ESPN Deportes Heats Up the Screen with More Than 60 Winter League Baseball Games

ESPN Deportes Heats Up the Screen with More Than 60 Winter League Baseball Games

Exclusive Coverage of Winter Baseball from the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Mexico

BRISTOL, Conn., Oct. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- As the 2008 Major League Baseball season comes to an end, ESPN Deportes will present the most extensive coverage of winter baseball from the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Mexico. ESPN Deportes will televise more than 60 winter league baseball games, including each league's championship series. In addition to its extensive coverage of each league, ESPN Deportes will for the first time air Beisbol Esta Noche every Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET.

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Winter baseball-related content will be featured across various platforms: ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Deportes Radio, ESPNdeportes.com and ESPN Deportes La Revista. ESPN Deportes will feature more than 200 hours of winter baseball-related programming -- the most ever televised by any network in the U.S. -- with a group of at least 12 commentators, including hosts, analysts, reporters and contributors. Coverage of Winter Baseball will culminate with the Exclusive coverage of the 2009 Caribbean Series LIVE from Mexicali, Mexico.

Live coverage begins Wednesday, Oct. 15, with the Venezuelan League featuring Navegantes del Magallanes and Cardenales de Lara at 8:00 p.m. ET. Coverage of winter baseball from the Dominican Republic begins Sunday, November 2 with the battle between Leones del Escogido vs. Las Aguilas del Licey. ESPN Deportes will also air the finals of the Mexican Pacific League in January.

VENEZUELAN PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL LEAGUE

This season, ESPN Deportes will televise one regular-season game per week, every Wednesday, plus exclusive select playoff games and the entire championship series. The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League consists of eight teams in two divisions (East Division: Navegantes del Magallanes, Leones de Caracas, Tiburones de la Guaira, Caribes de Anzoategui; and West Division: Tigres de Aragua, Aguilas de Zulia, Cardenales de Lara, Bravos de Margarita). The league's elimination (opening) round includes 62 games from October to December. The top two teams from each division, as well as the best third place team, will move on to the 16-game round robin semifinals in January. The top two teams from the semifinals advance to a best-of-seven series in a 2-3-2 home field format at the end of January. The Venezuelan champion moves on to the Caribbean Series. Venezuela has won the Caribbean Series six times, most recently in 2006, when the Leones del Caracas took the title. Notable player's that have played in Venezuela include: Luis Aparicio, Dave Concepcion, Francisco Rodriguez, Miguel Cabrera and Johan Santana.

Commentator Lineup
Luis Alfredo Alvarez, play-by-play

Alvarez joined ESPN in 1995 and continues to handle play-by-play for a variety of sports. His assignments have included baseball, golf and tennis. He also serves as host for Beisbol Esta Noche, the company's Spanish-language original production of Baseball Tonight, and Cronometro, modeled after Pardon the Interruption. He has covered high-profile events such as tennis' Australian Open and French Open, golf's PGA Tour, Champions Tour and LPGA, and both the Summer and Winter X Games. A native of Caracas, Venezuela, Alvarez began his broadcasting career at Omnivision, where he served as a play-by-play commentator for baseball and basketball.

Francisco Blavia, analyst

Blavia joins the ESPN Deportes team this year as an analyst for the 2008/2009 Venezuelan Baseball League. Blavia has more than 10 years of experience covering sports; has worked for some of the most recognized TV and radio networks in Venezuela including Venevision, RCTV, SportPlus and Deportes Union Radio covering Venezuelan baseball, MLB, soccer and Venezuelan basketball. Blavia also had the opportunity to work as a commentator for the Cardenales de Lara baseball team for 4 years and currently covers Leones del Caracas. A native of Barquisimeto; Blavia obtained his degree in Communications at the Universidad Catolica Cecilio Acosta de Maracaibo. Blavia currently resides in Caracas, Venezuela.

DOMINICAN BASEBALL LEAGUE

Exclusive coverage begins Sunday, November 2, at 4 p.m. ET a live telecast of the Leones del Escogido vs. Tigres del Licey. This season, ESPN Deportes plans to telecast 26 Dominican Baseball League games, mainly on Fridays nights and Sunday afternoons. The Dominican Baseball League consists of six teams: Aguilas Cibaenas; Azucareros del Este; Estrellas Orientales; Gigantes del Cibao; Leones del Escogido; and Tigres del Licey. Each team plays a 50-game schedule, with the top four teams advancing to the playoffs. The titleholder then goes on to represent the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean Series. Notable player's include: Juan Marichal, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, Jose Reyes and Miguel Cabrera

Commentator Lineup
Kevin Cabral, play-by-play commentator

One of the most respected sportscasters in the Dominican Republic, Cabral returns for his third consecutive season of Dominican Baseball League. Cabral started his broadcasting career in 1983 as the host of the radio program Frente al Deporte. In 1986, he began what would become an 18-year stint as a television commentator and announcer for Major League Baseball games on the regional channel Circuito del Cibao.

Ernesto Jerez, play-by-play commentator

A native of Santiago, Dominican Republic, Jerez joined ESPN in 1995 as a baseball announcer and has become the signature voice for the company's Spanish-language Major League Baseball games. He primarily serves as game announcer during ESPN's Spanish-language Sunday Night Baseball telecasts. Known to viewers for his famous home run call, he also regularly contributes to SportsCenter, ESPN Deportes Radio and ESPNdeportes.com.

Carlos Jose Lugo, sideline reporter

Lugo brings vast baseball knowledge and more than 17 years of broadcasting experience in radio, television and print media to his role as field reporter for ESPN Deportes' telecasts of the Dominican Baseball League. Lugo launched his broadcasting career in 1987 as an MLB analyst on Radio Dial in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic. He is a familiar voice on radio, known for his work as a sports commentator and MLB analyst for FM-103, Radio Continental and Radio Clarin, and Rumba FM (98.5).

Juan Marichal, analyst

San Francisco Giants great and Hall of Fame pitcher Juan Marichal returns for his third consecutive season. Marichal, the only Dominican-born player in the Hall of Fame, started his career with Dominican League's Leones del Escogido. The high-kicking right-hander made his Major League Baseball debut against the Phillies in 1960, finishing his first game with a one-hitter, striking out 12 in a 2-0 victory. Marichal won 243 games, was named to nine All-Star teams and was named the All-Star Game's Most Valuable Player in 1965.

MEXICAN PACIFIC LEAGUE

ESPN Deportes will air the finals of the best baseball Mexico has to offer; the Mexican Pacific League in January. The Mexican Pacific League (Spanish: Liga Mexicana del Pacifico, LMP), also known as MexPac, has been running for over five decades as a winter league. It has long been recognized as one of the big four winter leagues and features a mix of major league players, top prospects and Mexican League players. The champion team has played in the Caribbean Series since 1971. The season is from the middle of October to the end of December with playoffs and final series in January. Notable players include: Fernando Valenzuela, Vinny Castilla, Jorge Cantu, Oliver Perez and Esteban Loiza.

Commentator Lineup
Jorge Eduardo Sanchez

Sanchez currently serves as anchor for ESPN Deportes' SportsCenter. He first joined ESPN in 2000 as a commentator and play-by-play announcer for ESPN 2 in Mexico, serving as a play-by-play announcer for Mexican Pacific League, the Caribbean Series, Tennis Masters Series, and NCAA Basketball.

Oscar Soria, analyst

Longtime Spanish-language voice of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Oscar Soria returns for his third consecutive season as Mexican Pacific League analyst on ESPN Deportes. Soria is a veteran of 18 seasons as a broadcaster with Mexican Pacific League's Hermosillo Naranjeros and also covers the Diamondbacks for Spanish-language paper El Imparcial, writing a daily column. The native of Tijuana, Mexico graduated from Universidad del Noroeste.

Eitan Benezra, sideline reporter

A native of Queretaro, Mexico, Benezra brings vast knowledge in Mexican baseball to ESPN Deportes' telecasts. Benezra hosts show "3 y 2 Cuenta Maxima" Estadio W in Mexico and serves as baseball commentator for Estadio W 730 AM in Mexico.

Beisbol esta Noche
Carolina Guillen, host

Now host of Beisbol esta Noche, Guillen joined ESPN as a SportsCenter anchor for ESPN+ (serving the Southern Cone) in May 2004. Her work outside of SportsCenter has included a variety of assignments. She served as co-host for ESPN's Spanish-language coverage of the Summer X Games and has served as sideline reporter for the MLB All-Star Games, Little League World Series and Caribbean Series. Guillen began her career in her native Venezuela with Meridiano Television as a reporter for Winter Baseball.

2008 WINTER BASEBALL SCHEDULE ON ESPN DEPORTES
(All times ET; Schedule Subject to Change)
(* denotes delayed games; all other games live)

Venezuela Baseball League Schedule
Date Time (ET) Teams
Wednesday, Oct. 15 8:00 p.m. Lara @Valencia
*Wednesday, Oct. 22 4:00 a.m. Bravos @ Aragua
*Wednesday, Nov. 5 4:00 a.m. Bravos@ Caracas
*Wednesday, Nov. 12 4:00 a.m. Zulia @ La Guaira
Wednesday, Nov. 19 8:00 a.m. Aragua @ Magallanes
*Wednesday, Nov. 26 4:00 a.m. Magallanes @ La Guaira
Wednesday, Dec. 3 8:00 p.m. Caracas @ La Guaira
*Wednesday, Dec. 10 4:00 a.m. La Guaira @ Caracas
Wednesday, Dec. 17 8:00 p.m. Bravos @ Caracas
Wednesday, Dec. 17 8:00 p.m. Lara @ Aragua
Dominican Baseball League Schedule (Games to be announced at a later date)
Mexican Pacific League (Games to be announced at a later date)

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081014/CLTU119
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080515/CLTH144LOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: ESPN Deportes

CONTACT: Santa Brito, +1-212-456-0252, santa.brito@espn.com, or Jennifer
de Broux, +1-310-921-7804, Jennifer@prconexion.com, both for ESPN Deportes

Web site: http://www.espndeportes.com/

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