A scheduled doubleheader the following day prompted the Yankees to request moving the Sunday night gameGETTY IMAGES
Some "saber rattling from the Yankees, a firm nudge by Commissioner Rob Manfred and ESPN’s wariness over a potential public-relations mess all conspired" yesterday to "create an unsurprising reversal: the network giving up" a July 8 Yankees-Blue Jays game on "Sunday Night Baseball," according to Billy Witz of the N.Y. TIMES. ESPN "will instead broadcast" Dodgers-Angels that Sunday. Yankees President Randy Levine said, “We’re thankful to Commissioner Manfred for coming up with a common sense solution.” Though the Blue Jays "understood the Yankees' predicament, they had been excited to play on a national stage -- even in a season that has become increasingly desultory for them." The Blue Jays, who began yesterday 14½ games out of first place in the AL East, have "not played on Sunday Night Baseball since 1999, according to ESPN." Blue Jays CF Kevin Pillar said, “It would have been nice a couple of years ago when we were the best team in baseball. It was hard to get an ESPN crew up here for a game" (N.Y. TIMES, 6/6). On Long Island, Erik Boland writes ESPN "blinked." Boland: "Caved might describe it even better" (NEWSDAY, 6/6). In N.Y., Christian Red writes, "The Worldwide Leader in Sports got big-footed by the Yankees," whose manager Aaron Boone was "clearly pleased with the end result." He said, “That’s obviously really good news.” July 8 is also when ESPN is "scheduled to broadcast its All-Star selection show" at 7:00pm ET, and by "having the Yankees play in the Sunday night game, viewers might have been enticed to tune in to the All-Star selection show in greater numbers." But if Angels P/DH Shohei Ohtani pitches that Sunday night, ESPN "could have an equally impressive showcase player to offer its viewers" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 6/6).
PRECEDENT SET? Red Sox President & CEO Sam Kennedy said, "MLB and ESPN did the right thing. ... We are both fortunate to play on ESPN on the national stage but everyone understands why this change was made" (BOSTON HERALD, 6/6). In N.Y., Andrew Marchand notes despite Kennedy's thoughts on the matter, other members of the Red Sox "were not" happy with the change. Red Sox manager Alex Cora, a former ESPN analyst, said that "in the future other teams should be able to move off Sunday night if they protest." Cora said, “If they do that, then sometime down the road when somebody has to do it, too. It’s going to come up and, if they do it for one team, they have to do it for everybody” (N.Y. POST, 6/6). In Boston, Nick Cafardo writes the Red Sox have "had tough scheduling issues in the past," but MLB has "not bailed them out too often" (BOSTON GLOBE, 6/6).
TWITTER REAX: Twitter commentators were quick to characterize ESPN's decision as a Yankees win. NBCSports.com's Craig Calcaterra: "Yankees win . . . thhhhhuuuh Yankees win." Yahoo Sports MLB: "The Yankees defeated ESPN on Tuesday. It was a blowout." Baseball podcaster Barry Davis: "Just like that, MLB gives in." L.A. Times' Bill Shaikin: "So the Yankees gave L.A. another Dodgers broadcast on free TV." The Athletic's Lindsey Adler: "I know the Yankees haven’t accrued much sympathy in recent lifetimes but ESPN pulling that move against any team would have been bullshit from a player safety standpoint. ... Can’t wait to tell my children where I was when the great Yankees Fans vs. Not-Yankees Fans War of ESPN Sunday Night Scheduling began."
