Down to 7 Days Until the MLB Network Debut

The MLB Network has some more news for us as it counts down the days until the New Year’s Day launch of the channel. Today, we’re within one week of the launch and we have some more on-air talent hires.

7…… MITCH WILLIAMS, GREG AMSINGER AND JON HEYMAN JOIN MLB NETWORK

MLB Network today announced three new additions to its on-air talent roster, naming former Major League Baseball pitcher Mitch Williams as a Studio Analyst, CBS College Sports veteran Greg Amsinger as a Studio Host, and Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated and SI.com as a “Baseball Insider.” All three will appear on MLB Tonight, the live, nightly studio show that will be the signature program of the new network, and Hot Stove, a live, nightly off-season studio show, as well as other programming across MLB Network, which will launch on January 1, 2009, in approximately 50 million homes as the largest network debut in cable history.

MLB Network’s growing roster of on-air talent now includes:

Studio Hosts: Matt Vasgersian, Greg Amsinger, Victor Rojas
Studio Analysts: Barry Larkin, Al Leiter, Joe Magrane, Dan Plesac, Harold Reynolds, Mitch Williams
Reporters: Trenni Kusnierek, Hazel Mae
Baseball Insider: Jon Heyman

“These new additions really help round our team into shape, and we’re excited to get started,” said Tony Petitti, President and Chief Executive Officer of MLB Network. “Mitch’s unique voice and perspective speaks for itself. Greg is a great addition for our studio shows and will help us direct traffic. And Jon brings a very credible voice to Hot Stove, as he’s on the front lines every day reporting on baseball.”

Williams most recently was the post-game analyst on Comcast Sportsnet’s Phillies Post Game Live. Additionally, he was featured on TBS’s game of the week Sunday pre-game shows and served as a weekly contributor and baseball expert on 610-WIP’s Angelo Cataldi morning show in Philadelphia. Williams also hosted his own radio show, “The Wild Pitch,” on the Phillies Broadcast Station 1210-WPHT in Philadelphia. He earned 192 saves and posted 3.65 ERA in his 11 Major League seasons with the Texas Rangers (1986-88), the Chicago Cubs (1989-90), the Phillies (1991-93), the Houston Astros (1994), the California Angels (1995) and the Kansas City Royals (1997). Williams twice led his league in games pitched. Williams was a National League All-Star in 1989 with the N.L. East Champion Cubs, with whom he earned the nickname “Wild Thing.” He posted a career-high 43 saves in 1993 and then went 2-0 with two saves in the N.L. Championship Series, helping vault the Phillies into the World Series.

Amsinger most recently worked at CBS, where he served as the primary host for CBS College Sports programs including Inside College Football and their NCAA Basketball coverage. In 2008 Amsinger also hosted CBS’ coverage of the Tour de France and the World Series of Video Games. Amsinger joined CSTV in 2003 as its first on-air host and has also maintained an interactive blog on the CSTV/CBS College Sports website. Prior to joining CSTV, Amsinger was the sports director at WTHI-TV in Terre Haute, Ind. Before graduating from Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo., Amsinger served as Network Radio Producer for the St. Louis Cardinals and the team’s flagship radio station, KMOX-AM.

Heyman is a Senior Writer for Sports Illustrated, where he regularly writes the “Inside Baseball” column, and also writes a baseball notes column called The Daily Scoop for SI.com that appears most weekdays during the baseball season and twice a week during the offseason. Heyman came to Sports Illustrated in July 2006 after 16 years at Newsday, where he served as Yankees beat writer, baseball columnist and general sports columnist. Heyman, who developed a reputation for breaking major baseball stories while at Newsday, also appears as a baseball insider on WFAN Radio and SNY-TV in New York.

We’ll be back tomorrow with item #6. To recap, here’s our list of news items to date:

10. Barry Larkin Joins MLB Network
9. MLB Network to Install “Ballpark Cams” in Every MLB Stadium
8. PRIME 9 Debuts on MLB Network
7. Mitch Williams, Greg Amsinger and Jon Heyman Join MLB Network

Some good hires all around. The Heyman hire was broken earlier this week by Neil Best of Newsday.