Tony Gwynn To Be In Broadcast Booth For Little League Baseball World Series

Print

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (July 23, 2002) – Tony Gwynn, one of the best hitters in baseball history, will be an analyst for ABC’s 40th year of coverage of the Little League Baseball World Series. It will be Mr. Gwynn’s first visit to the world’s premier youth sporting event.

Mr. Gwynn joins veteran Little League Baseball World Series announcers Brent Musburger, Harold Reynolds, Jack Edwards, Dave Ryan and Tom Candiotti for this year’s tournament, and will be in the broadcast booth starting Aug. 21 for ESPN and ESPN2. Mr. Musburger, Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Gwynn will be ABC’s announcing team for the U.S. Championship (Aug. 24, 7:30 p.m.) and World Championship (Aug. 25, 6:30 p.m.). Both games will be televised live during prime time on ABC for the first time.

“Besides being one of the best students of baseball and hitting, Tony Gwynn is perhaps more importantly one of the finest gentlemen to ever play,” Stephen D. Keener, president and chief executive officer of Little League Baseball, said. “He is a fine role model for Little Leaguers to emulate, and we’re pleased he will be joining us.”

Mr. Gwynn, a 15-time all-star, retired following the 2001 season. He spent his entire career with the San Diego Padres, finishing with a.338 lifetime batting average. He batted at least .300 in 19 seasons, surpassing Honus Wagner’s previous record of 17, set from 1897 to 1913. He received the Roberto Clemente Man of the Year Award in 1999 for combining sportsmanship and community service with excellence on the field, the 1999 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award, the 1995 Branch Rickey Award, and was inducted into the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame.

Eleven games of the Little League Baseball World Series games will be televised on ESPN and seven games will be televised on ESPN2, bringing the total televised games to 20. Previously, the highest number of televised games was 19 – last year.

In addition, ESPN2 will again carry all eight of the U.S. Regional Championship finals in the Little League Baseball Division. The regional finals have been televised by ESPN2 every year since 1997.

The semifinal and championship games of the Little League Softball World Series in Portland, Ore., the final game of the Junior League Baseball World Series in Taylor, Mich., and the final game of the Big League Softball World Series in Kalamazoo, Mich., also will be televised by ESPN2.

The state championship games in Little League Baseball for Connecticut, New Jersey and New York will be televised regionally by the YES Network, making a grand total of 36 Little League games to be televised nationally or on a wide regional basis in August – also the most in history.

A list of ABC’s announcers in previous World Series follows: