Commentary of last 8 or so minutes, also with Emyr Lewis.

Friday 12th October - BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra

5 Live Baseball with Nat Coombs (in London) and Josh Chetwynd (in Tucson, Arizona)

Baseball: American League Division Series, Game Five
Baltimore Orioles @ New York Yankees - John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman (commentary provided by WCBS 880 - "The New York Yankees Radio Network")

At the end of the programme, Nat confirmed that Simon Brotherton and Josh will be 5 Live Sports Extra's on-site commentary team for the whole of the World Series with "some coverage" due on 5 Live as well. He half jokingly mentioned he was hoping to get out there for a few games around his Channel 4 NFL commitments but I don't think he was being serious about that.

It'll be interesting to see which games 5LSE cover from the Championship Series round of the playoffs. I notice the NFL game they have pencilled in for this Sunday, Pats @ Jets, isn't actually taking place at all, although the Jets are hosting the Indianapolis Colts in a 6pm game our time. Perhaps they could do that game and the 9pm ALCS Game Two, although seeing as they've given us seven MLB commentaries in the last eight nights I don't think baseball fans could complain if they choose to concentrate on the NFL this Sunday.

The only other 9pm our time CS games are Game Three of the NLCS on Wednesday (which they could join in-progress after commentary on the second leg of speedway's Elite League Grand Final), a possible Game Five of the ALCS on Thursday and, should both series go the distance, Game Six of the NLCS is pencilled in in this timeslot for a week Sunday - although with Fox holding the TV rights to that series, I can't honestly see it taking place then and thus clashing with their NFL coverage. Should the game be needed it'll surely get pushed back to 8pm ET/1am BST if the ALCS is over, if not I could imagine Fox persuading MLB, TBS and the teams to swap the timeslots. Should there be baseball a week Sunday I could see 5LSE following their NFL coverage with a live game at 1am as they did last year; so I see them doing that as well as covering both 9pm midweek games and the potential NLCS Game Seven a week Monday should it happen.

London Wasps V Newport Gwent Dragons (European Challenge Cup RU)

BBC Radio Wales - Phil Steele (also host) and Adrian Hadley (AM / Digital TV/Radio / Online)

Heineken Cup 2012/13: Ulster v Castres

Presenter: Nikki Gregg
With: Maurice Field & Tony McWhirter
Commentators: Jim Neilly & Ryan Constable
Reporter: Gavin Andrews

Sale Sharks V Cardiff Blues (Heineken Cup RU)

BBC Radio Wales - Graham Thomas (hosting) Nick Webb and Tom Shanklin (All frequencies / Online)
BBC Radio Cymru - Bethan Clement (hosting) Cennydd Davies and Gareth Davies

BBC Radio Five Live
R/U: Sale v Cardiff Mark Chapman (host) with Ian Robertson and Robert Jones (commentary)
R/U: Northampton v Glasgow James Burridge (with James Knight and Pail Diggin commentating from BBC Radio Northampton on Sports Extra)
R/U: Toulouse v Leicester Alistair Eykyn and Brian Moore (commentary)

BBC Radio Leicester

Heineken Cup - Pool 2
Toulouse v Leicester Tigers - Bleddyn Jones and Steve Johnson (15:00 commentary)

Sunday 14th October - BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra

5 Live NFL with Greg Brady and Danielle Michaud (in Toronto, Ontario)

American Football: NFL Week Six
New York Giants @ San Francisco 49ers - Ted Robinson and Eric Davis (commentary provided by KNBR - "The US Bank 49ers Radio Network")

At the end of the broadcast, Greg confirmed that while he and Danielle will be back in November, next Sunday's live game will be the one erroneously scheduled for yesterday, the New York Jets @ New England Patriots at 9pm. Interestingly Nat Coombs will be presenting coverage with Johnnie Mitchell, presumably he'll also be hosting Channel 4's coverage of Sunday Night Football as usual later that night so no doubt he'll be hoping the match doesn't overrun much past midnight!

On the baseball front, Greg also confirmed at the end of the show that 5LSE will be taking commentary on Game Three of the NLCS on Wednesday and Game Five of the ALCS on Thursday at 9pm our time on both evenings.

Wednesday 17th October - BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra

5 Live Baseball with Nat Coombs (in London) and Josh Chetwynd (in Tucson, Arizona)

Baseball: National League Championship Series, Game Three
San Francisco Giants @ St. Louis Cardinals - Mike Shannon and John Rooney (commentary provided by KMOX 1120AM - "The St. Louis Cardinals radio network")

5 Live Baseball started at 9pm in ample time for first pitch after the second leg of speedway's Elite League Grand Final, which 5LSE was due to provide commentary on and will now do so on Friday night, was postponed. The former Channel 5 MLB pundit David Lengel was among Nat and Josh's guests between innings.

However, two thirds of the way through the bottom of the seventh inning the game was interrupted due to a rain delay. 5LSE initially provided listeners with archive commentary from KMOX on both halves of the final inning of the St. Louis Cardinals' NLDS Game Five decider against the Washington Nationals, but following that (it must have been around half an hour after the game was originally stopped) and having given themselves plenty of time to find out that the heavy rain in St. Louis was not going to stop any time soon, they decided to leave it at that and wrap things up. Normally I'd want them to see a game through, indeed last year I remember them seeing out a short-ish rain delay in order to broadcast the resumption of a (Baltimore Orioles?) match, but I think they made the right call in this instance as the rain delay last around three and a half hours! I listened to the conclusion of the game on ESPN Radio where studio host Marc Kestecher put in an epic shift of filling time.

The rain also accounted for Game Four of the ALCS between the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers, which will be 5LSE's live commentary - possibly their last baseball before the World Series - tonight from 9pm.

Thursday 18th October - BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra

5 Live Baseball with Nat Coombs, Erik Janssen (both in London) and Josh Chetwynd (in Tucson, Arizona)

Baseball: American League Championship Series, Game Four
New York Yankees @ Detroit Tigers - Dan Dickerson and Jim Price (commentary provided by Talk Radio 1270AM WXYT - "The Detroit Tigers Radio Network")

Great to hear Erik Janssen - AKA Erik the Producer from Channel 5's Major League Baseball coverage - back on 5 Live Baseball, as has been an occasional treat in previous years. 5LSE had problems with their phone lines last night, meaning we missed out on guest spots from Greg Brady and Jonah Keri, with Erik (originally an unbilled "special guest") popping up when Josh's line had died during the middle of the first inning to go through the Tigers line-up before it was decided he'd stay on throughout the whole evening. I'm glad he did - it made the studio segments a must-listen, I particularly enjoyed his anecdote about suggesting a move to the Tigers to Prince Fielder on meeting him last year and his take on the food at Comerica Park.

Nat mentioned that the next time 5 Live Baseball might be on-air before the start of the World Series on Wednesday would be if the NLCS goes to a seventh, deciding game on Monday night. That said, since then the possible Game Six of the NLCS has been moved to a 12.30am timeslot our time and seeing as USP Content will be running a studio for 5 Live NFL on Sunday night, could they opt to follow that with Game Six if it is needed? I certainly hope so, but if not thank you and well done to Nat and all of the studio-based crew for all of their hard work on 5 Live Baseball over the course of 2012.

Newport-Gwent Dragons V Bayonne (Amlin Challenge Cup RU)

BBC Radio Wales - Cennydd Davies (also host) and John Devereux (AM / Digital TV/Radio / Online)


BBC 5LSX - Alistair Eykyn and Robert Jones

BBC Radio Wales

Cardiff Blues V RC Toulon - Nick Webb and Tom Shanklin (All frequencies / Online)
Leicester Tigers V Ospreys - Graham Thomas (hosting) Gareth Charles and Michael Owen (All frequencies / Online)

BBC Radio Cymru

Bethan Clement (studio host)

Cardiff Blues V RC Toulon - Gareth Rhys Owen and Gareth Davies (commentary)
Leicester Tigers V Ospreys - Cennydd Davies and Mefin Davies (commentary)

BBC Radio Five Live

Cardiff Blues V RC Toulon - Alistair Eykyn and Gareth Thomas
Leicester Tigers V Ospreys - James Burridge and Martin Corry (5LSX)

BBC Bristol /Somerset

Brsitol V Ulster Ravens (British & Irish Cup RU) Tim McSweeney (studio host) Andy Champion and Kyle Traynor (1548MW / DAB / Online)

Iain Robertson covered the second half.

BBC Radio Leicester

Charles Dagnall with BBC Radio Leicester Sport.

Heineken Cup - Pool 2
Leicester Tigers v Ospreys - Bleddyn Jones and Steve Johnson (15:00 commentary)

Sunday 21st October - BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra

5 Live NFL with Tony Husband and Johnnie Mitchell (in London)

American Football: NFL Week Seven
New York Jets @ New England Patriots - Gil Santos and Scott Zolak (commentary provided by 98.5 The Sports Hub - "The New England Patriots Radio Network")

5LSE didn't carry commentary on either Sunday's Game Six or Monday's Game Seven of baseball's National League Championship Series - their lack of commentary on the latter game was a particular disappointment considering they had trailed that they would be providing commentary on an NLCS decider should it go to seven games. More encouragingly, I heard Simon Brotherton on the World Service's Sportsworld programme from San Francisco earlier today so it sounds as if everything is in place for on-site commentary on the World Series from tonight onwards.

Indeed next Sunday USP Content will be putting together a US Sport triple header for 5LSE - from 4.45pm, Darren Fletcher and Greg Brady will be at Wembley Stadium for the New England Patriots @ St. Louis Rams NFL International Series match, at the conclusion of that they'll hand over to Tony and Johnnie in the studio for coverage of the New York Giants @ Dallas Cowboys game and then following that it'll be over to Comerica Park in Detroit for Game Four of the World Series with commentary from Simon Brotherton and Josh Chetwynd. I know where my dial will be fixed to next Sunday!

Major League Baseball Postseason 2012, Local Radio in the USA

American League

Detroit Tigers - Dan Dickerson and Jim Price (WXYT)
New York Yankees - John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman (WCBS)
Baltimore Orioles - Joe Angel and Fred Manfra (WBAL)
Oakland Athletics - Ken Korach, Vince Cotroneo and Ray Fosse (KGMZ)
Texas Rangers - Eric Nadel and Matt Hicks (KESN)

National League

San Francisco Giants - Jon Miller, Dave Flemming, Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper (KNBR)
St. Louis Cardinals - Mike Shannon and John Rooney (KMOX)
Cincinnati Reds - Marty Brennaman, Thom Brennaman and Jeff Brantley (WLW)
Washington Nationals - Charlie Slowes and Dave Jageler (WJFK)
Atlanta Braves - Jim Powell and Don Sutton (WCNN)

Major League Baseball Postseason 2012, ESPN Radio (USA)

American League Wild Card Playoff

Baltimore Orioles @ Texas Rangers - Dan Shulman and Orel Hershiser, with Buster Olney as field reporter

National League Wild Card Playoff

St. Louis Cardinals @ Atlanta Braves - Jon Sciambi and Chris Singleton, with Pedro Gomez as field reporter

American League Division Series

Detroit Tigers v Oakland Athletics - Dave O'Brien and Aaron Boone, with Pedro Gomez as field reporter
New York Yankees v Baltimore Orioles - Dan Shulman and Orel Hershiser, with Peter Pascarelli as the analyst and Buster Olney as field reporter

National League Division Series

Cincinnati Reds v San Francisco Giants - Gary Cohen (games 1-2), Chris Berman (games 3-5) and Rick Sutcliffe (whole series), with Bob Holtzman as field reporter (games 3-5 only)
Washington Nationals v St. Louis Cardinals - Jon Sciambi and Chris Singleton, with Jayson Stark as the analyst and Tim Kurkjian as field reporter

American League Championship Series

Detroit Tigers v New York Yankees - Dan Shulman and Orel Hershiser, with Peter Pascarelli as the analyst and Buster Olney as field reporter

National League Championship Series

St. Louis Cardinals v San Francisco Giants - Jon Sciambi and Chris Singleton, with Jayson Stark as the analyst and Tim Kurkjian as field reporter

World Series

Detroit Tigers v San Francisco Giants - Dan Shulman and Orel Hershiser, with Peter Pascarelli as the analyst and Buster Olney and Tim Kurkjian as field reporters

ESPN Radio's studio presenters for their Baseball Tonight pregame and postgame shows during the first three rounds of the postseason were Marc Kestecher, Kevin Winter, Adam Jones and John Brickley, with the latter two only being called upon during the Division Series round. During the World Series, Marc Kestecher is presenting Baseball Tonight from the studio with Jon Sciambi, Chris Singleton and Peter Pascarelli joining him for analysis from the field at AT&T Park in San Francisco and Comerica Park in Detroit.

Terry Francona, who had served as the third man on ESPN TV's Sunday Night Baseball commentary team with Dan Shulman and Orel Hershiser during the regular season, had originally been pencilled in to be an ESPN Radio colour commentator on the NLCS with Sciambi and on the World Series with Shulman and Hershiser, but his appointment as the new Cleveland Indians manager earlier this month put pay to those plans. However, he is due to work as a "guest analyst" (whatever that role will entail) during the World Series, which will be his last assignment for both ESPN TV and Radio.

An interesting set of developments involving radio and television coverage of England's tour to India:

Saturday 20th October - Newstalk 106-108FM

Ger Gilroy presented Newstalk Sport Saturday alongside Ken Early

Rugby Union: Heineken Cup Pool 5
Scarlets v Leinster - Dave McIntyre, Tom Shanklin and Keith Wood (1.35pm commentary)

Rugby Union: Heineken Cup Pool 3
Connacht v Harlequins - Liam Toland and Noel Mannion (6pm commentary)

Wednesday 24th and Thursday 25th October - BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra

5 Live Baseball with Simon Brotherton from AT&T Park

Baseball: World Series, Games One and Two
Detroit Tigers @ San Francisco Giants - Simon Brotherton and Josh Chetwynd (commentary)

Up All Night on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Local Radio simulcast the conclusion of both of the first two games of the World Series, joining Game One just after the 4am news at the end of the seventh inning and Game Two at around 3.55am with the contest in the bottom of the eighth. On both occasions, they stuck with uninterrupted commentary until the conclusion of the game with no cutting away for news breaks etc as has happened in previous years. Up All Night has also taken live reports from Simon Brotherton during their sports bulletins at 1.30am, 2.30am and 3.30am.

5LSE's coverage has been starting at 1am not long before first pitch and has ended at the same time as the 5 Live coverage, once Josh Chetwynd has summed things up immediately following the conclusion of the game. While there's no time for build-up, they have been playing in snatches of interviews with the players and managers from press conferences during the changes in innings, save for at the top and the middle of the first when Josh goes through the batting line-ups and during the seventh inning stretch when we get to hear the singing of God Bless America and Take Me Out to the Ballgame. I think this is sensible as it allows the commentators to have a bit of a breather during a three hour plus stint - I wouldn't expect them to do much in the way of pre or post-game coverage because of the length of time they are on-air.

I expect Up All Night will take slightly more commentary from the World Series once it switches to Detroit tomorrow, what with it being the weekend and also with the clocks going back in the UK a week before they do in the USA (I feel duty bound to remind anyone else who listens to tune in from midnight for Sunday's Game Four onwards).

BBC Bristol

Bristol V Bedford Blues (RFU Championship) - Ed Hadwin (studio host) Damian Derrick and Mark 'Ronnie' Regan (1548MW / DAB / Online)

Sunday 28th October - BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra

5 Live NFL with Darren Fletcher at Wembley Stadium, then Tony Husband and Johnnie Mitchell (in a London studio)

American Football: NFL Week Eight
New England Patriots @ St. Louis Rams (Wembley Stadium) - Darren Fletcher and Greg Brady (5pm GMT commentary)
New York Giants @ Dallas Cowboys - Brad Sham and Babe Laufenberg, with Kristi Scales on the sidelines (8.20pm GMT commentary provided by 105.3 The Fan - "The Dallas Cowboys Radio Network")

Both games were carried in full, the NFL International Series game at Wembley didn't clash with 5LSE's 3pm commentary of Southampton v Tottenham in the Premier League and although the Giants @ Cowboys match was an epic, it didn't overrun to the point that it clashed with the World Series - in fact the timings meant we got a little bit of extra build-up to Sunday's baseball.

Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th October - BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra

5 Live Baseball with Simon Brotherton from Comerica Park

Baseball: World Series, Games Three and Four
San Francisco Giants @ Detroit Tigers - Simon Brotherton and Josh Chetwynd (commentary)

BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Local Radio's coverage of the World Series continued as the Fall Classic switched to Detroit, with Up All Night joining Game Three after their 2.30am sports bulletin in time for the final out of the top of the seventh inning and Game Four after the 3am news with that game moving to the top of the ninth inning. On both occasions they took uninterrupted commentary from then onwards, with no breaks for news or anything else during the hour or so they carried they baseball, which included the sign-off for both stations. And as was the case with the matches played in San Francisco, Simon Brotherton filed in-progress reports during 5LSE's commentary into 5 Live's sports bulletins at 12.30am, 1.30am and 2.30am (or in the case of Saturday when the clocks went back at 2am, he provided two 1.30am updates!).

One other detail of note, as mentioned above Sunday's NFL coverage did not clash with Game Four of the World Series, however the later New York Giants @ Dallas Cowboys game ran through until about 11.45pm our time. While for the first three games of the series 5 Live Baseball had begun at the top of the hour, after ten minutes of post-game NFL reaction, they moved to Detroit at 11.55pm - just in time for them to take the singing of the US National Anthem, which on Sunday was performed by Demi Lovato, who Simon had been regularly telling us is a particular favourite of his children. So I hope they enjoyed her performance if they were listening.

I have an amendment to make to the ESPN Radio World Series details I posted in #442 - this being that regular season commentator Jon Sciambi was conducting their field interviews, with Chris Singleton and Peter Pascarelli joining him after the series clinching game. Buster Olney and Tim Kurkjian, who had been used by ESPN Radio in this role throughout the earlier rounds of the playoffs, were only used as interviewers on ESPN's pre-game and post-game TV coverage as far as I heard.

That concludes this year's World Series and Radio 5 Live Sports Extra's Major League Baseball for another campaign, which I have particularly enjoyed listening to throughout 2012. To be brutally honest, Simon and Josh's commentary on the Fall Classic shouldn't live as long in the memory as their much-praised efforts from last year will, although you can put that mainly down to how this year's World Series wasn't anywhere near as exciting as 2011's seven game thriller. However, the postseason as a whole has been very enjoyable, with the debut of the Wild Card round proving really interesting and some cracking series during the Division and Championship Series rounds, so I was very happy to hear 5LSE provide commentary on notably more playoff games than they did in 2010 or 2011. This more than made up for the blank weeks for 5 Live Baseball during the regular season which was enforced upon them due to 5LSE's many other sporting commitments.

Once again, well done and congratulations to Radio 5 Live Sports Extra, USP Content and all the team involved in 5 Live Baseball for bringing us coverage of another fantastic Major League Baseball season. I'm looking forward to March and the World Baseball Classic already.

What with it being the first day of November and most of the summer sports having long been wrapped up, I thought it would be a good idea to move on to a new thread for 2012/13.

It can be found here: Radio Sports Commentators and Reporters 2012/13 (non-football)