play-by-play. Kaplan completes the pass of Jaffe with her 59th game, Ducks-Red Wings, alongside Steve Levy and Boucher two days later.
Friday, Oct. 21 – Jeff Van Gundy matches Craig Sager’s career total of 810 national NBA telecasts, which stands as a tie for fifth on record behind Marv Albert, Hubie Brown, Breen and Harlan. The Celtics-Heat telecast on ESPN comes with play-by-play man Ruocco and sideliner Hubbarth. He completes the pass of Sager on Oct. 26’s Nets-Bucks game between Jones and McNutt.
Friday, Oct. 21 – Verducci ties Bob Harwood for the 13th-most sideline appearances in the four major U.S. pro sports with his 240th such appearance, Game 3 of the Padres-Phillies National League Championship Series. Davis, Smoltz and Rosenthal are also on hand.
Saturday, Oct. 22 – Jack Edwards hits 300 on the Canadian NHL play-by-play list, making him the 17th person to that milestone. His Bruin linemates, color commentator Andy Brickley and rinkside reporter Sophia Jurksztowicz, join him as Sportsnet lifts the NESN feed of a Bruins-Wild visit to St. Paul.
Saturday, Oct. 22 – On the same night that DeBrusk completes his pass of Ferraro (see Oct. 15), rinkside man Gene Principe ties Al Trautwig for 15th on the binational NHL rinkside list with his 190th game, Blues-Oilers. Michaels handles play-by-play. Michaels and DeBrusk are also on the call for the Penguins-Oilers game two nights later that sees Principe complete the pass.
Saturday, Oct. 22 – Game 4 of the Phillies-Padres National League Championship Series is Verducci’s 497th national MLB telecast, which ties Costas for ninth-most on record. It’s also his 241st sideline appearance, passing Bob Harwood for the 13th-most in the four major U.S. pro sports. Game 5 the following night marks his 498th game, passing Costas. Davis, Smoltz and Rosenthal are also on hand.
Saturday, Oct. 22 – Veteran Hockey Night in Canada reporter Scott Oake handles rinkside reporting duty for his 1200th national telecast in that country. He is the fifth commentator to reach that mark in some flavor in Canada, the sixth including U.S. NHL listings and the 10th across the five major listings. Oake also becomes the first sideline/courtside/rinkside reporter across all of our listings to get to that plateau. The Sabres host the Canucks with John Shorthouse and John Garrett in the booth.
Sunday, Oct. 23 – Greg Gumbel calls his 426th NFL telecast, working with Adam Archuleta and A.J. Ross to tie Paul Maguire for the number-18 spot on the NFL total list as the Raiders host the Texans. He completes the pass a week later with an AFC South matchup between the Texans and Titans.
Monday, Oct. 24 – Dan Murphy ties Al Trautwig to reach 16th place on the list of NHL rinkside reporters between the U.S. and Canada with his 190th game, a Hurricanes-Canucks tilt with Shorthouse and Garrett in the booth. Murphy finishes the pass four nights later when the Penguins visit with the same broadcast crew.
Friday, Oct. 28 – Boucher reaches a tie with Levy for no. 11 on the total American NHL listing, working on color for the Jets-Coyotes contest in Arizona alongside Buccigross and Hextall. That game is his 370th; the 371st, passing Levy for 11th place outright, comes in the Nov. 4 entry below. Serendipitously, that same number allows Boucher to tie and then pass Davidson for no. 16 on the two-country NHL analyst list.
Saturday, Oct. 29 – Another HNIC stalwart hits a big number as Cuthbert calls his 1100th NHL telecast to the Canadian audience, becoming the third person to that mark behind Bob Cole and Jim Hughson. Craig Simpson and Shawn McKenzie join Cuthbert for the Maple Leafs’ visit to Hollywood to meet the Kings.
Saturday, Oct. 29 – Verducci calls his 500th national MLB telecast, Game 2 of the Phillies-Astros World Series, which makes him the ninth person to reach that plateau. Davis and Smoltz anchor the booth with Rosenthal also reporting from the field.
Sunday, Oct. 30 – CBS sideline reporter Evan Washburn ties Suzy Kolber for ninth on the NFL sideline list with his 159th appearance, coming alongside Ian Eagle and Charles Davis at the Patriots-Jets affair. He completes the pass a week later with another Jets home game, this time against the Bills.
Monday, Oct. 31 – Buck calls his 1,083rd game in the four major U.S. pro sports, which ties Mike Emrick for sixth-most on record. The game is a Bengals-Browns Battle of Ohio with Aikman and Salters. He passes Emrick with the next week’s game, Ravens-Saints with the same crew.
Tuesday, Nov. 1 – A Bruins-Penguins contest at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh allows Ferraro to tie Dale Tallon as the 13th-most-common national NHL color commentator in the U.S. market. His 113th game comes alongside McDonough and Kaplan, while the 114th (which gives him 13th place outright) is Bruins-Rangers two nights later with Wischusen and Kaplan.
Friday, Nov. 4 – The Sabres-Hurricanes matchup in North Carolina’s Research Triangle is Brian Boucher’s 371st national NHL telecast, which breaks his tie with Steve Levy and gives him 11th place outright on the total list. Serendipitously, that same number allows Boucher to pass Davidson for no. 16 on the two-country NHL analyst list. The other analyst in the 3-person booth, A.J. Mleczko, calls her 110th game, moving into 15th place on the color listing and leaving Schoenfeld in a sort of donut hole between her and Milbury. Buccigross calls play-by-play.
Friday, Nov. 4 – Breen is the third NBA announcer to call his 1,000th national telecast, handling a Bulls-Celtics contest in Boston alongside Doris Burke and Hubbarth. Only Marv Albert and Hubie Brown have worked more games, and Brown is an analyst.
Saturday, Nov. 5 – Craig Simpson becomes the 11th NHL commentator of any flavour to call 1,000 national telecasts between the U.S. and Canada when he handles analysis of a Bruins-Maple Leafs clash in Toronto. He is the 20th person to reach 1,000 games across all five of our major listings. Cuthbert and Bukauskas round out the crew.
Saturday, Nov. 12 – Cuthbert calls his 1,350th NHL telecast between rinkside work and play-by-play when he leads a Sportsnet crew of Simpson and Bukauskas for a Canucks-Maple Leafs game. He is the third NHL broadcaster to that plateau, joining Bob Cole and Pierre McGuire (plus Ron MacLean if you count his studio work), and fifth person to reach 1,350 games in our five major listings (also joining Dick Stockton and Marv Albert). Simpson handles his 1,000th game of NHL colour commentary between the U.S. and Canada, which makes him the fifth person to reach the millennial mark in that category and the sixth when you include the other U.S. sports. Kyle Bukauskas becomes the 26th person in our records to call 300 national NHL telecasts for Canada and the ninth person to reach that clip as a rinkside reporter; on the latter list, he also ranks 10th between American and Canadian telecasts.
Sunday, Nov. 13 – Levy extracts a measure of revenge on Boucher, coming from behind to tie him for no. 11 on the total U.S. NHL listing with his 372nd game (Capitals-Lightning in Tampa). Ferraro and Kaplan round out the crew.
We’ll return shortly after the first of the year with the last seven weeks worth of announcer milestones; although the balance of the year is largely scheduled at this point, we’ll wait to post the milestones until after the fact in case there are last-minute substitutions.
