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Is ESPN Planning a Bigger Role For Mendoza?

Jason Barrett

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The past six weeks have transformed Jessica Mendoza from someone largely regarded as a softball analyst to one of the lead baseball voices at ESPN. She has performed so well in place of Curt Schilling on Sunday night games and during the Houston Astros’ 3-0 victory over the Yankees in the American League wild-card playoff game Tuesday night that ESPN has no option but to give her a high-profile slot.

“Six weeks? No, it’s hasn’t been that long,” she said on Wednesday in a telephone interview. “It’s felt like one long day because I never wanted it to stop. I never wanted to let off the gas.”

On Tuesday night, she showed her primary expertise in batting analysis, most notably on how the Astros’ George Springer was able to hit a double over Brett Gardner’s head: by standing far back in the batter’s box to react to Masahiro Tanaka’s splitter. But she also did good — and quick — work on pitch selection and outfield positioning.

“I find that as far as my first step in, I talk to hitters, coaches and managers, and that’s the insight I want to share with viewers,” she said. “I’m hoping to build up to defensive strategy and pitching.”

What she will do in 2016 will probably depend, in part, on whether Schilling has a future at ESPN — on Sunday night games or anywhere. He was initially suspended by the network for sharing a Twitter meme about Muslim extremists that featured a photograph of Adolf Hitler. His short punishment was then extended because of an angry response he emailed to an article on the website Awful Announcing about his activities on social media. His first day back was Wednesday, when he worked from an ESPN studio at the company’s headquarters in Bristol, Conn.

Mendoza said she traded texts about pitching with Schilling after Tuesday night’s game.

“He’s someone I’ve known a while and respect his knowledge, so we went back and forth about Tanaka” and Astros starter Dallas Keuchel, she said.

So far, Mendoza has not heard from ESPN officials about what she will do next season. “And I haven’t even asked,” she said. “I’m as curious as anyone. I’m hooked. This is something I want to do more of.”

And she will. John Wildhack, ESPN’s executive vice president for programming and production, lauded her in a way that offered little doubt about the company’s intentions.

“You can expect that she has earned and will have a prominent role in our baseball coverage,” Wildhack said. “Her knowledge of the game is comparable to any baseball expert out there, and her knowledge of hitting might be the best of any analyst out there.”

He added, “She deserves all the credit for displaying her talents, and it’s awesome that she got to do it on a big stage last night at Yankee Stadium.”

Translation: Expect her to replace Schilling. It will be a smart and progressive move.

To read more visit the NY Times where this story was originally published

 

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ESPN to Produce Content Series Centered on Brittney Griner

“The last two years have been the most harrowing, transformative and illuminating period of my life, and I am grateful to be in a place now to share my story with the world.”

Jordan Bondurant

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After being imprisoned in Russia for almost a year, WNBA star Brittney Griner is ready to share her story. Griner has collaborated with ESPN and Disney Entertainment Television to develop a documentary feature from ESPN Films and a scripted series is in the works with ABC Signature.

Additionally, Griner will do an exclusive interview with Robin Roberts of ABC News.

“The last two years have been the most harrowing, transformative and illuminating period of my life, and I am grateful to be in a place now to share my story with the world,” Griner said. “I’m proud to partner with ESPN and Disney to share this very personal story because of its incredible potential to inspire hope around the world and their proven ability to do just that.”

The documentary feature will be a chronicle of Griner’s story from the moment she was arrested at a Moscow airport for cannabis possession, through her prosecution and imprisonment, to her eventual release from Russian custody.

The feature will feature exclusive footage, recordings and letters to and from Griner during her time in prison.

“Brittney is an exceptional athlete whose hardship and resilience are nothing short of extraordinary,” ESPN President of Content Burke Magnus said. “We are thrilled to be working with her to tell the nuances of her story and feel confident that this documentary will captivate audiences everywhere.”

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Andy North on Beginning TV Career: ‘You Don’t Have Any Clue What You’re Doing’

“You learn by mistakes and you get your butt chewed every day for a couple of years… You’re just trying to figure it out, but I’ve had some great people to work with and have had a ton of fun and it’s been 30-plus years.”

Jordan Bondurant

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A photo of Andy North
(Photo: ESPN)

ESPN golf analyst Andy North has enjoyed a successful broadcasting career, but he knows it’s taken a lot of work to get where he wanted to be.

North will be part of ESPN’s broadcast crew covering The Champions Cup team event this weekend, and he reflected on the early days of his second career.

North joined ESPN in 1992 as an on-course reporter. His big break came when the network asked him to fill in for Gary Koch, who was injured at the time.

“It went reasonably well, and they asked me to join (ESPN) the next year,” North told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

But things weren’t exactly smooth sailing right out of the gate for North, who said he basically went into the job blind.

“You don’t have any clue what you’re doing when you start out,” he said. “You learn by mistakes, and you get your butt chewed every day for a couple of years.

“You’re just trying to figure it out, but I’ve had some great people to work with and have had a ton of fun and it’s been 30-plus years,” North added.

Andy North continued that it was the support he got from everyone around him in the media space that helped him elevate his broadcasting skills. It helped that the two-time U.S. Open champion was also in his element.

“You’re around a bunch of guys you spent your whole life with,” he said. “You got a lot of great friends out here, and you can say it’s work and you work at it, but it’s not the worst thing you could do.”

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ACC Network Adds Chelsea Gray as Women’s Basketball Analyst

“I’m honored to be coming back home to the ACC. This conference proves its greatness year after year and I’m thrilled to be a part of it again.”

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ACC Network just added another talent to its growing roster, this time adding three-time WNBA champion and former Duke Blue Devil Chelsea Gray as a women’s college basketball analyst.

Gray will make her ACC Network debut on Sunday, Dec. 10 when her alma mater takes on the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles live at Cameron Indoor Stadium at noon E.T.

“I’m honored to be coming back home to the ACC,” Gray said. “This conference proves its greatness year after year and I’m thrilled to be a part of it again.”

This won’t be Gray’s first rodeo when it comes to live game analysis. During the 2021-22 season, Gray was a key member of ACCN’s Nothing But Net studio coverage. She also called seven regular season games and three NCAA Tournament games throughout the year.

Along with her on-screen duties, Gray still plays as a member of the Las Vegas Aces, where she helped guide the team to back-to-back WNBA Championships in 2022 and 2023.

“We are very excited to welcome Chelsea back to the ACC Network as a game analyst. She’s competed and won championships at the highest level so her experience and knowledge of the game will be such an asset to our already strong women’s basketball coverage,” said Sara Gaiero, vice president of production at ESPN.

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