Sunday's Yankees-Orioles game, in which Cal Ripken
ended his MLB-record consecutive games played streak, was
originally scheduled to be the final Sunday night MLB game
on ESPN, but MLB reclaimed the final three Sunday night
games when ESPN tried to move them to ESPN2 due to its NFL
commitment. ESPN spokesperson Mike Soltys told the AP: "We
remain disappointed we weren't able to bring this game to 60
million homes on ESPN2." The game was seen in N.Y. and MD
on MSG Network and HTS, respectively (Josh DuBow, AP, 9/21).
In N.Y., Peter Botte wrote that ESPN, which featured the
NFL's "lowly" Eagles and Cardinals, was "perhaps the biggest
loser" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 9/21). In Dallas, Bill Campbell
writes under the header "By Audibling Out Of Baseball, ESPN
Passes On History" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 9/22). On L.I.,
Steve Zipay calls Sunday "a missed opportunity for both
baseball and ESPN." ESPN will air a Ripken special, called
"He Came To Play," tonight at 7:30pm ET (NEWSDAY, 9/22).
ESPN RESPONDS ON ANDRO SPOTS: A commercial for
androstenedione will air today on ESPN, the first national
TV spot for the product, and Paul Tharp of the N.Y. POST
writes that "parental complaints are expected." Cards 1B
Mark McGwire, who is a "regular user" of andro, "isn't
involved in the commercial and doesn't appear in it" (N.Y.
POST, 9/22). ESPN Communications Coordinator Dean Diltz
said the spot will air during ESPN's "Muscle Magazine" at
2:30pm, and that andro is only one of three products being
advertised as part of a training package in the spot.
Diltz: "These are legal products." ESPN plans to air the
spots during bodybuilding programming only (THE DAILY).
