The Cubs and White Sox will meet when ESPN airs its first broadcast of “Sunday Night Baseball” exclusively on ABC at 6 p.m. Aug. 8 at Wrigley Field. The game also will be available on the ESPN app, ESPN Radio and ESPN Deportes.
The “SNB” crew of play-by-play voice Matt Vasgersian, analyst Alex Rodriguez and reporter Buster Olney will call the game on site. Vasgersian and Rodriguez have been broadcasting from ESPN’s studios in Bristol, Connecticut, while Olney has been on site.
ESPN had been trying to find a window for an “SNB” broadcast on ABC for a while. When one became available Aug. 8, the network jumped at it. “SNB” has been airing on ESPN since 1990, when Jon Miller and Joe Morgan began a run of 21 years in the booth.
According to ESPN’s press release, “The marquee matchup will feature the Chicago Cubs and Kris Bryant hosting the first place Chicago White Sox and Tim Anderson.” But there’s no guarantee that Bryant will remain with the Cubs beyond the July 30 trade deadline.
Last year, ABC aired its first MLB games since 1995 during the wild-card round, produced by ESPN. Both Marlins-Cubs games in the round appeared on ABC, with current Cubs TV voice Jon “Boog” Sciambi calling the action.
“Baseball Tonight: Sunday Night Countdown” will precede the Sox-Cubs game at 5 p.m. on ESPN.