After 20 years in the booth together, Jon Miller and Joe Morgan are on the way out as ESPN’s broadcast team for Sunday Night Baseball. The network has declined to renew Morgan’s contract. Miller is being given the option of staying on as the play-by-play radio voice on Sunday night.
Expectations are that ESPN will turn Miller’s role over to Dan Shulman. Orel Hershiser, who was the third person in the Sunday night booth last season, will likely remain and could be joined by Bobby Valentine, according to the New York Times report.
Morgan’s departure will be welcomed by many. While there’s no doubting his knowledge for the game, his biases and his tendency to repeat himself made him a whipping boy in the stats community for many years. Miller remains among the very best at what he does, but it was probably time for ESPN to bring in some younger blood. Plus, Miller will continue to get plenty of air time with the Giants.
Personally, I’d rather ESPN go to Jon Sciambi over Shulman, but Sciambi is still something of a newcomer at the network. The featured role should be his someday.
