The WORST BASEBALL BROADCASTING DECISION in ESPN HISTORY
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- čas přidán 19. 04. 2023
- In 1991, ESPN had two options for a Wednesday Night Baseball game, as they could've gone with either the game between the Detroit Tigers and the Kansas City Royals, or the game between the Texas Rangers and the Toronto Blue Jays. And after initially choosing Rangers/Blue Jays, they changed their mind, and wound up choosing very poorly. This is the story behind ESPN's controversial broadcasting decision in 1991
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#espn #mlb #baseball #1991 #rangers #bluejays #tv #sports #highlights #espnbaseball #mlbhighlights #mlbhistory #tigers #royals
The minute I saw Nolan Ryan I knew EXACTLY what game this was
Took me until the opponent, but same, lol
I knew that he was likely talking about a no-hitter. The very moment he showed Nolan Ryan, I knew it was one of his No-Hitters!!!
His only other highlight after the 7th no hitter was beating up Robin Ventura when Ventura charged the mound.
ME TOO!!
fun fact about this game:
a high school freshman baseball player got tix for the game from his coach, was able to convince his dad (who was tired after a long day of work), to take him to the game.
that kid? kerry wood (not kidding, really happened, kerry mentioned it in an interview around 1999).
Very cool! Almost exactly seven years later Kerry himself would pitch one of the best games ever!
"ESPN made a bad broadcadting decision".
Me, a hockey fan: Welcome to the club, folks!
Edit: Bobby did what any manager would do. Why bring unnecessary attention before the game?
They always canceled Whalers games
Interesting tidbit about that Rangers game: It wasn't televised at all in DFW, until the 9th inning illegally by local NBC5 who got in A LOT of trouble for doing so.
You know what's even funnier? The game in 1993 that had THAT confrontation between Nolan and one Mr Robin Ventura ALSO wasn't televised locally.
@@rowdycmoore are you sure? Pretty sure I watched it in a local bar here in DFW.
@@chuckgan It was against the White Sox, so you might have been watching it on WGN. I distinctly remember it was not carried locally on KTVT or HSE, who televised the Rangers back then. I remember this all too painfully because I got tickets for the game the previous night - Kenny Rogers got knocked for 11 runs and didn't even make it out of the 2nd inning.
Maybe that could be a future JG7 story. He could talk about NBC5’s illegal 9th inning broadcast of the game.
Didn't KXAS/NBC 5 hold the over the air TV rights that season and carried about 40 Texas Rangers' games (half of them home and the other half being away) wish HSE carrying about 115 other games?
I remember seeing the news on SportsCenter as a kid of the No Hitter, but never knew the story. Thanks for this.
Even putting aside the Nolan Ryan factor, this was a dumb decision on ESPN's part. The Blue Jays were one of baseball's premier teams at the time, and the Rangers were better than both the Tigers and the Royals in both 1990 and 1991.
Not only was this not on American national TV, the Rangers also didn't commission a telecast for it. It aired in most of Canada on CTV (I'm assuming Montréal was blacked out) and an independent station here in the Tampa Bay Area, WTMV (now WMOR-TV) took CTV's feed due to our snowbirds.
It was definitely on CTV that night, at least in Ottawa. I'll never forget it, although in my mind I thought it was a Friday for some reason. The reason I'll never forget is because I went to my friend Scott's place. After a short time, he says let's go somewhere and he wanted to go to a strip club nearby. I'm not into that so I didn't want to, thinking there's better things to do and places to go than a strip club. I went anyway, probably dragged more than anything. At the club, they were showing the game, of course while naked women are dancing around. I notice that the Jays don't have a hit in the late innings so I got my eyes on the game more than the women. It was the third and last time in my life I went to a strip club. All three times it was army buddies who took me there. The first time in Kingston, I had just turned 19 and the first naked woman I ever saw in the flesh was dancing to "Betty Davis Eyes" so every time I hear that song, guess where my mind goes to. A few times since then, I've told someone I remember the exact date I last was at a strip club: May 1, 1991 the day Nolan Ryan pitched a no-hitter against the Blue Jays.
@@pierrelevasseur2701 great story!
Over in New York City, the Yankees was played on WPIX-TV (channel 11) and the Mets was on WWOR-TV (channel 9), both of these local teams were played, and for the Yankees booth, Phil Rizzuto, the “Holy Cow” guy was doing play-by-play, and on the Mets booth, Ralph Kiner was doing play-by-play. These were done on local NYC TV stations that were independent, and not carried the network, and no blackouts were allowed there.
Good thing this game aired nationally (not sure about Montreal though but was available in Ottawa) on CTV. Had this story occurred the next season, only a small percentage of Canadian would have seen this game because CTV lost the national rights to select Blue Jays games to Baton Broadcasting's Ontario Plus (or something like that) network. CFTO in Toronto was the flagship station and other Baton owned stations in Ottawa, London, and I believe Northern Ontario were part of this 'network. Luckily in 1993, viewers in Saskatchewan were able to see Blue Jays games because Baton owned CTV stations in Regina, Saskatoon, Prince Albert, and Yorkton and the 'network' was rebranded as BBS.
1991 saw some crazy sports pre-emptions. There was the Stanley Cup - Wales (now Eastern) conference final - Game Two between Pittsburgh and Boston that was Joined In Progress because CBC (when they still showed select US programs) aired the series finale of Dallas (a Lorimar - Telepictures Production). Hockey fans were LIVID!!
@@pierrelevasseur2701 Yep. Don Cheveier did play-by-play as I remember.
I suspect the Rangers barred ESPN from allowing the game to be televised in the US because they didn't want the game airing locally in DFW (which it would have on ESPN since the Rangers were not showing it).
I remember that game clear as day. Great video!
Plus, What makes this more controversial is that ESPN said in their contract they wanted more HISTORIC baseball moments live on their network. Boy, How unlucky they were.
The Bad Decisions Tree that leads from Bobby Valentine is incredible.
At this point there was a policy that ESPN had to produce broadcasts in two games in each of their windows for blackout purposes to protect the local broadcasts. So my question is why didn't they just make the Rangers/Jays game as the B game to show in Michigan and Kansas/Missouri? If they did they coukd have done an about face when the least likely scenario did occur and Ryan got named the starting pitcher
Exactly and Agree 1000% Brian. Plus the Jays by 1991 was a serious Championship Contender right before their mini dynasty of winning 2 WS in a row in '92-'92. And when Ryan did get to the 8th inning, 2 outs away from the no-hitter, ESPN (along with Sister Station TSN in Canada then the main TV Home of the Toronto Blue Jays)Millions across both in the US and Canada could have watched a historic moment in both MLB and North American sports history.
Off Topic. The next week in a regular segment at the end of his Friday World News Tonight Newscast, the legendary and late ABC News Anchorman Peter Jennings named Nolan Ryan the "Newsmaker of the Week." Jennings claimed as I paraphrase that Ryan with that No Hitter broke the old taboo of players can never be effective in team sports after age 40.
As said elsewhere, I suspect the Rangers blocked it because the game would also have aired in DFW whether the main or the "B" game (I remember a few cases where the "B" game was shown where there was no local coverage in the home market in such). The Rangers may have made it clear they didn't want the game televised at all in the US and only allowed the Blue Jays to televise it because it was a Canadian broadcast.
I would have given ESPN exclusive rights for those 2 games, no local broadcasts allowed.
@@WaltGekko I wonder though if ESPN would have told the Rangers that if the Rangers didn't televise the game, they were going to.
I know of a video you HAVE to do... 3 words.. Marvin Eugene Throneberry... the man who was born to be on the 1962 Mets.
Once hit a triple at the Polo Grounds. Opposing team made an appeal play saying he missed second base. Umpire agreed and called Throneberry out. Manager Casey Stengel comes out of the dugout to argue. First base coach stops him and say "Don't bother Case. He missed first base too!". Arguably the worst fielding first baseman in baseball history, there are pictures of him making a play at first.. glove out in the air.. head turned away from the ball.. eyes closed. And this is just the tip of the iceberg with Marvelous Marv... or the 1962 Mets.
Like I may have told you already.. you could make 20 videos about that team EASILY.
Thing is, JG doesn't really do biographies. You have to point to one specific game or incident involving Throneberry that JG can build an entire back story (first, we need some context) around.
Re: Marv missing two bases on a triple, then Casey said "Well, I know he touched third...he's standing on it!"
I thought you were gonna talk about ESPN putting Jessica Mendoza in the booth! 😂
This unofficial Official Jaguar Gator 7/9 historian will remind everyone you made a video about how NBC had two AFL games to choose from to be the national game in 1968. Like ESPN, they changed their mind from choosing a game in the state of Texas to a game in Kansas City for defensible reasons. Like ESPN, the decision didn’t work out for NBC.
and 1968 wasn't a good year for NBC and football also...think "Heidi".
That Jaguars story at the start breaks my heart. I’ve gone to many Ravens games, and I have seen some moments and games that I consider to be some of the most iconic in franchise history. Going to those games have been some of the best and most memorable moments in my entire life.
U should consider doing a channel dedicated to the NBA! Lots of oddities have happened in basketball.
Agreed. Time to add in NBA/College Basketball as well. Jag is filling the void that the 2 main national full time sports channels in America, of Fox Sports 1 and ESPN should be showing instead of hours of "First Take" "Undisputed" and more. Especially during Monday-Friday Daytime.
ESPN blew this. But, they do anything wrong. Nolan Ryan 7th No Hitter could have been in front of a National televised audience. It is what it is.
Thankfully, TV stations like WPIX-TV (channel 11) had the New York Yankees and WWOR-TV (channel 9) had the New York Mets, and both of these teams were played without any problems. Both channels 9 and 11 were independent TV stations at the time carried local teams whether you pick the Yankees, it would be channel 11, or if you pick the Mets, it would be channel 9. If you have cable, MSG Network usually carried the Yankees throughout the 1990’s, ESPN also had “Wednesday Night Baseball” where the Yankees or Mets played occasionally.
Eric that Ryan No Hitter in 1991, was shown nationally in most of Canada on ESPN's sister station TSN. As the poster Brain said, which I agree, ESPN should have at least have the Jays/Rangers on the "B" alternative feed behind the main game they choose that night of Tigers/Royals.As soon as Ryan got to 6 outs away from the No-Hitter, everyone in America should have been able to see the last milestone moment of the "Ryan Express."
@@americangiant1003 It's possible the Rangers specifically asked that game not be televised on ESPN as either a regional or national game because as others have noted, it was not being shown on local television in DFW and ESPN WOULD have been able to bring in the game in DFW because of that.
Not a big baseball fan; but I love your thorough research and how well you weave a story.
ESPN should’ve aired three games at the same time. One airing in one market; the other on another market; and the remainder seeing the primary game.
If I remember correctly ESPN still aired the Jays/Rangers on Baseball Tonight to see Ryan tossed his 7th No Hitter
1:50 I'm sure I've heard that score before... I just can't quite recall where.
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
The 49ers beat the Bears 28-3 in the NFC Championship Game on January 8, 1989. Some teams actually knew how to hold a 28-3 lead.
It's one of those moments where you just shrug and say, "that's baseball!"
*That's baseball, Suzyn.
This is very similar to what ESPN did with MLS in 2009 for their Wednesday night game. They were going to air as part of a doubleheader a rematch of the previous year's MLS Cup between Columbus & the NY Red Bulls (which everyone got). Then for the 2nd part of their doubleheader they had a choice of either airing DC United vs Seattle or the 1st version of the LA rivalry in MLS between Chivas USA & the LA Galaxy. Instead of airing DC vs Seattle which was the better match up given both teams had gotten off to hot starts that season & the fact that Seattle had set attendance records in their first season in MLS, ESPN decided to show Chivas USA vs LA Galaxy because of the fact that David Beckham (the highest profile player to have played in MLS up to that point) was making his first start of the season. This backfired badly as Seattle came back from 3 goals down in the 2nd half to draw 3-3 with DC (one of 4 times in MLS history this has happened) while the Galaxy absolutely thrashed Chivas USA 6-1 in one of the ugliest beat downs in MLS history. The Chivas USA-LA Galaxy match is also infamous for the behavior of the Chivas USA fans who threw beer cups & whatever else they could find onto the field after David Beckham had scored his 2nd goal of the game off a free kick.
But from a marketing perspective Im not a fan so personally wouldn’t watch Seattle but I may turn on Beckhams first start. So there’s that angle
1:53 WHY DO YOU BRING BACK BAD MEMORIES?! (sorry, Falcons fans...)
That story about the Jags is absolutely brutal, man. I've only gotten to go to 1 Lions game and it was during the Patricia era, against the Vikings, with Stafford throwing 4 touchdowns to Marvin Jones, setting the record for fastest QB to 40,000 yards and we lost 42-30 lol.
It really explains how seemingly the only PBP highlight of this game was CTVs own Don Chevrier for Blue Jays baseball (Im Canadian BTW)
Interestingly, Ryan’s 7th no-hitter came on the same day (5/1/1991) that Rickey Henderson stole his 939th base, passing Lou Brock and becoming the career leader for stolen bases.
ESPN switched telecasts, due to a possibility of Nolan Ryan not playing that day. ESPN2 didn’t exist, back then. ESPN2 also aired extra NBA and NHL games.
If there's one MLB-related thing I have a regret about, my family had a chance to watch the Mariners play at the Kingdome during the 1998 season against the Angels. My mother declined the offer because we were leaving Seattle on the day of that game (I was in Seattle to visit family). Turns out the pitcher for the Mariners in that game we passed on was none other than Randy Johnson--one of his last starts as a Mariner (before he was traded to the Astros at the trade deadline). I was only 13 at the time and it felt like a gut punch, especially because I knew there was a chance that Johnson wouldn't be finishing the season with another team. Plus the Mariners slumped in 1998 because of a bum bullpen and ongoing inconsistency.
I was only 10 at the time but I distinctly remember the ’91 Detroit Tigers season as the last decent to good one until 2006.
Tigers went 85 and 77 in 1993. Their last winning season until 2006.
@@mrg8581 Yeah but by then they were in a pretty big slump and had gone a discouraging (to put it mildly!) number of seasons with no playoff appearances. I mostly remember watching and thinking what an amazing player Cecil Fielder was. Of course, though, more than anything, it really cut me to the quick to see him trades to the damn Yankees (😡🤬) in ’96, and to add insult to injury, they won the WS that year. I know it wasn’t his fault he was traded, but it always hurts to think about.
How do you get video footage ?
My regrettable choice was choosing between what Dodgers-Cardinals game to go to last season. At least I got to see Yadi and Pujols' final at bats in LA.
At least in this case, it was in fact a decision that only looks awful in hindsight (as you often like to say). Up until the Rangers did THEIR last minute audible, ESPN not airing the Rangers/Jays game if it was figured Ryan wouldn't start would've made perfect sense.
12:21 My reaction to Alec Martinez's 2OT goal vs. NY Rangers as NBC aired Games 1, 2 and 5 from LA and NBCSN aired Games 3 and 4 from NY. NBC made the biggest mistake, by not airing Game 4, and air Game 2 instead after their coverage of "Belmont Stakes." Along with missing a Tetris crash livestream from MylesTheGreat.
I got to watch the game on CBC from Seattle because our cable system has almost always gotten the Canadian broadcaster
I was like oh no. This is the 7th no hitter wasn’t it.
This game can be seen on CZcams, and ESPN did a solid job bouncing back and forth to the Ryan game.
Hard to call it a blunder. Just just got completely unlucky.
I saved the newspaper from that day. I was a kid. That's what I did back then. #7
I own a vhs tape of the 7th no hitter which I bought at a music store some 25 years ago. MLB sold the game as a "classic". They used the Jays telecast with the Rangers radio feed.
I remember that date of this game, and when I saw Nolan, it was confirmed that I knew what game he meant.
And JG, you ain't wrong about how Nolan is the draw.
I was in 11th grade when this game aired and the next day, it was all we could talk about in school - in New Jersey, which is nowhere near Texas.
But again, this was Nolan Freakin Ryan!!!!
The worst baseball broadcasting decision in ESPN history is actually having Red Sox propagandist and source of the most annoying of baseball clichés Karl Ravech first host Baseball Tonight then be the lead voice for its Sunday night telecast. Everything else including the subject of this video pales in comparison.
One of my biggest regrets was in 2021 when i saw "The Kingsmen" in theaters and not Spider Man homecoming.
I also passed on the Spider-Man film and instead saw Sing, which was an interesting movie but not as good.
Great video 👏
I had always thought ESPN did air it, based on the chyron after Ryan strikes out Alomar to seal the no-no. Looked very early 90s ESPN. Then I heard the announcer’s voice and recalled it as the local Rangers guy (his name escapes me). I suppose chyron styles back then could look rather interchangeable from one market to the next.
Don Chevrier did Play By Play for it on the Blue Jays Telecast which aired on CTV that night.
i have a idea for your football channel since u are a jaguars fan they and my team the broncos had a nice rivaly from 1996-1999 the 96 game was denver worse loss ever at the time the 97 game was payback for denver the 98 game was Elam 63 yard fg game and 99 was a underdog denver team almost pulling the upset on MNF
I once went to St. Louis to see the Pirates. It was a 3 game weekend series and my sister lived in the St. Louis area at the time, we live a 5 hour drive away from St. Louis. So it was easy to crash at her house. Game 1 we met on that Friday evening at Busch as my brother in-law scored tickets for us. The Pirates lost. Game 2 all we could find was standing room only tickets for $50 a pop. We decided not to go and went to Six Flags instead. Pirates won. On Sunday we went to game 3, found decently priced seats, and the Pirates lost. So that sucked.
Another bad stroke of luck for me was in 2005. I had a girlfriend who was a big Packers fan. I’m a big Steelers fan. The local radio station had an ad one day that for $125 you could get a ticket for the Steelers-Packers game in Green Bay that would include the bus ride up to Green Bay and free food at a pregame tailgate. I bought two and gave them to my girlfriend for her birthday. She was thrilled. The game was November 6. One problem though, she dumped me in mid-October. I asked for at least one ticket back and she refused. I found out later she had taken a new boyfriend (the guy she was cheating on me with) to the game instead. The tour company had sold out by the time I called them back. So I spent $250 to see the Steelers and didn’t get to go. Even worse, they won the Super Bowl that year and so I lost my only chance to see a Super Bowl winning Steelers team.
If ESPN 2 would been around in 1991 & air the Blue Jays 🆚 Rangers ⚾ game with Nolan Ryan's no hitter and ESPN wouldn't switch to the battle in the American League between the Tigers 🆚 Royals ⚾ game in the first place
I would guess that ESPN didn’t televise the game where Nolan Ryan got his 5,000th strikeout. There is another CZcams clip that shows HSE televising the game. ESPN did televise Nolan Ryan’s 300th win.
Interestingly Rickey Henderson broke the stolen base record on this same day! Though his "I'm the greatest of all time" speech really turned off card collectors at the time and he ended up on Beckett's Cold List for quite some time!
You saw the jaguars los..OH MY GOD.
It may not have entirely been ESPN's decision. Especially given ESPN could have shown that game in Arlington since it was not locally televised, it may have been the Rangers didn't want that full game airing ANYWHERE (this is when George W. Bush I believe still owned the Rangers), even on ESPN as a Regional game (again, it would have aired on ESPN in DFW in this case).
At 0:32 wouldn't your biggest regret actually involve being a Jaguar fan in the first place? 😂😂
From a Colts fan I will say Scobee was literally my kryptonite growing up literally had 3 game winners against me growing up 2004 and 2008 in Indy and the game in 2010 in Duval that you mentioned.
as a steelers fan i hated scobee. only played 4 games for the steelers but cost us two
@@UserName-ts3sp the only one that hurt us was 2008. Had we won we would’ve have tied Tennessee for the division title and won the tiebreaker based on division record (5-1 Indy to 4-2 Tennessee). That also would have gave us the #1 seed in the AFC as well and Tennessee would have gone to San Diego
@@reidcraig3739 would’ve still lost to the steelers that year tbh. defense was on another level
@@UserName-ts3sp I know, I still get goosebumps watching the game against you guys from that year. Still don’t know how the hell we pulled that one off in Pittsburgh that year. Surprisingly odd, both years you guys won the Super Bowl, you lost to the Colts s both times in the regular season.
JaguarGator7, I need to know that music used in your videos.
It’s a custom track I created
@@jaguargator7 Oh, cool. You gonna upload it by any chance?
@@JonesDylan874 Maybe sometime down the line. Not sure
Ryan tossed his 7th ho-hitta. Amazing!
this happened on my 7th birthday believe it or not
It's Thursday video day let's go
It was the fault of Bobby Valentine who was the dumbest manager in baseball...
Bobby probably did think he was going to push Nolan back a game or two. What you need to know is: That game on May 1 was declared "Arlington Appreciation Night" to supposedly thank the people of Arlington for voting in favor of building a new ballpark, so I have a gut feeling Valentine was pressured by management to start Nolan in that game.
I would not call Mr. Valentine, the dumbest Manager in Baseball. He did take the Mets to the NLCS 2 straight years in '99 and 2000(making the World Series before losing to the Crosstown Rival Yankees). With that said, Mr. Valentine is a very strange person that I agree 1000%.
Ricky Henderson beat Ty Cobb in career stolen bases in Oakland that same day but that was a day game.
58-6 total code x
We need a jg10 or 6 for nba history
Nah, 6 for NHL. And I'm down for helping with scriptwriting!
Bro are you emplemon lol?
Wordy. Very wordy. EDIT THIS.
So Valentine's a liar.
Less a liar and more a strategist. Why would you show your hand, even in the days of rudimentary scouting reports, by confirming "yes, Nolan is pitching on this night"?
Hence his wearing the Grouchy glasses that one time
Why did Valentine change his mind?
Are you aware of how much you repeat yourself in your scripts? Very fun ideas for videos but the redundancy makes them unwatchable. Consider investing in an editor.