The New York Yankees are mad at ESPN. The sports channel has chosen the Yankees as their Sunday Night Game on July 8th at the Toronto Blue Jays – but shortly afterwards the Bronx Bombers play a double header in Baltimore.
The game in Canada should have started at 1 pm local time (7 pm CEST), but thanks to the ESPN broadcast it now starts at 8 pm (2 am CEST at night). The double header in Baltimore on the following Monday starts at 4 pm local time (10 pm CEST), with the second game directly afterwards.
The Yankees would have to play three games within 24 hours, including travel time, which is a nuisance for manager Aaron Boone, ex-expert for Sunday Night Baseball: “Hopefully there will be some pressure, because it’s not good for the product on the field or for the safety of the players if you get on the plane from the evening match and then have to play a double header directly. Anyone who disputes that is not honest.”
The Yankees are now hoping, according to a New York Post report, that MLBPA and MLB ESPN can convince the players’ union to reverse the game selection. Teams cannot refuse an ESPN broadcast for contractual reasons, but Swiss Post claims to have learned that the Yankees are now threatening an ESPN boycott if ESPN sticks to its plans.
The team could then deny the sports channel any access to the players and responsible persons and thus also prohibit interviews before, during and after the matches.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said of the situation at the edge of the MLB Drag in Secaucas/New Jersey: “The situation can be solved in several ways. We still have a little time. When it comes to timing, it does indeed create a difficult situation. However, we hope to find a way to resolve this.”
Yankee player’s representative, Reliever David Robertson, responded to the story told Newsday on Monday: “We would have liked to have changed it without making a big fuss.”
The Blue Jays game against the Yankees was one of four matches that were eligible for the Sunday night broadcast on July 8. According to the Yankees only learned of the match after they had already agreed to the double header with the Orioles after numerous weather-related cancellations.
This article was published without previous view by the Major League Baseball.