White Sox will play in two of ESPN's 11 opening-week games the first week of April, with Cubs not includedGetty Images
ESPN has scheduled the White Sox to open the '21 season of "Sunday Night Baseball," perhaps "signaling a shift in national perceptions about Chicago's baseball teams," according to Phil Rosenthal of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. The White Sox are set to play in two of ESPN's 11 opening-week games in the first week of April while the Cubs, "long an ESPN darling, are not included at all." The White Sox in August made their first "SNB" appearance since '13, but that game against the Indians was a "last-minute replacement" for a Cubs game postponed after several Cardinals players tested positive for COVID-19. The White Sox this past season advanced to the postseason for the first time since '08 (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 11/20).
STILL TOO RAW? On Long Island, Tim Healey notes the Mets' first game under new owner Steve Cohen "will not be on SNY," as ESPN "exclusively will broadcast" the team's Opening Day matchup against the Nationals. That "leaves open the possibility that ESPN analyst Alex Rodriguez -- who tried hard to buy the Mets" -- will be in the broadcast booth. ESPN last season "kept Rodriguez off of Mets games to avoid the conflict of interest." But ESPN said that Rodriguez "will be eligible to call Mets games" next season (NEWSDAY, 11/20).
